Saturday, July 16, 2016

Western Gateway Park and the Pappajohn Sculpture Park

You might be surprised at how kid-friendly a sculpture park can be. It doesn't hurt that the Pappajohn Sculpture Park is packed with Pokespots for the game PokemonGo. Here in Des Moines, it's quite the hot spot for PokemonGo players, and the park is always busy, busy!


But before I get into the fun of the sculpture park, let me talk about the park that's right across the street from there: Western Gateway Park. 


There's a man-made creek called a water runnel that runs through Western Gateway Park. It smells chlorinated, and it's meant for people to play in. Dogs play in there, too! 



Our kids love stomping through it and can literally stay busy splashing for an hour or more.


In the picture above, you can also see one of the B-Cycle stations that are located around the city. You can rent a bike in 30 minute increments at the station, or all day by ordering online.



So that's the water runnel. So much fun for kids, seriously! There are a lot of festivals held around the park, and that's when you can find adults dipping their feet in to stay cool, too. 


So, back to the sculpture park. Our kids love the sculptures, especially Jo. Her favorite is "the alphabets one." She enjoys standing there and pointing out all the letters.


Get a load of that smile! She runs to each sculpture and tells me what it is. Sometimes I ask them, what is this one? What is he/she/it doing? They comes up with a description and sometimes even argue about what a sculpture is or isn't. I feel like it's preschool art appreciation :)



This one, "Thinker on a Rock," Jo describes as a rabbit eating grass and pooping.


These, the kids call the snowmen.


And this "White Ghost" is the girl. Jo was pointing out all her facial features.


Yes, the kids had a ball, and yes, it was busy, busy! What I didn't get pictures of was Oliver collecting Pokemon. He was having fun trying to collect them all, along with hundreds of others at the parks!


So while there isn't technically a playground, the kids have a great time visiting both the sculpture park and the water runnel at Western Gateway. It makes for a wonderful visit downtown!

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