Our final adventure of our trip to Illinois was a jog up into Michigan on the homeward bound leg of our vacation. My husband has friends that reside in the area of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and loves to connect with them when we can. When we meet up during the summer months, we often do a picnic at a Kalamazoo County Park called River Oaks County Park in Galesburg, Michigan. It is located at 9202 East Michigan Avenue (M-96), and not far from the highway. I discovered this little gem of a park when Rainbow was a toddler, and it has become a favorite stop of ours to make. Why is it so popular with my family? Two words…splash pad! I should add a third word, too, playground! What could be better for car weary kids than a park that offers this combination? The splash pad has both in-ground and above-ground water spray elements, and it operates 10am to 8pm, Memorial Day through Labor Day. The park isn’t free to enter, but the fee is reasonable, $5 for a one day vehicle admission.
On the day we visited, the park was hopping! It was a weekend, and there were softball and soccer games going on on adjourning fields, and there were ongoing birthday parties in the picnic shelters. River Oaks is not a small park, and, in addition to the ball fields, playground and splash pad, there is also a model airplane field, a dog park, and hiking trails. My family, though, has never explored beyond the playground and splash pad, although, one day if time and children allow, it would be fun to hike down to Morrow Lake and the Kalamazoo River to take a peek.
There are restrooms near the splash pad, so we all trooped over there to use the facilities and change the kids into suits. It was another scorcher, and we lathered the kids up in sunscreen before setting them loose to explore. Fortunately, even though all picnic tables were taken, we were able to set up the picnic blanket under the shade of a large tree with an excellent view of the splash pad. The kids had a blast exploring the various features of the splash pad, so much so they didn’t want to eat the picnic lunch we’d picked up. The highlight of this pit stop for Pebble was when a fire truck pulled up on an access road near the splash pad. She loves fire trucks, and the last thing we expected was for the firefighters to unroll the hose, aim it into the air above the people near the splash pad, and start soaking everyone! Pebble was giggling and dancing in the water as it rained down on her. It was an experience she won’t soon forget!
We spent a few hours at the park, letting the kids burn off steam on the splash pad and playground, catching up with my husband’s friend and his family. Half of the playground was shaded, so that was the half the kids played on when they weren’t at the splash pad. The sunny side of the playground was just too hot to touch. The swings and part of the climbing zone were in the shade, so Pebble and Stormy were happy campers. Rainbow had a bad fall on the edge of the splash pad, and spent time sitting on the picnic blanket getting her scrapes and bruises attended too. Despite her tumble, we all had a great time, and the girls asked if we’d stop here again next summer on our way out to visit grandma and grandpa. I said it all depends on when we go and the weather. If you are ever in this part of Michigan during the summer months, I recommend checking this park out as there is so much for kids to do! Happy trails!
https://www.kalcounty.com/parks/riveroaks/