Park Week- Day 11

We did it. We survived Park Week. Two weeks of it. Day 11 was our last day. Good thing, too. We didn't put sunscreen on today (except Jr. Jr. got some after the first two parks), and we all got a bit burned (except Jr. Jr.). Not too bad, though. But if you do Park Week, don't forget the sunscreen. For our last day, we decided to head up Provo Canyon to some of the parks we pass often but never stop at. Here's where we went:

Canyon View Park (Provo Canyon).

Playground. Walking trail with signs about the area. Provo River running by. Bridge over the river leading to the Provo River Parkway. We were able to walk easily from this park across the bridge and Parkway to the next park.

Mt. Timpanogos Park (Provo Canyon).

No playground. If you want a nice relaxing walk (not a hike, but a walk), this is a great place for it. Well maintained. Beautiful landscaping. Flowers everywhere. Jeremy and I both had the same first impression- it's like a mini Thanksgiving Point Gardens. It was pleasant.

And the restrooms. There was actually a changing table in the restroom. Whoa. First I've seen during all of Park Week.

We walked from one end of the park to the other where it connected again to the Provo River Parkway and we walked along to Canyon View Park again.

Nunn's Park (Provo Canyon).

Has a campground. Also a little playground. Plenty of picnic tables.

We stopped by to see Bridal Veil Falls. It was so nice. There is a Bridal Veil Falls Park, but we're going to have to try that another time.

Vivian Park (Provo Canyon).

We pass this one all the time on our way up to Big Springs but we've never actually stopped before. We've thought about it but finally got to as part of Park Week. Two playgrounds. Pit toilets, but fancy pit toilets. And the Heber Valley Railroad stops here.

Canyon Glen Park (Provo Canyon).

More bridges over the Provo River.

Another nice relaxing walk. And the playground. It's not your typical playground. It's filled with rocks to practice rock climbing. Fun, huh?

Again, nice restrooms. And it has a little ampitheatre. The kids love putting on little shows.

So we did it. 2 weeks of Park Week. The End.

It was a good family day.

Park Week- Day 10

Day 10 was rough. We got an early start as we all went with Jeremy to BYU for a balloon jam in the morning. But our moods were not working well with each other. We were all having trouble. Once again, maybe it's from being tired or feeling under the weather. We had planned to head out to some parks after BYU, but ended up driving home. As the kids saw us stop in front of our place they started screaming. They didn't want Park Week canceled. Sigh. After a few hours, we finally headed out for Park Week- Day 10. Here's where we went:

Lindon City Park (Lindon).

This had been on the plan for Day 1 and we finally got to it on Day 10. It's right on the way as we drive to Orem and Provo so we're passing it all the time. But these last couple weeks, it has been so full of people having events, we haven't gone. As we were passing it today, there were only a couple cars parked there, so we quickly decided to pull in. The Lindon Heritage Trail goes along the park, but there's not much path through the park. Not even a sidewalk next to the parking lot.

Windsor Park (Orem).

This is one we'd been to before. It has a nice big playground and lots of room to run around. And the bathrooms are decent.

Timp-Kiwanis Bounous Park (Provo).

Try saying that ten times fast.
No walking trail. Just a paved area that goes on the side up and around to the fields (baseball? football? soccer?- I didn't go look), which may or may not be connected to the high school next door.

Between this one and the next we tried going to Rock Canyon Park, but we never got out of the car. It's a great park shaped like a huge bowl. If you watch my brother's video, "Icycling the Movie," a lot of that was filmed at Rock Canyon Park. The non-trees part. Fun. The playgrounds are so close to the pavilions above the bowl that I don't like the idea of playing on them if someone has the pavilions reserved (which someone always does). So we didn't play because I didn't want to put the effort into figuring out parking to let the kids run around the bowl. But it is a park I like. We used to live within walking distance so a friend and I would push our strollers to the park and around. Great for walking.
And today, Nichole saw a raccoon as we were driving around the park, so I had to mention Rock Canyon Park.

Exchange Park (Provo).

Big playground. Big park. Long. Another park that has the Provo River Parkway running alongside it. You can get some nice exercise just by walking from one end of the park to the other. Lots and lots of room to run around.

It was a rough day. We all have them. Maybe two weeks is too long for Park Week. Maybe a week and a half would be better. Maybe getting sick in the middle isn't the best idea, either. So when you do your own Park Week, make sure you're taking your Vitamin C. You'll definitely be getting Vitamin D from the sun.

It was a rough family day... but it was a family day.

Park Week- Day 9

Park Week- Day 9. Here's where we went:

Cherryhill Park (Orem).

Nice walking path. It actually went all the way around the playground. Often the walking paths will be on only one or two sides, so I can't always see the kids if I've got the stroller and they're on the other side of the playground. This one was nice. And the path went throughout the rest of the park as well. No stroller on the grass at this park.

Carterville Park (Provo).

This is not the easiest park to get to. If you don't know how to get there, you can't just find it by driving in the general direction. Believe me. We've tried. But thanks to planning and Google Maps, I figured out how to get there from three different directions, so we were ready this time. When you do get there, it's got a nice little playground, huge open field, lots of picnic tables, and 1/4 mile path.

Riverside Park (Provo).

Along the Provo River Parkway. The Parkway connects this park with the next park. Don't use the men's bathroom. We heard there was going to be flooding in Utah this Summer. We just didn't realize it would all be in the men's bathroom at Riverside Park.

Paul Ream Wilderness Park (Provo).

Wilderness. Playground. Duck pond.

Wilderness. Pavilions. Bridge from the parking lot to the park over the Provo River.

Little bridges over small streams in the back of the park. More wilderness. Picnic tables with BBQ grills in the wilderness.

It was a little wilderness, but still enough to explore. I ran off exploring while Jeremy stayed with the kids at the playground. The wilderness area is definitely not suitable for strollers (watch out for the mud), so next time we come, we'll bring the Snugli. And we ran out of time, so we'll definitely go back to give everyone a chance to explore.

It was a good family day.

Park Week- Day 8

Day 8, we got off to a really bad start. Jeremy was gone all day yesterday on a balloon build and was very tired and stiff today. For the rest of us, there was no Park Week yesterday. I came down with a cold, so didn't feel up to walking to a nearby park with the three kids. Obviously the cold is still around, so I didn't feel that great today.
We finally did get out in the late afternoon and headed up to American Fork. Maybe it was the weather (but it's been raining most of Park Week anyway so I don't think it was). Maybe it was how we were feeling (probably). Maybe it was that American Fork just isn't as pleasant to us as Pleasant Grove. I hope nobody takes offense at that. It's just personal opinion. Whatever it was, it was not the best Park Week day. We only had time to go to one park before going home so Jeremy could get to work. It took us four tries to get to one park.

The first park we went to had not the most pleasant looking playground, it was old and had a big metal trashcan right at the bottom of one of the slides. We stayed in the car.
The next park didn't have a parking lot and the streets were so narrow, I didn't think it was wise to try to park anywhere along the street.
The next park looked decent enough, except I didn't want to have to deal with parking on the street again.
Finally, I KNEW of a park we could go to, one the kids and I had been to before, and I know we had been able to park there before. Here's where we went:

Robinson Park (American Fork):

No actual parking lot next to the park, but enough room on the street that many cars were parked diagonally. Comfortable that way. And the park is on the same lot as the American Fork Library, so the library has parking.
It was raining when we got there, but there was no way I was going to keep the kids from playing at this park. Jr. Jr. was asleep so Jeremy stayed in the car with him. The rain chased everyone else away so we had the playground to ourselves. The kids loved playing in the rain and I hid under the trees with the camera. I don't like the idea of the baby being in the rain, but letting the older kids play in it like this feels so good and reminiscent of my childhood in the Pacific Northwest. Hurray for rainy Park Week.

We finally decided it was time to go when it started hailing.

This is Jr. saying "Ow," because the hail was hitting him on the head.

It was pouring down as we headed home. And it was an adventure getting everyone and everything inside.

So even if we're not feeling well, at least we got out in the rain.

It was a rainy family day.

Park Week- Day 7

Here we are. Week 2 of Park Week. It seems like so long ago that we were having our special parade at Hill Park, yet it was only a week ago. We've been to so many parks since then. We might be getting a little Park Weeked out. But the kids really want to keep going.
Day 7 was kind of crazy. We had a hard time getting ready. The kids and I were going to go to a few parks while Jeremy waited for UPS to deliver a box of balloons. Then we'd come back and pick him up to come with us for Family Home Midday. Well, UPS showed up before we got out so we changed our plans and all headed out. Here's where we went:

Nielson's Grove (Orem).

This is one we go to fairly often, but we read on a website that the museum in the park is open during the summer. We thought it would be neat to go to the museum to find out a little more about Jorgen Christian Nielson, the Danish man who first started the park in 1876. The museum is in a building built to be the same size as Nielson's house, 480 feet, three rooms, where he and his wife raised eight children.

We made sure to go between the hours listed on the website, but the doors of the house were locked. Oh well. We'll still be coming back to this one as once again, it's one we already do come to.

Fort Utah (Provo).

We'd been wanting to visit this one to see the replica of the fort. We had FHM there then walked around the fort.

What this park was noticeably lacking was paved walking paths. There was a lot of stroller pushing through grass. The Provo River Parkway did run along one side of the park, but it wasn't part of the park and it wasn't anywhere near the pavilions or playground.

We needed to get Jeremy home after that because he had a lot of work to do at home, and by the time we'd driven back to Pleasant Grove, Jr. was asleep again.

If you compare the picture from Day 1 of him sleeping to Day 7 of him sleeping, you can see he's wearing the same shirt. Must be his park shirt.

After Jr. woke up, we had dinner, then Jr. Jr. fell asleep. So we left him with Jeremy who needed to get some work done and Jr., Nichole, and I hopped into the car to go to some more parks. We tried a couple close by, which were filled, so it wasn't worth stopping. So we headed to a city we hadn't been to yet.

Evergreen Park (American Fork).

There were a lot of people for some kids' football practice, but there were only a few kids on the playground and plenty of room to park.

We went home to get Jr. Jr. who was awake then went out to one more park because the kids really wanted to.

Chrisville Park (Pleasant Grove).

A dinky little park near our church building. It's one of those parks where you wouldn't guess it was there unless you knew where to look. A little dirt driveway separates it from the road. Since it was so close, I knew I could take the kids there quickly then bring them home to get them to bed.

It was a good family day.

Park Week- Day 6

Park Week- Day 6. Here's where we went:

Sharon Park (Orem).

Profanity written on the playground slide. We didn't stay long.

Cascade Park (Orem).

Nice hill for rolling down. And on the other side was a field, lots of space for running around, and the hill makes it nice and cut off from the road. The walking path was pleasant going around the hill and through the park.

Riverview Park (Provo).

Three walking trails connected to one another. One is 1/4 mile, one is 1/3 mile, the other is 1/2 mile. There is a little stream/creek/brook with bridges over it as well as cattails. So pleasant to see. You can hear the river running on the other side of a big wall. Also pleasant to hear. Two playgrounds. We had lunch in a pavilion while it rained a lot.

Sherwood Hillside Park (Provo).

It stopped raining by the time we left the other park so we decided to take a look at this park. I'm glad we did. The slides were wet from the rain but in general the playground wasn't soaked. This is the place to work out your leg muscles. The walking trail is switchbacks down and up. You can skip the switchbacks if you really want to as there is a shorter trail up to the sidewalk by the street.

There is another little brook and more cattails and lots and lots of wildflowers.

And this park is clean. If I were to recommend a restroom in a city park, this would be the one. Automatic flush toilets, automatic sink, soap dispenser WITH soap, hand blow dryer. The corners of the new toilet paper rolls were folded over to find the end easily, and even the floor looked like it had been swept. Either no one ever uses the restrooms in this park or it is very well maintained. I'm leaning toward the latter since the BBQ grills at the pavilions also looked like they had been cleaned.

While getting back in the car to head home, we just happened to look across the street to see "Osmond Lane." We were in Provo after all. I never knew before where in Provo the Osmonds were from. Now I know.

It was a good family day.

P.S. Here's what Nichole thought of Park Week- Day 6:
"The last park was my favorite."