I just realized that it is halfway through September already, and I’m still trying to figure out what happened to summer! My girls and I had so many plans of things we wanted to do and places to go, but between two trips to see family, and Pebble having surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids, it was a chaotic, fast-paced summer! Now that we are slowly adjusting to school starting back up and extracurriculars beginning, I’m taking a pause to catch up on my blog. The few adventures we did have during this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it summer were mainly during those two trips we took to see family.
On our way out to Illinois in early August, we stopped in South Bend, Indiana to visit Kennedy Park which is the home of the Kennedy Water Playground. The address for the place is 2700 Westmoor St. in South Bend, and I recommend using GPS to find it. It is in a neighborhood with a lot of winding streets! The Water Playground at Kennedy Park is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and is a good place to know about on summer road trips. It isn’t a huge water park, parking is free, the place is fenced, there are lifeguards and a snack bar, and the fees are more than reasonable. For our family of 5, it was $22 to gain entrance. Children 2 and under are free, ages 3-10 are $4 apiece, and ages 11+ are $5 apiece. There isn’t a changing area, but there are bathrooms where one can use the stalls to change.
We put our snacks and gear on a table under one of the two pavilions, changed, lathered up on sunscreen, and set the kids loose to splash and play. I thought the place would be a zoo, but it was more of a ghost town with only one other family here on this hot weekday afternoon.
The water playground has two zero-depth entry points at either end, with the pool deepening to about 18 inches in the middle area. The central playground structure is simple with two platforms, and then a water slide extending from the upper level. Water sprayed from pipes everywhere and the girls had a blast exploring! There were handles to turn that raised and lowered the pressure of various sprinklers and fountains; pipes that sprayed water; a water tire swing and more! Stormy discovered that by pulling one the two chains hanging down, she could set off another sprinkler. Her mission then became luring anyone she could so she could surprise them.
The girls played for close to two hours before we packed it in. It was the perfect way to break up a day of driving, and the girls were more than happy to chill afterward. If you have kiddos ten and under, I highly recommend checking this place out! Plus, there is a regular playground to play on right next to the water playground. Happy trails!
