Playgrounds and Parks In Carmel, Indiana

This week's travel post is part two of a series of our visit to see our grandchildren in Carmel, Indiana.  If you missed last week's travel post where we visited Coxhall Gardens, you can find it HERE.

This past summer we spent a week with our grandchildren in Carmel, Indiana.  We spent a good part of our week visiting an assortment of parks that the little ones would enjoy, but the adults found them just as much fun as the kids!

One of the best parks we went to was Central Park.  It is a 159 acre park that has six miles of trails that wind through native prairies, wetlands, and woodlands. It also has a fantastic futuristic playground called Westermeir Commons. This playground is nestled into a hill with 25,000 square feet of play space. It is wheelchair friendly so children with all abilities can enjoy it.  A colorful, soft outdoor safety carpet covers the entire play space.  

Below Alethea and I are playing "Airplane".  She loved running up and down the small hills.

The Commons area also offers a picnic area, outdoor classroom space, restrooms, an open meadow, a lagoon, and a boardwalk.

Like I said earlier, us big kids enjoyed playing on this playground as much as the little ones.  Below is my son flying in circles on one of the playgrounds equipment.

There is also a splash pad adjacent to the playground.  The splash pad is designed to match the nature surrounding it.  There are spray features and geysers resembling cattails, flowers, and animals.

After we played a bit, we headed out to check out the lagoon.  A beautiful, wide paved trail meanders through a meadow and alongside the lagoon.

A boardwalk takes you over the lagoon so you can get a closer look at all the waterfowl and cattails.

It is so fun to be walking on top of the water on the boardwalk.  We thought the bridge looked so pretty and interesting, we continue our hike to see what lay ahead.

This pretty photo was taken from the top of the bridge.

My family:  Ashley in the front, with her hubby and dad pushing Atticus in the stroller.  My son Jordan is standing on top of the bridge and Alethea is with him, but is too short to be seen.

Underneath the bridge...what a photographers dream, eh?  I have so many photos of Alethea following her Uncle Jordan from behind.  Such a cutie pie!

Another "park" we went to isn't a park at all, but just a fun spot in downtown Carmel.  It was our first night in Carmel and after a long eight hour drive we deciding to spend our evening taking a walk.  Downtown Carmel is only a short walk from my children's old apartment.  Here there are lots of posh restaurants and shops, but also plenty to entertain the kids too.  My husband and son enjoyed a game of ping pong while Alethea looked on.

Atticus enjoyed playing on the playground equipment.  What a handsome boy he is turning out to be!

My husband and I are not ones to sit on a park bench and watch the kids play.  We always get right in and join them!  I think the grandkids really enjoy having Grandma & Grandpa play on the equipment with them.

Alethea loves to climb and here she is right at the top!  I love the safety netting.

And finally, just a quick photo of Grandpa with his grandson.  This adorable picture was taken at my son-in-laws school.  Jason gave us a tour of his office and his school, and we stopped a bit to let the kids play on some equipment while we were there.

 Playgrounds have sure changed a lot since I was a kid.  "In my day" a playground consisted of a singular metal slide, some swings like the ones pictured above, monkey bars with concrete underneath, a seesaw, and maybe one of those spinning circular things if you were lucky.  Yet, I remember we loved it!  We never saw ourselves as disadvantaged and I don't remember anyone getting seriously hurt.  My have times changed!  I can't even imagine growing up with the playgrounds kids have today.  I wonder if they realize how spoiled they are?  😀

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

An Afternoon At Bisons Bluff

When I spent a week with my daughter and her family this past summer, we visited a lot of parks.   One of the parks that really stood out to me was Bison's Bluff located in Schaumburg Illinois.

Bison's Bluff is a very unique playground because it is situated in a natural setting and uses all natural materials like logs, boulders, sand, water, etc.  It also includes nature themed play structures that resemble a rock bluff, flowing streams, wetland, and a beaver lodge.

There aren't live Bison in Bison's Bluff, but there is a huge Bison statue right in front of the main play area.  The nearby climbing structure resembles a multi-tiered tree house.

I climbed into the tree house with Alethea.  We had so much fun exploring all the nooks and crannies.

Alethea was so excited to find this hammock that just her size.

Alethea loved climbing on this large grasshopper.

Water exploration is the favorite attraction for the kids in this park.

Nothing is off limits in this park.  The kids can get right inside the streams and wade.  The park was built with the philosophy that most children benefit physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally through imaginative play in natural settings.  Children that live in large cities often do not have access to natural settings, so the park recreated it's own natural setting in this playground.  Nearby is also a nature center, farm,  and nature trails.

Alethea loved all the fun water features, like this frog that squirts water out of his mouth.

The park also has a musical area with wood and metal percussion instruments.  Oh, it would have been fun if my son, a professional percussionist, would have been with us this day.  He would have had a blast with these toys.

After we finished playing at the park we took one of the nature trails and discovered this pond filled with water lilies.  There was also a family of ducks swimming.  

The park is located at 1111 E. Schaumburg Rd., Schaumburg Illinois and is open 

• April – October, Tuesday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. (Monday hours, Noon-8 p.m.)
• November-March, Daily, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (weather permitting) 

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!