This past winter has been one of the longest I’ve seen since moving to Raleigh over 11 years ago so when the temps hovered above 45 degrees in January we headed to North Cary Park with a friend and her girls for a short run and playground time. North Cary Park is located at 1100 Norwell Blvd in Cary off of Cary Pkwy. It’s a very large park situated along the northern end of Black Creek Greenway. Before having kids we used to bike through Umstead Park on the Reedy Creek Trail and connect to Black Creek Greenway at Lake Crabtree. This was a fun way to extend our mileage and explore the Town of Cary greenway system.
But, back to our recent trip. After arriving at North Cary Park we winded through the park’s slightly confusing trails and eventually met up with Black Creek Greenway where we headed south. The trail itself is a paved 7.1 total miles and winds between various neighborhoods and the creek. We passed several bikers and runners along the way so we felt very safe. We ran until the 2.25 mile mark of the greenway and then headed back. The creek will make for some fun water playtime in the warm summer months.

After running, we had some sweet, patient toddlers who needed to get exercise on the playground. This playground area has a large sandbox area, several slides built into the small hills, a rock climbing area, tot swings, regular swings, a jungle gym for ages 5-12, and a small rubberized area great for the crawlers and early walkers. With the dense landscaping and so many park features that are spread out, it made it harder for us to keep track of the toddlers while also tending to the babies. After lots of toddler wrangling we were able to enjoy some time in the sandbox area, which has several benches along the perimeter. Claire even enjoyed her first tot swing and Ashley was able to practice her potty training at the nearby restrooms, complete with a toddler-height sink.
Other than the playground and greenway, this park also has a large pavilion with a dozen tables overlooking 4 sand volleyball courts named after Julie Robison, 2 basketball courts, and a soccer field. Benches and picnic tables are scattered throughout the playground area and before heading down to the greenway. With so many friends with kiddos who train for running races, this is a great place to run solo or with kids combined with a playground visit!
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Thumbs up: variety of park features, safety of greenway, rubberized option for infants/early walkers, running/playground combo for those with strollers and kids
Thumbs down: confusing signage leading down to greenway trails, playground features being so spread out making it harder to keep an eye on independent toddlers

Ashley’s favorite play structure at this park was the play chicken coop designed for ages under 2. She loved throwing mulch down the egg shoot for her friend to catch at the bottom. This play area is covered and great for early walkers as kids can access it by a small ramp or short steps.
The week after Claire was born we had lots of family helping keep us sane while adjusting to life with two sweet girls. My sweet mother-in-law, Janet (aka Gaga), came to visit for several days and for one outing we explored Longstreet Dr. Playground, which is less than 10 minutes from our house. Longstreet Playground is a neighborhood park located off Six Forks Rd, just north of Lynn Rd at
The playground at Baileywick Park was closed this past winter so we finally made a visit in late May. Baileywick Park is located in Northwest Raleigh at
A few months ago we headed to Va Beach for a fun girl trip with my sis, mom and aunt who had flown in from CA. I rarely get back to that area, but have lots of fun memories with trips when we were young, high school field hockey state championship games, and the Wicked 10K race a few years ago. Even though the weather was super chilly and a bit rainy we still found some time to explore a nearby park, which happened to be oceanfront.
A few months ago we headed north with a friend and her daughter to Creedmoor to visit
One of the biggest hits of the day was the mud kitchen. Having a two year old means they are just starting to play pretend and I felt like this was a great introduction to mimicking what mommy and daddy do in the kitchen. The mud kitchen area has stoves, fridges, baking supplies, counters, sinks, and a large bath tub of dirt for the kids to mix with water. They enjoyed stirring mud batter, making mud pies and cooking them in the oven. Parents, not to worry – there is a water supply nearby for cleaning up. After the mud kitchen, we headed over to the picnic area for a yummy lunch. Food is not available for purchase at the park, so be sure to bring lots of water, snacks and a lunch. The picnic area is nicely shaded with plenty of tables and nearby bathrooms that were in great condition. The sling shot area is also close to the picnic spot, but we didn’t venture over there knowing the girls would be a bit too young for it.
With our weekly trips (if not more frequent) to Shelley Lake for
A few months ago Ashley and I explored Cedar Hills Park, just a fews minutes from our new neighborhood. Cedar Hills is located in North Raleigh at
The playground has a wood chip base with a small sandbox play area. There are two playgrounds – one for tots and one for the older kids. Cedar Hills also has plenty of swings for everyone – four tot swings and four big kid swings. There are a few benches along the perimeter of the playground. Adjacent to the playground are the tennis courts, complete with a backboard for single play. The basketball courts are also nearby. The park sits amongst a dense forest, which is a great backdrop for the 18-hole frisbee golf course. Each time we’ve visited this park, the playground has been rather empty while the frisbee golf has been pretty busy.
This week we took advantage of the gorgeous Monday weather and headed over to Green Road Park before meeting a friend for lunch. Green Road is a large, open park with very nice amenities. It is located at 4201 Green Road between Wake Forest Rd and Capital Blvd. It has a large community center, two baseball fields, six sand volleyball courts, two basketball courts, four tennis courts with a backboard for individual play, a pavilion, and a large playground area with nearby restrooms. We didn’t have a chance to visit the community center, but the 




















