Curtis Hixton Park

Over the weekend we took an afternoon and headed to Curtis Hixon Park in Downtown Tampa. We needed an activity to get as much energy out of our toddler as possible. We have annual passes to the Glazer Children's Museum and we invited Grandpa G to join us.


The museum always seems to have something slightly new for her to explore and do. Plus as she gets older there are new things for her to do. The last time I was there with the girls was on Lydia's second birthday and Vivian was only 5 weeks old. Now even the baby has designated areas that she can crawl and interact with new things. She really liked the crawl tube but seemed to be stuck in the middle. She sat there and laughed for a long time until Dad helped her out, not because she couldn't crawl through but because she was taking her sweet time coming out.



The one area that Lydia has always loved is the dance studio where you can select from various different music options, dance under a disco ball and in front of your own reflection that is projected by cameras. The only down fall is that there is always some kid that just wants to push the buttons of the music choices and stops all the dancing. Prior to that inevitable occurrence, Lydia danced. Vivian built a few things and played with some toys.

After being inside in the museum for a couple of hours Lydia was ready to return to the out doors. The Curtis Hixon Park is host to many big events for the Tampa Bay area, especially this time of year where the weather hasn't ushered everyone indoors quite yet. It sits adjacent to the Children's Museum and the Museum of Art and runs into the sidewalk that lines the Hillsborough River. The playground looks over the river to a picture perfect image of the University of Tampa, whose unique architecture adds a rich feature to the skyline.


The park has several traditional and non traditional playground items. My favorite is a cool sound light game. Where you can pick a setting like ninja and you hit the light that pops up with a tone as quickly as possible. There is a multi-player function that makes it really challenging but fun.



Lydia fell in love with hammock. When she would open her eyes and pop off of it, she would sprint back if she thought another kid was going to get on it. At first sort of cute after a while several conversations about sharing were had.



There are public restrooms which is always nice for potty training kids and, well frankly all people, since we all use restrooms. Nestled near there is a vendor that sells drinks, snacks and ice creams. We picked up a popsicle for us each and tucked our mini-party under some shady shelter that overlooked the river. It was a really nice afternoon.











Both girls fell asleep on the way home which was a nice treat for us all. Curtis Hixon Park normally has a large green field area that is set up in large steps for outdoor concerts and events. On this day the remnants of the Friday and/or Saturday  night festivities were still there, so it wasn't the best day to take a picture that would invite others to come to a normally beautiful park, however on an average day it's a nice place to grab lunch and pop a squat on the grass and enjoy the rare juxtaposition of city and nature.

The park also has to fountain areas that kids will frequently play in. Many parents will use these areas as mini-splash parks, I am not sure that was the original intention, though it is certainly encouraged on a hot summer day. Even on this fairly chilly Spring afternoon, there were about 3-5 older elementary kids running through the fountains. I am not normally a big seller of Tampa, since I find the culture of St. Pete to be more my style, regardless this area is a great place for a family afternoon.

Meadowlawn Park

As often as possible we try to go do something in the evenings with the girls. Yesterday we were all packed up and ready to roll when we realized that the Abuelos had accidently left with Vivian's car seat. Feeling stuck, I quickly looked at Google maps on my phone and saw the closest green spaces. One was Rio Vista Park which are very close friends the Newman's will be moving right next too in a few weeks and the other was Meadowlawn Park. We decided to check out the latter. The map showed that there was a small lake next to it, so grabbed some duck food (old bread that we keep in the garage frig for these occasions) and started our walk. I grabbed a ball, small thing of bubbles and butterfly net as accessories to our play in case all there was there when we arrived was grass, but we were happily surprised to learn that only 1.3 miles from our house was a full playground, really nice grassy area with plenty of shade and benches.
We all know how much I like a fenced in play area for the kids and this one served us beautifully. There were little slides and big slides. Little swings and big swings. Things for Lydia to climb and the cushy fairly clean ground was perfect for Vivian to crawl on.

Soon after we were there, a little boy and his dad came to play. The little boy, Julian beckoned by my daughter as simply, "Boy!" was a perfect playmate.  It's hard not to laugh a little when she does this but clearly there potentially a host of reasons why this is unacceptable. Not only is it a little bit racist even though the family was Bulgarian but we, as humans, should not simply be boiled down to our gender, for any reason. So we redirected her from calling him "Boy!" to calling him Julian.The kids played for a long time together. His dad was delightful, Eliot and he enjoyed casual conversation about playing soccer and he invited Eliot to go play pick up adult soccer on Sunday afternoons at a nearby school. My husband could not have been more excited.

We hung around for a long while, probably a little longer than necessary because we were having such a good time. There was a small group of high schoolers playing football respectfully in the grassy field and we feed the ducks. There weren't too many of them there but the kids still enjoyed it. Julian and Lydia hugged before they left and we decided that we would all see each other soon. A parents' first meeting much like a first date. Everyone is super excited to have some one to connect to, our new friend also had a wife at home with a new baby girl, a friend potentially for Vivian!

After doing my request research it turns out that this park suffered an arson almost a year ago. The families of the neighborhood were clearly shocked that someone or some group would target their park. Luckily, the city of St. Petersburg worked hard and replaced the playground in full. It is a brand new park tucked away and we are so happy we accidently found it.

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Rainy Night, Energetic Kids

Last night was a very rainy and my husband was at work, therefore it was my responsibility to entertain the girls. I will admit that I might have over done it last night but I really would rather stay busy than plant them in front of the TV. I started with letting her create a scene from the Melissa and Doug removable sticker books. These are great. I pull the stickers off the sheet and put them in the Tupperware container you see next to her. That way she can grab them as she likes.


The idea is that she had something to do while I got the more complicated art project ready. This QTip painting project was on Pinterest and I was even able to print out a couple of pictures. The pictures have tiny circles inside of them where the child is suppose to place the tip of the QTip. This is great to work on small motor skill development. Lydia started out strong but afterwards was over it. It was too much to do. I should have picked a small or simpler image. When she was done, I transitioned her to play do, which she could do forever and it gave me time to clean up and feed Vivi who was playing in the high chair nearby.





After the art portion of the evening, the rain was down to a drizzle for a bit, I decided it was time for puddle jumping. I put on her a little too big, but were on super sale rain boots and rain coat. It took her a little bit to get into the puddle jumping but our super sweet older neighbors to the left came over and played with her while Vivian and I camped out in the garage. She was soaked but had a great time.


After the puddles we had a little dinner and made some banana bread. I have very basic recipe that I use that my mom loves and I usually give her the loaves. The mashing of bananas is super fun and easy for Lydia at this stage. This type of recipe you just pour everything into the same bowl stir, grease the loaf pan, heat over to 350 and cook for 60 minutes. By the way, I did pour the batter into the pan myself and then posed her for a picture. She is a great help, but she is 2.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of bananas
2 cups flour
3/4 brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs

After the baking we took a group bath. They played in the water for a long time and then we got into pjs for a group story time. These days story time is Lydia and I paying keen attention to the story and Vivian crawling all over us until the end.



You may wonder where Vivian was during so many events. Usually she was very close by, so during art she was in the high chair eating and during puddles she was being held by either me or Emma, the 10 year old neighbor. For a bit I dragged the high chair to the garage and gave her some baby favorites like straws to chew or cold teething items both which are a hit. But she had time to play on her own with the music table and host a little tea party.





It was great fun. Once they were both in bed asleep, I had to go through all the stations of the house and completely clean up our various messes. I was a pooped out mama, but it was a great, educational at times, completely free night, even though it was rainy. Both girls fell asleep instantly.
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Straub Park

Straub Park split by North and South by 2 Avenue North. The South Park tends to have a little less activity, however it does have quite a bit of modern art and some classic statues. It also has a nice sidewalk area that cuts straight through the middle of the park.

Yesterday I tool Lydia to North Straub Park for the Painting in the Park event sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St. Pete which is adjacent to the park. It was a great time. The banyan trees that line the area provide a lot of shade and the wide space in the middle of the park was a perfect clearing for the kites that we made with the help of the St. Pete Kite Club. Several other community vendors where there including Amley and Amley orthodontics were there making thumb molds for the kids which as a former brace-face I loved. Lydia's is so small they were able to mold her entire hand.

Straub Park is located downtown St. Petersburg between the gorgeous waterfront that holds the Classic St. Pete pier and St. Pete Yacht Club. On the other side is the very hip happening area  filled with restaurants, bars and novelty shops. Currently in construction is the Baywalk area which houses a great movie theater that usually has a least a handful of independent films plus the latest blockbuster.

This park is a great place to people watch, have a picnic and let your kid run in the open field. This was the location of our first family photos and that is what Lydia did, run! Sprint is more like it. This park was also the host of Snowfest. Snowfest kicked off with a Christmas parade that ended with the arrival of Santa which sets up camp for at the park for the holiday season. There are times posted for families to take kids to talk to Santa, a mailbox that is directly for connected to the North Pole and every things is decorated with festive lights. From tree lighting to ice skating to illuminated boat parade it is a great place to enjoy during the holidays.

 

During the month of May, there are movies in the park that are free of charge. Some vendors are there, seating is first come first serve. There is a good selection of movies including a family friendly option, this year is E.T. July 4th there are fireworks on the water, there always seems to be something happening at Straub Park. Parks aren't always just places for kids to climb on playground equipment. Parks are places where communities can gather and enjoy the outdoors; fresh air and this park is ideal for just that.

Temple Terrace Parks

Yesterday we spent the day in North Tampa, also know as Temple Terrace, with the Grandparents Gaurkee. We went to 2 different parks that had very different things to offer. The first was a small gated park off of 56th Street on Whiteway Drive, officially called the Omar K. Lightfoot Park.

There were several odd elements to this park. There is a pond at the center that is fenced off and sadly a couple of punk kids broke in to try to hit ducks with metal pipes. Luckily we were watching them very closely but admittedly it clouded our experience a bit. There is a portion of the park that is in direct sunlight which caused some of the play elements to be to hot to play on. There weren't any traditional elements like slides and monkey bars, even the swings were different. Not necessarily bad swings because both Gram and I loved them because they were comfy. Vivian really liked swinging as you can see by the close up pic of me holding her.

The  best thing that this park had to offer was the musical elements. They had giant xylophone and drums which of course my daughter adored because she likes playing band all the time! I also likes that they had a couple elements that required imaginative play, like this picture below. Lydia decided it was a ticket booth and would sell us tickets.

Later on in the evening after dinner we headed to Riverhills Park and Preserve which is nestled behind Riverhills Elementary along side of the Hillsborough River. I thought it was beautiful. Being a St. Pete girl I haven't spent too much time by the river since we are on a peninsula that is within a peninsula, so tons of water and not much need to look for more.

This playground was wide open and had so many fun and different elements to it. Again a focus on the musical instruments which was fun, but also an old school merry-go-round made safe with seats that have backs. There were sensory areas that were tiled with different textures including stones and fake grass.

There were twisty and turny things, but I have to say there is something about the swings, slides and monkey bars that my kid likes. She eagerly checked this out  but it took her a little bit to figure out how things worked.

We stopped and bought bread on the way, so we could feed the ducks. It was a nice change from other of our duck feeding experiences since we weren't bullied by seagulls. Even the squirrels got into the fun. It was pretty fun to see a squirrel with an entire slice of bread happily sitting in a tree.



The boardwalk along the river is filled with pieces that have been dedicated by families mostly to lost loved ones. There is something about a community putting something together that is a beautiful testament to the human spirit. Some of the pieces where old and some quite new.

It is a very shady park. It was perfect last night last because there was a soft refreshing breeze and the shade made it even more comfortable for a hot summer night I would totally recommend this park. In the past we have also gone to this park for their annual art festival more on these types of events can be found at the Temple Terrace city site.

Some of you may be thinking, Temple Terrace a city? I know how you may feel. It's like saying Pinellas Park is a city. However it turns out that both are, whether I believe it or not. My favorite Temple Terrace event has been the 4th of July. They had their own fireworks and the whole community gathered on the golf course and clubhouse parking lot to watch them. Since they are a small city, it was a perfect family event, to enjoy the fire works without too much of a crowd. We actually walked there.
   All in all a lovely day of park exploration. Temple Terrace has many other recreation areas and is very close to  Lettuce Park.


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