North Cary Park- What a Wonderful Place To Play!

So officially I am a park mom. My kids love them more than chocolate milk!

We drove all the way to North Cary, got lost too, I might add, so check out a park I heard about -- North Cary Park.

This place was beautiful, much like most of Cary's parks. They just take such beautiful care of their parks. The first thing we saw brought me to tears: four, pristine volleyball courts with perfect sand and nets almost at the right height. I am a volleyball player (or was a decade ago) and I was pretty geeked out about them. And my kids loved the second biggest sandbox they'd ever seen. (2nd only to the beach)

 After the courts excursion, we took a walk on a little trail to find a climbing wall. They are too young to climb it, but they played a little game or running peak-a-boo for about 20 minutes. I got to sit and watch and loved every minute. Then we found the playground, or at least part of it. It had a real sandbox, jungle gym, great slide and a little "house" to play in.

The moms were wonderful, bathrooms close and we played well into lunch hour. It was a total success. My only complaint was the slide & stairs leading up to it were really steep for my little one (2). She did fine but I was a wreck thinking she'd fall. She didn't! This park was worth the drive, and I will certainly go there again.

1100 Norwell Blvd
Cary, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Clean park, great sandbox, climbing wall (for older kids to climb and younger kids to run around), friendly people, restrooms close by, two slides, balance toys on the jungle gym, and lots of space to run around away from the playground.

LOW LIGHTS: The slides were a bit "fast" for my littlest one and the stairs headed up were pretty steep. I held my breath most of the time she was on the stairs. My GPS also did not pick this up and I got lost (probably user error more than anything, but I had to share just in case).

COST: Free!

Bond Park - Lazy Daze Playground is Wonderful

Shhhhh ... don't tell. We fed the duckies! I've been meaning to go to Bond Park in Cary for months but finally made it to play.

I took two toddlers and headed straight to the Lazy Daze Playground. What a great playground! There were two swing sets- one for babies and the other for big kids, two jungle gyms (one for big, and one for smaller kids) and two sandboxes. It was a lot of fun, and the parents and grandparents were so nice.

Then the girls and I headed for the boat dock. There is a trail, docks and even a little beach where we fed the ducks some bread. The hardest part was the parking situation. To park close to the playground meant you were a longer walk from the dock. I wish I had brought my double stroller because it was just a little too far of a walk for my rapidly tiring toddlers to hoof it on the way back. So we drove.

With older kids, no problem...  with the really small ones it's a bit more challenging.

Bond Park is wonderful, but the facilities are pretty spread out. Below is a list of features at Fred G. Bond Metro Park from the webpage on the Town of Cary website.

• Bond Lake
• Bond Park Boathouse
• Challenge Ropes Course
• Sertoma Amphitheatre
• Kiwanis Picnic Shelter
• Lazy Daze Playground
• Buehler Picnic Shelter
• Athletic fields
• Multi-use field
• 4.2 miles of trails
• Compost Education Center
• Screened Porch

801 High House Road
Cary, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Beautiful park, lots of options for kids big and small, nice playground, great dock area and beach-like area to feed duckies, lots of sitting areas, very well maintained.

LOW LIGHTS: This park is really spread out, so you have to park and walk if you're going to visit more than one hot spot, bathrooms were not close to the playground.

COST: Free!

It's a Park; It's a School - STOP You're Both Right!

I packed up the girls and a small lunch and headed out for a picnic at Middle Creek School/Park, which is in that part of Cary, NC that really could be Holly Springs or Apex, too. I was a little worried that I was driving to a school that wouldn't let you play during school hours. But this was a true park, and it wasn't an issue.

I really liked this park! I cannot believe how many times I've driven past it and never knew it was there. I don't think it's far from Crowder Park, which is Apex but could be Cary or Raleigh, too. As the crow flies, it looks like they're about 1-2 miles apart.

Of course, if it has a sandbox my kids love it, especially the 3-year-old. Also, there were two separate jungle gyms. Both were wonderful. The larger of the two had a bridge, several slides, monkey bars and slides. But I loved the other one because it was shaded by a large, permanent umbrella. The slides on the bigger one got a little hot so we cruised on over to the other one. There are lots of places for parents to sit that are really close to the equipment. There is a nice-size grassy area where you can kick around a ball or just play tag, and some people brought a little airplane and were flying it around behind us on what looked like a field. I wish I'd payed more attention to my surroundings. I think I was a little groggy. It really was a nice park. Also, something I hadn't seen until today, there was an actual rock for climbing. It was a huge draw for the older kids. J (3-year-old) had a little trouble with it but tried anyway, which I love.

I loved the shelter. It was very clean. I will definitely go back when I have more energy!

123 Middle Creek Park Drive
Cary, North Carolina 27539

HIGHLIGHTS: Beautiful play area, grassy spot to run around or kick a ball, shaded jungle gym, very clean sandbox, swings for big and very little kids, clean shelter, rock to climb (VERY COOL).

LOW LIGHTS: It got a little hot when we were there, and most of the area isn't very shady. Also, for my 1-year-old old, it's too easy to get to the parking lot quickly and since the school is nearby, there was a bit of "lunch break" traffic.

COST: Free!