Pages

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Playground: Oz Park


Today's adventure had two goals accomplished: a new train line and new park!

I picked them up early from school and whisked them to the blue line on our way to Oz Park.  While we did get in the first car, with a bonus wave and chat with the driver, this may not have been my best call on transit options.  Because once we were done with the train, we boarded the Halsted bus for 12 stops.  Which may not sound like a lot, but when in the heart of rush hour, and realizing this fact seconds before boarding the bus, my heart sank a little.

And then more as the boys asked every 5 seconds: "is this the stop??"

However, when we did arrive, the boys had a great time!  Oz Park is expansive with a huge grassy hill, the playground, and areas for baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, and football.

Noteworthy:
The park is great for the imagination and climbers.  The unique aspect is that most of the playground is wood.  There are three different areas and all have a mini-castle feel where they loved climbing through each one to figure out how to get to the top.

There was a much larger contingency of older kids at the playground (guessing high school age, but I am admittedly terrible at guessing ages).  However, they were careful around the younger kids and seemed to be a spill-over from the baseball practice that had just finished.

Cost Savings:
Free!  Not too shabby.

Location/Transportation:
Lincoln Park Neighborhood
Took Blue Line to Halsted 8 Bus; then determined that wasn't ideal and took the Red Line back (much faster for us)

Kid's Jury: 4 stars
Asked the 5 year old, what do you wish they had at the park? 5yo: "a two-wheeled bike and a real motorcycle." So aside from unrealistic expectations, they had a good time.
When asked if this was in his top 5 favorite parks, he thought a moment and said "I liked that park and would place it in my top ten."  Not sure if we have been to a total of 10 parks yet, so...
It had a unique feel and I liked the concept, but could see them potentially getting bored there after a longer stint.

No comments:

Post a Comment