Over Thanksgiving we headed back to Western Regional Park in Howard County, MD to explore the playground that was under construction the first time we visited. The playground did not disappoint – the girls spent at least an hour running up and down the playground and playing hide and seek with new park friends.
The playground at this rural park is fenced in with a rubberized surface and has a little bit of everything – swings for all ages, climbing walls, balance beams, slides, tunnels, and plenty of benches. The younger age playground boasts several straight and winding slides, steps with helpful railings, a bouncy bridge, and challenging climbing spots for younger ones. Tots swings and a short climbing wall are also nearby.
The playground for older ages has similar features, but at higher and more challenging levels for the big kids. There are several balance beams, tall slides, climbing walls, a very tall climbing ladder, tunnels, and long walkways – great for running. There is also a tall, volcano-shaped climbing wall nearby, perfect for hide and seek games. This park is great for having multiple younger-aged children as you have good sightline of the whole fenced-in playground.
After exploring the playground area be sure to check out the rest of the park with its soccer fields, spider-web climbing structures, walking trails, and more!
Thumbs up: lots to do, good sightline of playground making it easy to keep track of multiple kids, variety of climbing features
Thumbs down: in windy weather, you’ll catch some interesting smells from nearby farms
One Sunday morning at the end of October I took the girls to the newly opened Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserve. The park is located at 
After parking in the main parking lot, we headed toward the large pavilion and then to the large open space to run and kick the ball around. Down from the large pavilion is an old red farm house and white picket fence leading to a rustic barn, all perfect for an outdoor photo op (which we witnessed while there). In looking at future phases, the farm house looks to be used for the education/art center.
After our walk we rested under the pavilion with snacks and water and then used the compost restroom facilities before heading home. I look forward to coming back to this park over the years to see new developments and to hopefully better time the changing of the colors of the leaves. Check out their list of 
In mid-October we headed to Richmond to celebrate our old college roommates surviving the first year as new parents and their sweet daughter’s first birthday. On the morning of the party we met up with several college friends and all our kids at the 
Beyond the tot playground is another playground area built into the side of a hill with rocks and tree stumps for steps and slides for sliding down the hill. There’s also a small play house, two large disc swings (which were the crowd favorite), bench swings, water tables, musical instruments, and a wheelchair-accessible tree house nearby. The littlest ones in the group loved making music with their hands and mallets while the older ones loved running and exploring the tree house. A paved walking trail leads to basketball courts and other fitness equipment behind the main building.
After some tree house play, the kiddos gathered throughout the largest playground, which features several long ramps connecting the smaller-age play structures with the taller ones. The big kids ran up ramps, flew down slides, and climbed up nets and walls while the younger ones crawled between stumps and held on to nets. Everyone also made time for the cool sensory wall featuring brightly colored mirrors, shiny rocks, spinning wheels and more. Claire and I also took time to walk through the small flower garden area. She loved climbing on the benches and stopping to smell the flowers.
In September we took advantage of a cool, clear Sunday morning to explore Blue Jay Point County Park again with friends. Instead of the hiking and playground time we did during our 
After getting out of the car we walked along the paved trail where we saw the first Natural Play Area sign. We walked a short while and then arrived at the play space, which is opposite from a large open space field. The play space is in a wooded area and features several play areas: sand box with wooden blocks, stumps with hula hoops, bamboo poles with large nylon pieces, and picnic tables. The girls spent time in each area, but thoroughly enjoyed hopping along the stumps and building a hut with the bamboo poles and nylon. We collected more sticks from the nearby woods and pretended to build a fire inside our hut while using the nylon pieces to create roofs, siding and doors. This pretend play has extended to our own backyard where we currently have a large branch collection and old trash bags for building outdoor areas.
Before summer came to an end we headed back up to VA for a final party at my mom’s house before turning it over to new owners. To counteract the bushel of crabs (and beers) we were going to eat that weekend, we headed into downtown Fredericksburg on Saturday morning for a run and some playground time.
The Canal Path is a paved 1.8 mile trail that parallels the canal until Princess Anne St where it then connects back with the Heritage Trail making a loop through downtown. The Canal Path is mostly shaded, making it a great way to escape the summer heat. We passed behind Mary Washington Hospital, ran under Route 1 again, ran by the Wetlands at Gayles Pond, and passed the 
Before summer ended, we explored a new section of Crabtree Creek Trail via bike. With the hot and humid weather, we knew pushing a double stroller would be tough, so why not pull the girls by a bike trailer?! The girls were super excited about the prospect of riding in a bike trailer and despite having to cut our trip short because of a busted bike chain we had a great morning ride and even stumbled upon a new park.
Lockwood Park is small fenced-in park designed mostly for ages 5-12. It has a large climbing rock boulder, sand box with diggers, swings, and large playground with slides and various climbing structures. The playground has a rubberized surface with a picnic table and benches and a nearby open grassy field. The girls loved climbing on the boulders the best, but were also excited to get back into the bike trailer to continue on our ride.
Before preschool started, we headed to Powell Drive Park to check out the playground renovations finished earlier this year. I 
The ages 2-5 playground features bright neon colors with two small ladders, musical drums, slide, tunnel, water/sand table and stepping stones. The playground’s height is short, making it the perfect size for early explorers. Nearby is the ages 5-12 playground with a large spider web rope climbing ladder, curved metal ladder, and tall slide. The big girls loved climbing to the top of the spider web rope and everyone squealed in delight while being pushed on the large, oval swing. The old tennis courts and basketball courts are adjacent to the playground area. There are some large shade trees near the tot swings, but little shade around the ages 2-5 playground. A few benches surround the perimeter of the play area and several moms with small babes had the right idea by bringing a breakfast picnic to the park!
Preschool for both girls is in full swing and the first day of Fall began last week with chilly mornings, which led me to reminisce about our summer adventures. Even though I love schedules, cool air, and pumpkin-seasoned anything I find myself longing for more pool, beach and seafood days and having more of that carefree, energetic spirit! We completed a lot of things on our 
While we spent a lot of time with friends and family over the summer, I will best remember this summer for all the amazing memories we created with my siblings, nieces, and Aunt Jeanne. It’s been a rollercoaster of a summer with lots of “firsts” and some “lasts” and I’m glad to have made it through it with them. For all these reasons and more, summer makes for endless fun and is our favorite season. But, Fall is here now and that means preschool fun, Hokies football and pumpkin beer, so come on Fall 2015!
Blue Jay Point County Park is an outdoor mecca for people of all ages! We visited Blue Jay Point County Park about a month ago after hearing so much great news about the new 
After some playground time, we headed towards the covered pavilion where the Laurel Loop nature trail begins. This was such an ideal walk for young kids – it is a well maintained unpaved trail with lots of shade, has several benches and picnic tables throughout, is only 0.2 miles, allows for a short walk by adjacent Falls Lake, and loops you back to the playground area. All of the girls from ages 18 months to 4 years old loved exploring this trail, especially finding the dozens of caterpillars along the trail.
We then headed outside to the nearby fenced-in garden area for a much deserved picnic lunch. After our lunch we walked all throughout the gardens learning about the different herbs, flowers and vegetables they’ve planted. The biggest highlight for me was the “pizza garden” where they planted lots of basil and tomatoes. The biggest highlight for the girls was spotting butterflies and checking out the resident turtles and water snake in the small pond area.
For Claire’s 2nd birthday this year we decided to take a family trip north to Langhorne, PA to visit 
Here are our thoughts on the Dry Fun Rides:
