Old Town Kenai Public Park

The day that we visited this park, it was gorgeous outside. It was sunny, a little breezy , but a really wonderful day. We came to the park for a picnic with friends and stayed well in to the evening. I think we left the park after 9 that night and the sun was still high in the sky. I was sad that I didn't have my camera with me and that I would have to come back for pictures. As you can see, I did and it wasn't nearly as nice that day.

Old Town Park is located at 816 Cook Avenue in the historical district of Kenai. The buildings that housed the first library and jail for Kenai are located on the block that the park joins. There is a walking tour of Old Town that includes the surrounding buildings, if you are interested in seeing more of Old Town Kenai. I don't know when the park was established, but it has been here as long as I can remember and I played here as a kid once or twice. A large wooden structure that was older than me was finally replaced a couple of summers ago. It's an improvement. I think they could stand to replace the turquoise tunnel structure as well, but at least the City of Kenai did something to improve the playground. My children were not in the least disappointed with the turquoise thing.

The park is frequented by area residents and children from the nearby apartments and houses. It is a popular place for basketball.  There are lines painted on the basketball court for hopscotch and four square. If you bring a ball, you can have a little old school fun in Old Town!


 Old Town park also has the best swings around! There are 5 or 6 swings, which is a lot for one little park. There are a total of 3 slides that are built for varying ages and stages.

There is a covered area with a picnic table. That is a downside - there is only one table in the park. If you want to have a picnic here, I recommend bringing camp chairs for extra seating. The grill is pretty handy though.

The new red and blue equipment is just right for little kids. My 1 and 3 year olds both enjoyed this structure and found it easy to climb and older children were able to help them get up without much stress on my part.  I'm not fond of the pea gravel that surrounds the playground equipment, but again, my kids weren't fazed by it. It was a relatively gravel-in-the-shoe free day.

Don't let the chain link fencing intimidate you - there is access to the park on each side as well as parallel parking around it.

Old Town Park is a simple park. Locals use it. It is easy to walk here from other activities in Old Town Kenai or meet with friends for a quick play date. Its not the newest park, but it is a classic .

Farnsworth Park

Farnsworth Park, Soldotna, Birch Lane

 The day we visited Farnsworth Park was very wet. It was pouring rain, actually. We met a friend and her two little boys at the park, where she had been waiting for over an hour for someone (anyone!) to show for a local mother's group playdate. Still, she was bright and cheerful and willing to stick it out a bit longer so our children could play together. Lover her! You will have to excuse the pictures, neither one of us wanted to get drenched.

 Farnsworth Park is a small community play ground. Don't let the initial view of the park fool you, it has a fair amount of green spaces for such a little park and one could easily have a family picnic or play a game of football while enjoying a sunny day at the park. Behind the play ground, to the right of the hill is a large open green space. Farnsworth park also has a covered pavilion for just this sort of event that can be reserved in advance in 4 hour time blocks, for a small fee. Though this park is small, it is fairly popular, so I advise reserving it if you can to avoid party crashers. There are 2 additional picnic tables around the perimeter of the park as well. We think the city should consider adding a fire pit or grill to the pavilion.




The park is located in a quiet neighborhood, not far from the Moose is Loose bakery, Key Bank and the Soldotna Wash N Dry. There is a church nearby that overlooks the park. There is parking for 10 or so vehicles, including handicapped parking. There IS a portapotty, that is well maintained (usually).

This park is recommended for children ages 2 and up. Children smaller than this will find little to accomodate their small size, though parents can easily lift children up into the rocking insect car-like toys for a short ride or help them crawl on or under the tiny rock wall tunnel.

There are 3 different slides at Farnsworth Park, including one extra long wavy slide that runs down the small hill. Children enjoy climbing the tiered steps up the hill and running up and down the paths.

The park boasts paved paths that circle around the play areas and large wood chip landing material under all equipment, which is wonderful if you are wearing sandals. I hate getting gravel in my sandals or finding it in my children's pockets on laundry day! There are oversized, plastic percussion instruments, and though they don't make a very good drumming sound, children will love to beat on them. A handful of benches dot the paved paths for weary park goers or parents that want to keep an eye on older kids without chasing them everywhere.

The only thing missing from this park are swings. Absolutely no swings.
 
One thing I would caution parents on is the wooded areas. On the left side of the park, the wood is sparse and you can see up a hill to private residences. Children don't usually go far off here. The other side of the park, however, is much thicker and blocked from view by bushes. There is a trail near the portapotty and if children should wander that way, they will find a tree with low limbs and probably want to hang on it. They may find inappropriate items or trash left from unauthorized "campers". Best to keep your children out of the woods or check around well before letting them play there.

Overall a very nice park! Small, but with ample green space, good landscaping and newer equipment. If you find yourself at the big park near the river and it is too crowded for you, Farnsworth park is a great alternative for play or picnic. Well done, City of Soldotna!

Karen Hornaday Park

 Karen Hornaday Park, Homer, Alaska

 

At the beginning of June we went to Homer for the day. It was gorgeous outside and we followed friends to the park at the top of the hill for a picnic lunch. I had not been to any playground in Homer, so I wasn't sure what we would find. I expected a semi-run down, wooden structure play ground equipment, since that is what we frequently find in small communities, including ours. I was so surprised to see a brand new park, customized with community flair and touches of area history!

Karen Hornaday park is located near South Peninsula Hospital, high on the hill above Homer. It is a brand new play ground, built by community volunteers, that opened just days before we visited. You can read about the project here.

The park has a Homer theme - features such as a fishing boat, a small village and driftwood sculptures all bring the flavor of this fishing town to the playground. There is ample parking both below and next to the park, as well as a wonderful campground, with a parking area and bathrooms above the park. The park is situated by two baseball fields, so you might consider parking above the playground if the lower parking area is full.

                                                                             Driftwood sculptures

 
From where we parked, the first thing we saw was the extra long slide. After watching my kids fly down the slide, I decided that I needed to try it myself. I handed the baby off to my oldest child and climbed in. The slide isn't big enough for an adult to sit up in, so I had to lay down. It is a looong slide, so I picked up a lot of speed on the way down and flew out the end of it, landing on my bum in the gravel. A little painful, but worth the trip! 

There is a designated toddler area in the play ground, with slides, a sand box, swings, a play house village, miniature ampitheater and a fun train that tots can climb in, over and around. There are even little picnic tables!

Top to bottom: Train, toddler tree house with slide exit, pioneer village, picnic tables, Mini ampitheater with xylophone. All pictures containing adults or children other than my own are used without permission. 

 The older children have the remainder of the park to explore. There is a climbing wall, 3 or 4 slides, a giant tree house, swings, monkey bars, and a fishing boat where you and your crew can pretend to bring in the biggest catch ever.

 Another one of my favorite features of the park is the driftwood slough. There is a drinking fountain at the top and all extra water runs down the slough, giving other children a chance to splash their hands in the water or pretend to pan for gold. 

 A few other tips: There is a pavilion with picnic tables opposite the park in the lower parking lot and at the time we visited, another picnic table near the bottom of the long slide and slough. If you need a bathroom, head directly to the camp ground parking lot above the park by continuing up the hill,  past the play ground entrances. You will find a very nice path down to the park from the parking area.

My children love this park. We were so pleased to find something new and original and the view cannot be beat!  I can't wait to come back for another day trip or camping trip.

Update: We did camp at the park and were lucky enough to get a spot very close to the playground.  The park is within walking distance of the Pratt Museum, where you can catch the Homer Trolley during the summer months and see Homer without moving your tent or motorhome! We had a great time.

Welcome to our summer adventure!

A few summers ago, my then 4 year old son asked if we could visit every playground. He wanted to visit every play ground withing driving distance of our house in one day. We obviously didn't attempt it that day, but the idea stuck with me. What if we spent a summer visiting every play ground we could drive to? I don't know if anyone in our area has done that, but it sounded like a lot of fun and a fairly low key adventure for a family of 7. This is our summer!

We have a little bit of an advantage over other families - we homeschool. That means when fall comes and other children are in classrooms, we will probably still be visiting play grounds. We live in Kenai, on the Kenai Peninsula. The Peninsula is often referred to as Alaska's Playground, but that is not because we are riddled with parks for children to play at. It is because you can go from beautiful vistas to fishing, to hiking, to snow mobiling (we say snow machining) or hunting in one day and you are always just a few miles from any of them no matter where you are. The weather can be unpredictable, but there will always be something to do. The Kenai Peninsula covers an area of over 15,000 square miles, roughly 10 times larger than the state of Rhode Island, bigger than the state of Maryland and about 1/2 the size of Ireland. Our play ground reviews might be for a play ground 80 miles away in Seward or as far south as Homer. I don't know if we will make it to Seldovia, but we will certainly try.

I have children ranging in ages from 1 to 10 this summer, which will provide me with a varied pool of thought to draw from. I intend to have the older kids write short reviews or fill out essays for their personal assessments. For the younger children, we will keep it simple with sticker charts or coloring pages. Very professional, right? HA! We will try to drag other families along with us when we can and will also visit many other family friendly establishments along the way. We can't go driving around the Peninsula without squeezing as much fun as possible in to the day. In Alaska, you make it count.

As for the parks we will visit, I will have to take a vote from the kids for the type of play grounds we will review. Will it be only public parks or are we including school play grounds? Will we review parks that don't have play grounds? I want them to get really involved in the planning of our adventure.

While you wait for us to post our first reviews (it is June, after all, and we have a few play grounds under our belts already), check out the links to area guides and news publications. Wish us luck!