I just blogged about this awesome park last fall, but I needed to write another post about it because they added equipment since we last visited! The address for this place is 830 Pasadena Rd, Pasadena, MD 21122. Once you pull into the lot, you will see the ball fields to your right as well as the restrooms. There is a wooded area w/ picnic tables sprinkled throughout and a playground on your left. The playground is surrounded by a wooden rail-style fence on three sides. The fourth side is where the entrance is, and it is an open entrance so children are only semi-corralled when they are inside the playground.
Pebble was so excited about the playground and meeting a friend that she ran all the way to the playground upon exiting the car. Once we entered the playground, I turned in circles a few times trying to figure out what felt so different. The main playsets for the older and younger kiddos were where they were last time, but then I realized that the four hexagonal play cubes had been moved next to the older children’s playset from their old place near the climbing dome. In the space that the cubes had once resided was an Aeroglider. The fence had been moved outward as well to make room for a ramp that led up to the Aeroglider, making it fully wheelchair accessible. There is even a ring-a-bell board at the top of the ramp for kids to make music with. Over the course of our morning out, the Aeroglider was the piece of equipment that Pebble and her friend returned to over and over again. The girls were too little to really get it moving, but I helped out, and the girls pretended we were on a pirate ship searching for gold.
There was one other addition to the playground, too. It was a black circle set flush to the ground with a partial railing and a bench. When we stepped on the circle, we discovered it moved, and the girls took turns running in circles to increase the speed of their spinning. The girls loved when I or my friend did the spinning for them, and they’d leave the disc behind pretending to be extra dizzy. Like the Aeroglider, this piece of equipment is wheelchair friendly. It was great to see new equipment aimed at children with mobility issues. All children should be able to play on playgrounds.
Both girls played on the playground for quite a while before we walked over to see the lake. We were very lucky as there was a Great Blue Heron in the reeds alongside the shoreline. We crept up fairly close, and we all got a great look at it. Pebble couldn’t believe how big the bird was. There were also lots of ducks floating in the water, and we watched them for a bit, too. After crossing the dam to check out the fish ladder, we returned to the playground area for snack time and, of course, more playtime. We had a fun morning out in the fresh air playing. The large trees surrounding the playground do give off some shade, something to remember on those hot summer days. Happy trails!
