R.S. Dunham "DAD" Park in Cary - Nice Traditional Park, nothing special though

R.S. Dunham Park in Cary is a park I've passed a dozen times but never stopped to play, so I made a special trip with the kids to check it out.  

This is a well-shaded park, and the equipment stayed much cooler when the hot sun hit it than most parks with full sun. It has big equipment for the bigger kids, a see-saw, swings, a large sandbox, basketball courts, tennis courts and this cool little spinny thing that was being dominated by big kids having an absolute blast - so I steered the little ones away to keep them safe.

I didn't see the bathrooms nearby, but the website says there are restrooms there. The tennis courts are lighted at night, too, for the "big" kids enjoyment.

There wasn't anything really special about this park, except for the merri-go-round that the big kids were enjoying so thoroughly. And I am not a fan of the playground mulch because my kids are constantly complaining about the mulch in their shoes. But I did enjoy the nice shaded areas and the great big sandbox, which my kids could play in for hours.

It's an average park, to be honest, so I wouldn't go out of my way to visit but if you're nearby it's certainly worth a pit stop for the little ones. My kids lasted less than 30 minutes before getting bored.

519 Walnut St

Cary, NC

 

HIGHLIGHTS: This park is pretty well shaded, with gorgeous mature trees surrounding the playground and basketball courts, great big sandbox and a fun little merri-go-round like none I've ever seen before.

LOW LIGHTS: Not a big fan of the playground much they have here, and there's not much to it.

COST:  FREE!

Jordan Lake - A Beach Visit That's Not 3 Hours Away!

My husband teases me, as I am from Minnesota originally, that I call any area with sand by a body of water a beach. Dictionary.com, by the way, defines a beach as "the part of the shore of an ocean, sea, large river, lake, etc., washed by the tide or waves." So I was right! (Na na-nah boo-boo!)

 "Let's go to the beach, mom!" my little one woke and immediately demanded a trip to the ocean on the nicest day so far this spring. While it was supposed to be gorgeous here in the Triangle, it was pouring rain on the coast.



So we skipped the 3-hour drive and drove the 20 minutes to Jordan Lake's Ebenezer Church swimming area. The beach was nearly empty. It was clean, close to the bathrooms, very near a playground (which my kids totally ignored because they were having so much fun) and not far from a volleyball court.

Of course, the water was frigid. But that didn't stop my kids or any other kids that were there that day. We played in the sand and were up to knee deep in the water for the better part of 3 hours. It was a fantastic day, and the one cost I thought we would incur was the parking permit (which I believe is $6) but nobody was there to take our money. So it was free on Monday. Maybe it's just a weekend charge?

Anyway, we will certainly be back. My only regret is that I didn't check to see if there was a grill at the shelter, because I totally want to go back and grill out next week when it's supposed to be in the 70s!

Also, there are 3 other swimming areas open to the public (non-campers) - Seaforth, Parker's Creek and White Oak Recreation areas. I plan to visit all of those and report back. Hopefully this spring will be perfect for it!

Ebenezer Road
Apex, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Clean water, nice sand, close to restrooms and shelter, "beach" is close to playground, lots of parking very shallow swimming area, inside the "ropes" was 5 feet deep or less.

LOW LIGHTS: No changing table in the bathroom, which was a little stinky but not terrible. their website is not particularly user friendly, the link for entrance fees is not working, and in my experience the NC Division of Parks and Recreation staff that answers the phones is somewhat unfriendly.

COST: Free plus parking charge on weekends is $6 for cars (I believe. The site was not working when I checked).

Davis Drive Park in Cary

I love this park! Davis Drive Park in Cary was really just a playground with a shelter and walking trail. But for a couple of reasons this one was particularly fun.

 First of all, the sandbox was wonderful. Even though everything else was pretty wet, the sand stayed dry, and dead center was a metal sculptured "Chooooo Train!" - which is what my youngest, Dani, screamed as she ran up to the playground. The jungle gym itself was in pretty nice shape, and seemed to keep my kids climbing, sliding, balancing and peaking.

But what really makes a park is the people that go there. My friend, Amanda, and I met so many great moms there. Apparently we lucked out and found ourselves with women who are part of the Cary Mom's Group (meetup.com). I will be writing about that soon, too. These moms were so friendly, attentive to their kids and really just "my kinda people." I am not one to join groups or do things according to someone else's schedule, so I'm probably not going to join. But it's really tempting.
One of the moms was playing in the sand with my oldest (3). Another mom struck up a conversation with my friend and quickly shared she was the mother of 3, 2-year-old twins and a 6 month old! *And I thought I was crazy.
The kids shared snacks, played well together and left absolutely worn out. Um, yeah, we will be going back. The sandbox alone kept my 3-year-old busy for nearly an hour.

We actually had such a nice time, we left later than we thought we would and didn't walk the trail (which is part of the park and is 1/2 mile around). The shelter looked pretty clean, and the parks and recreation department had someone there with a leaf blower. I was stunned, as I didn't see a single leaf out of place or piece of trash, for that matter.

This is a winner! I don't know if it's a hidden gem, but it's certainly a gem.

1610 Davis Drive
Cary, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Clean park, great sandbox with very cool Train sculpture where the kids can climb and play, well-maintained jungle gym, clean facilities, bathroom nearby, shelter and walking trail.

LOW LIGHTS: There were a few "drop off" places in this jungle gym where really little ones can fall off and the backdrop for the trail wasn't spectacular. I actually am having a hard time finding fault in this place - really reaching here.  

COST: Free!

Fuquay-Varina Library - It's Story Time

Wanna see a magic trick? 1, 2, 3  Shhhhhhhhh

And as easy as that, a room full of toddlers and preschoolers quiets down. I've been to the Fuquay-Varina story time a half a dozen times, and Miss Laura is wonderful! She captures the kids attention quickly and quietly and entertains with music, puppets and books for a solid story time!

We went last week, of course it's the last story time until after the holidays, but there was a cute little boy in the group and she had him clapping, ooohing and aaaahing the whole time. Even my 22 month old, who is now called the Tazmanian Devil by my husband and I, sat in my lap and watched almost the whole time. She did get up when the puppets started blowing bubbles, but Miss Laura didn't seem to mind, and the kids loved it.

If you live in the area and need an indoor activity or learning experience, go see Miss Laura at Fuquay-Varina Library on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Click here for their schedule, Story Time resumes after the holidays on January 2, 2013.

When you're done with story time, you can check out the Library Park. It's just a little jungle gym, but there's wide open spaces, too, for your kids to run around.




133 S. Fuquay Avenue
Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526


HIGHLIGHTS: Small and good for little ones, a great indoor activity, puppet show, singing and dancing and Miss Laura really keeps their attention, also very close to a park and the library has a real bunny my girls love to visit.

LOW LIGHTS: Story time has odd schedules and they start and stop, and I am never able to keep track of when it's going on. I am sure the information is available on the website, but I'm not much of a planner.

COST: Free.

Falcon Park in Fuquay-Varina: I'll definitely go back

Our kids saw the park, looked at each other and giggled. Falcon Park is a keeper, although not in my top 5.

 Falcon Park in Fuquay-Varina is pretty easy to review. This is a good park. It's not bad; it's not great. It was fun to go, although I think our kids were pretty worn out from a lot of activity, and we didn't last long. The equipment is at a good height for toddlers and preschoolers, my kids ages, it's challenging but not too challenging, there's lots of space and running room and it's not too close to the road.

Falling on the bridge.

The equipment is a little old, however. And the bridge is pretty steep, my 3-year-old fell on it twice. But she didn't get hurt. In fact, the second time she laughed because she fell into her sister. The swings were just fine, although there were only two. There's a second part of the playground for smaller kids, which mine also enjoyed. The bathrooms were really gross, though. They smelled terrible and looked even worse.

I liked this park, and I will definitely go back, maybe on a hot summer day when we need a little shade.

611 E. Academy Street
Fuquay-Varina, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Shaded park, close to the middle school, two separate play areas for kids with short attention spans, swings, bridges and tunnels and nice people.

LOW LIGHTS: Horrible smelling and looking bathrooms, and the water didn't work so we couldn't wash hands (EW!), the equipment is a little old, bridge has a steep drop off and there are only two swings.

COST: Free!

Action Park in Fuquay-Varina

 

Action Park in Fuquay-Varina was not without merit, but I am not sure I'll go back there anytime soon. There was broken glass and trash all over this park, not to mention the profanity and obscene drawings on the interior of the jungle gym equipment. The only place that seemed to be clear of the debris was the softball fields and press boxes that overlook them. (This is the park located off of Wake Chapel Road as you head into downtown Fuquay-Varina off of Hwy 55 - if you look off to your right).

The jungle gym at Action Park was fun, but it was a little high for the really little ones and didn't hold their attention for long. So we (my friend who also has a 1 1/2-year-old) had to be pretty hands on. There were batting cages the kids loved to run up and down; we ran the bases on the softball fields a couple times, sat in the dugouts and checked out the press boxes. (Mommy used to be a sports writer so I wanted to give my girls a little taste of mommy's profession.) We had fun, but after my 3-year-old picked up food off the ground and ate it while I was chasing the little one and about a dozen more trash incidents, it was time to go. I feared they would want to pick up the pretty green broken glass or worse!

Until the trash is picked up at this park, I wouldn't recommend it for toddler or preschool age kids. And beware the profanity for the older ones. After a quick call to the Fuquay-Varina Parks and Recreation Department, I learned they clean the park every day and often send someone out to paint and repaint due to graffiti. I'm not sure how thorough a job they do or if the nightly softball games at this park produce that much daily trash. Either way, I would steer clear of Action Park with little ones.

609 Wake Chapel Road
Fuquay-Varina, NC 

HIGHLIGHTS:The jungle gym was OK, lots of places to sit and well-maintained softball fields. The tennis courts seem to be filled, too, so I'm assuming they're nice. 

LOW LIGHTS: LOTS OF TRASH, including broken glass, jungle gym is a bit high, it was hard to find (cannot see the park from the road and you have to drive pretty far back to see it).

COST: Free!

Not Just a Walk in The Park!

I slugged my way over to Apex Community Park for a fun morning, and quite a surprise I might add, with Stroller Strides.

This is kind of a first for me, reviewing an actual company rather than a park/farm/museum/activity. Stroller Strides is a workout group for mommies of children 6 weeks to 4 years old (and dads, too). I thought it was just going to be a walk in the park - literally and figuratively. IT WAS NOT! It was so fun. It was interval exercises, some strength, conditioning, aerobic, mixed in with a walk/run while the kids watch and take in the sights from their strollers. In fact, I have a bad back problem that keeps me from doing any impact workouts at all (doctors and physical therapist's orders). There were a lot of things I couldn't do, unfortunately. But I don't think the workouts were ridiculously strenuous or requiring top-level fitness either. It was the kind of class that you get out of it what you put into it - it works you as hard as you work it.

Let me just say, if it were not for my back problem, this would have been perfect for me! I loved it. It was a chance to socialize with other moms, who were very cool by the way. And it was a great way to think outside the box on my workouts. You can do it up to six days a week, too, including Saturdays.

The cost is $55/month for unlimited attendance at a number of different parks and locations, including Apex Community Park, Pullen Park, Crowder Park, North Hills Mall and more. Most urgently, though, is this week (Sept. 24-29) is free. Click here if you want to try it for locations and times.

Also, if you decide you want to join, Stroller Strides is offering 15% off the first three months if you mention this blog (The Not-So Stay-At-Home Mommy or www.wheretogowithyourkids.com)
Jennifer Kedrowski, who was my instructor, said most moms do a monthly unlimited membership option, $55/month plus one-time registration fee but some also do a 10-class pass that lasts three months for $110, which is more of a drop-in style membership.

HIGHLIGHTS: Really fun way to work out with your young kids, it's not just a stroller walk, you get to check out different parks and work out at the same time, meeting new moms and kids.

LOW LIGHTS: My little one (20 months) doesn't like sitting in the stroller very long unless she's moving, so it was a little hairy when we'd stop to do the interval work.

COST:$55/monthly or $110 for 10 sessions over three months. (Mention this blog for a 15% off discount for the first three months)

For the record, this is NOT an advertisement, and I received no money or special treatment to write this blog. As this is my first real review of a "mommy group" I thought you should know!

MacDonald Woods Park in Cary - Very Shady (in a good way)

We ventured to Cary, NC to check out another park today. This time I heard about a park on Seabrook Avenue in Cary off of Cary Parkway from a nanny I met at the Kidstowne Playground in Apex. What a great place for a play date! It's called MacDonald Woods Park.

This is perfect for when it's hot out, as it is very shady from all the beautiful, grown trees that cover the area. I don't know what they call the material they put down, but it's a squishy flooring that's perfect for little trippers! My kids fall all the time, and they fell no less than five times each this morning, and NO BOO BOOS!

There were two separate jungle gyms (one for bigger kids and the other for littler ones), a little sandbox (very clean sand), a merry-go-round (pint sized), swings for both little and big kids and so much more. I'd recommend going on a play date there, as most of the moms seemed to live in the near vicinity and weren't very social with us or our kids. I think, though, it was just an off day. We met a great mom there, of twin 2-year-olds, who was incredibly friendly.

Also very cool, which we had no idea about when we were there: there is a great greenway that bisects the eastern side of the park and leads all the way to the US Hwy 1/64 pedestrian bridge, and that leads to the Kids Together Play Area at Marla Dorrel Park, which I LOVE!

HIGHLIGHTS: Shaded park, good for kids toddler and preschool age due to the variety of playground equipment, love the flooring on the ground. Also, there is apparently a basketball slab and picnic tables.

LOW LIGHTS: Parking was street only, from what we could tell, and we had to walk about a block to get there. The entrance to the playground is a bit steep, so you probably need to hold little one's hands walking down & it's a little bit of a hike for me.

COST: Free!

Kids Towne: Never heard of it

Due to construction of 540 through Apex, I came across a park off of Kelly Road - appropriately named Kelly Road Park. I was surprised, however, at this spectacular play area I discovered called Kids Towne. (Mommy triumph: my best mom friends new nothing about it).

You walk up and it looks like you're approaching a castle. There is a tire swing, regular swings, slides and all the other standard park accessories. It was the (I don't even know how to describe it) zip-line like thing that my 3-year old managed to work. There was a little boat with a hand-painted dolphin on the side, seats and a steering wheel - my kids screeched when they saw it. There were sandboxes (yes, more than 1), bridges, rope walks, monkey bars ... it was incredible! What's more, I met a woman with her granddaughter who said it was built by volunteers (adults and kids), and there are more like it throughout the area. It turns out, also, she was one of the many volunteers. What a great park!!

It's located behind Olive Chapel Elementary.

Kelly Road Park
1609 Kelly Road
Apex, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Wow, there are so many - a 25-acre park with tennis courts, Kids Towne, softball field, shelter (with sumwhat clean bathrooms).

LOW LIGHTS: This was the only drawback I saw - it's right behind the school so when the school let out, the after school programs brought probably 100 kids there. My little ones got lost in all the bigger, school-age kids, so we had to leave. But before school lets out, this wouldn't be an issue.

COST: Free!

Kids Together (Or should it be Kids Spread Out?)

Marla Dorrel Park (or Kids Together) in Cary (near the corner of Tryon & Cary Parkway) is absolutely fantastic. This great park is loaded with things to do.

It's absolutely perfect for my kids -- lots of places to climb, different areas to explore, large sandy areas for digging and building castles, a couple sections of swings, little shelters for lunches, bathrooms really close by and pretty clean, too.  I had seen the park before, so I knew what to expect. But I didn't know how great my kids would respond and how imaginitive this park allows your kids to be.

Dani (17 months) climbed all over the place, ran, jumped and trotted across bridges, ate and threw sand (despite my best efforts to thwart these activities) and pretty much smiled her goofy little smile the entire time.

Jordan's new friend Addison
joined usat the park.

Jordan (almost 3) spent a little more time playing hide and seek, exploring, and pretending to be a restaurantour, dragon slayer and architect. I think the pictures will tell some of the story here. It was hard for me to enjoy as much as it's so spread out that I was running around after the girls most of the time. Doesn't make for much of a blog, but the pictures should help!

Either way, we had an awesome time and will definitely go back. I just wish it was a bit closer to Holly Springs.

111 Thurston Drive

Cary, North Carolina 27518

(919) 469-4061

HIGHLIGHTS: Tons to do for little toddlers and pre-schoolers, clean bathrooms close by.  

LOW LIGHTS: It's a little hike to Cary, and it's pretty spread out so a little harder to keep track of both girls at the same time.

COST: FREE