st. ed's

one of the things i was most looking forward to about moving back to the northwest was a return to the beautiful parks here. i was especially excited that we moved only minutes away from one of my very favorite parks, st. edwards state park. i spent hours and hours there when i was in high school and couldn't wait to return.


we took the girls last week and i was pleasantly surprised to find out that they have put in a giant children's play structure since the time that i used to go (another thing that has changed about the park since i used to go is that it is now a fee area. not as great, but we bought a pass for the year right away and will utilize it often). they even have an area for toddlers, which is really nice for my girls, who are used to having the playground by our house all to themselves and are still a little scared to share playgrounds with big kids.

 
we have been back a few times already and the girls love it there. i love that it is surrounded by trees and there is actually a balance of shade and sunlight for me to pick from, depending on the weather (so many utah play structures are out in the blazing sun with no shade). we live in such a beautiful area.

the park also has a bunch of trails that lead down to the waterfront, which is the part of the park that i love the most. randy has gone running there a few times, but i haven't made it onto the trails yet. i'm a little nervous to brave the trails with the girls because i just know that they will get down to the bottom and then "run out of energy," (one of madeleine's favorite phrases) and we will get to haul them all the way back up. one of these days i'll do it.

one funny thing about parks in general: before going to st. ed's, we went to a couple of parks with the girls that didn't have play structures. madeleine kept asking where the park was and we had to explain to her that here, the scenery is pretty enough to constitute a park without needing a playground. she didn't seemed thrilled about this, but quickly forgot about slides and swings once she got to stand by the waterfront and throw rocks in.