(Photo by Washington Post)
We spent both days this weekend outside, discovering a great new playground and revisiting a favorite that we’ve been to before. On Saturday, we took the children to Clemyjontri Park, a multi-million dollar playground that opened last fall. It was our first visit to the “Clemy Park,” which we heard about from parents at our neighborhood playground. This park is amazing. It was designed to be accessible to children with disabilities as well as able-bodied children. Because most of the equipment is low to the ground to accommodate kids in wheelchairs, it is also easy to climb for little kids, making the park very popular with the preschool crowd. The playground portion of the park covers about 2 acres, with four different play zones surrounding a centerpiece carousel. Our 3 y.o. was so excited when we first arrived that he didn’t linger long enough to play on any one piece of equipment–he was too excited to see what else there was. Finally, he settled down to play on a few favorites: the race car game, the drag strip foot race area, and the huge jungle gym. He also took two turns on the carousel, once with daddy and once with mommy. Our 4 month old even got in on the action as she had her first ride on a tot swing.The park will continue to expand with additional trails, a gazebo, and more parking. Lack of parking was the only complaint I had–the very small lot does not begin to accommodate the large crowds that Clemy is drawing. They have smartly come up with some overflow parking down the street, but it requires a 10-15 minute hike back to the playground. Since I’m still recovering from the broken toe, my husband dropped off me and our 3 y.o., parked the car, and then walked back with the baby. A little inconvenient, but not a deal-breaker. While not near enough to go every weekend, this playground was such a hit with our family that I expect we’ll be back a few more times this summer.
Taking advantage of the great spring weather this weekend, we were out again on Sunday for a family picnic at Fort Ward Park. Our son packed up a favorite blanket, a frisbee, and a little musical toy to provide entertainment for all of us. We discovered that he throws the frisbee like his mom, but I trust he’ll soon be better with practice.
All in all, a very nice weekend.
