Earl R. Maize Park in Feather Sound

A great little park tucked at the north end of Pinellas county by the Howard Franklin in the neighborhood of Feather Sound, Earl R. Maize Recreation Area, is a lovely way to spend a couple of hours. One of the best features is that the play area is fenced in, which I have mentioned before. This lets moms and dads get distracted for a second, enjoy the shaded areas and fresh air without fear of losing their kids or the kids running into a potentially dangerous area.
The park has two areas one for younger kids and one for older kids. There are swings, riding toys and several different climbing options, which are kids really liked. We went with a friends that live near by and our girls played nonstop for almost an hour and half. The space itself isn't huge, but it was perfect.



There is also an open field where some adults had a friendly game of soccer going on and a basketball court where another friendly pick up full court game of adults was on it's way.


Since the park boarders the nature preserve right on the bay, there is a boardwalk with many sitting benches so you can rest, or meditate or just enjoy the scenery. The boardwalk is short; connecting the two parking areas that book end the park from the play area to the basketball court.
Right outside of the play area there are several picnic tables that are covered. It was friendly from the moment we walked it, even down to the cute details on the trash cans. It turns out that this park was created by a group of community volunteers which in my book is likely why it's so nice. Average people think about what average people need, and the result is good in this case. I also learned that Feather Sound is it's own area and not considered St. Pete, who would've known.

Guilty as Charged

Lydia has a cold. She is stuffy and coughy and all around feeling crummy. It started earlier in the week, but seemed fairly benign. Yesterday she woke up and was feeling warm all day. By the time I made it home Eliot had Vivian ready to go to swim and we had decided to let Lydia skip her class yesterday, but since it was Vivian's first swim lesson we took a family trip to the YMCA so I could take pictures. Lydia was very lethargic. She was clearly out of it. She was happy to see Vivian swim but didn't want to run around or anything. On the way home we got her a Happy meal because she loves it and we were hoping it would entice her to eat, which sadly it didn't.

She took her Happy meal and went straight to the bar in the kitchen and sat down. She put her hands on her head and said, "Mom, I don't feel so good." After picking up my heart from the floor, I told her she had a cold and that was making her feel bad. She accepted this answer and went on to drink her apple juice.

We took her temperature, it was 101.3. We gave her Tylenol which did nothing  and let her lay in bed with me watching cartoons. At one point, she looks up at me and asks, "Mom, what's wrong with me?" Strong enough to hold back my own tears, I told her that everyone gets sick sometimes and she would be better soon.

Since she still had a temp a couple hours later we gave her Motrin and she fell right a sleep and slept well through the night. I checked on her and she was still warm. Eliot check on her before he left this morning and she was still warm. I came to work and called the pediatrician's office as soon as they were open. Since she hasn't really had fevers previous, they asked me to bring her in. Luckily I didn't have classes until the afternoon. I hopped back into the car and headed home to get her.

Doc said her throat was red, her ear look infected and lymphoids were swollen. Antibiotics were prescribed. Through I am not one to pour antibiotics down any of us for no reason, I also realize that at some point the current medications won't work and they (meaning the people that do that sort of thing) will make new ones that do work, so I might was well use the current ones while we all can.

I drop of the meds, took her to Publix and pretty much got her anything she wanted. She got a cookie, 3 different types of juice, fresh fruit, popsicles,  and even a butterfly balloon, because I am the type of mom that when her toddler feels sick I give her anything she wants and I do not care what precedent it may set. My baby is feeling yucky and I got her pudding too! I am guilty as charged! I took her back home gave her the meds which she took completely willingly and cuddled her up on the couch with Abuela.

Tonight we will watch Wreck it Ralph and veg out. Try to keep Vivi at bay from Lydia which will likely not work and Lydia eat anything that she is willing to eat.

Our Summer Park Quest Begins!

We enjoy a good park. Now that the weather is back to delightful (gotta love Florida) we are on the go exploring all the amazing outdoor spaces around town. I am always looking for good inspiration for the girls, the blog and I found it yesterday hazily skimming through Facebook. A mom of three who lives in Northern Pinellas wrote about her adventures visiting over 90 parks in the last two summers.

We have a lot of great parks on our side of town too! Of course, I am now intrigued to visit a few on her TOP 6 list, but today I share about a hidden treasure, Crisp Park and a park I never knew even existed, Freedom Park.

Yestersday afternoon was gorgeous. We ate dinner and went to the park. We had a couple of errands to run so we ended up at Crisp Park which is tucked away in a neighborhood that is in between Shore Acres and 1st Street N. 620 - 37th Avenue NE St. Petersburg, Florida. The playground is almost completely under shade and it is fenced in. If you are taking toddlers or multiple young kids the fence is amazing, because they are contained. The playground is filled with black rubber pieces which is really springy and fun to run around in. Vivian enjoyed the texture of it and playing with it. She resisted putting it in her mouth which was shocking because Lydia at age just ate it.

The equipment is newer and there are two major structures in the playground area. There is a basket ball court, and a boat ramp. Lydia always loves to take a look at the water. Last night we spent a little time throwing sticks in the water, see who could throw the farthest. There are big fields for running and there is an open restroom which is handy for little ones and potty training. We went to a big church egg hunt at this park which was really great.

A few weeks back, we met some friends at Freedom Park located in Pinellas Park on 9990 46th Street. It is tucked away under an over pass behind Bill Jackson's if you are from the the area. The playground area is sandwiched between a pond and a road that runs through the 40 acre memorial park. For our toddlers it was hard not to run towards both of these potentially dangerous places. There were some usual suspects too that clearly didn't have any kids but as a public open park with bike and running trail, there is a bit of that to be expected. I would say this park is best for adults since it also has a large area that have exercise equipment.

The girls love it. It was new and it had a great underneath the play structure area which they repeatedly ran through, but I am not sure if us mommies would be returning anytime very soon. We were glad to check it out, but would have like the playground to be slightly more isolated mostly for safety because kids are fast and though we were by them every second, you never know. There was a cool climbing structure and definitely plenty of picnic areas if that is something that you are looking for.

My goal begining yesterday until the end of August is that we make it to 50 different parks! We are well on our way!

Colossal Fail

It seemed like a great idea to pop a squat near the Bay and some sand to spend a couple of hours in the sun with the girls without having to fight beach traffic, so we opted for near the Gandy bridge. There were a ton of people there. So many of them shoved there cars into the cut out segments of trees with full set ups of chairs, tables, screened houses. Psst... I think these people may live there, all of the time. After a long trek through the dirt, passed the tree lined portion we finally get to the open beach area.

There were a ton of trucks and cars parked along side of the shore. We found a spot and started to unload our things. I thought I was being a minimalist when in fact I might have been a classic over packer. Eliot asked me if I was planning on moving down there. I wonder now if that what the Gandy site does to people, but I digress. We set up the pop up tent for Vivian, poured out the sand toys for Lydia, opened the chairs for us and cracked open a cold water. Vivian was not happy with the tent because her deepest desire was to eat sand. Lydia dug, filled buckets and splashed happily in the water. The sun was out and it was hot. We lathered the on the sunscreen and sand. I have learned that when you sunscreen at the beach you will also have a sand cake on your body, I think of it as an extra layer of protection.

So there we are in the 1:30 sun, with caked sand, and as I dig into the sand with Lydia I notice a smell. A stink. It's taking over. It's coming from the sand. Eric Brockovich comes to mind, with the reminder that there is a chemical plant near by and I assume that they sand is now poisoning my children who will have giant warts on there heads in the morning. I keep calm and don't mention my little bit of crazy. Eliot is fighting to keep Vivian from eating sand and stay in the tent because she won't keep her hat on and it's bright. Finally, she wins we put her at the edge of the shore and she starts splashing around and having a great time.

It all seems like it's going to work out after all. Then Lydia poops. It was our catalyst. Our story turning point. It all went to poop after that. I take Lydia to the car to change her as we are walking I saw shards of glass scattered every where. I picked her up to make it the rest of the way carefully since I too am without shoes. We get to the car and I only have 3 wipes. This is going to require more than 3 wipes. I make due with tissues that Eliot has and put on another diaper. Meanwhile, at the shoreline, Eliot is picking up Vivian because some one's pitbull is running a mock and within inches of her face. I put Lydia in the car and turn it on so she has air conditioning and call to Eliot to pack up.

As we are packing up, a man walks by with a snake hanging from his neck sipping on some Miller Life, the Pitbull guy gets into fight with another guy that has his 2 dogs running around, small family fully dressed are now all submerged into the bay (impromptu Baptism?) and a small pack of very young looking girls with very little bathing suits walk by texting, my guess was that their mom's did not know where they were. With the stinky sand warts as a possible issue as well, we are happily moving a little faster to safety. It turns out that it was not the best location for a couple of hours of sun and fun for our little family.

Sometimes, you have to have a colossal fail. It happens. It is just as important for kids to see you make mistakes and fix them as it is for them to do they same. We got home and took our sand cake selves straight to the shower, watched a little Winnie the Pooh and ate some Cuban burgers.

A Not so Rainy Day

Everyone has a cold so we stayed home all day and had an indoor playground.



Set up the tent inside.



Lydia said she was the wolf and was going to blow house down.



We also had the crawling tube up.



A pile of pillows for lounging.



And Vivi you may wonder? Working on that crawl.



I put a ton of blankets on the floor so she would have a lot of different textures to touch and feel. She really enjoyed that. There was also a coloring corner, a reading corner, a giant basket to throw balls into and this all connected to the play room which didn't get much action today.



Now we are laying in my mom and dads bed resting while watching a Dora marathon. Vivi napped earlier so she is doing nutty things in the pack and play next to us.