Passport to Your National Parks

I really wanted to get this post up in time for National Parks Week (April 16-24, 2016), but that just didn't happen for me. Summer vacation is just around the corner. I'm wrapping up final projects and starting to daydream about upcoming trips we've planned.

We're going to hit up a number of national parks this summer, and my in-laws were kind enough to send us a National Parks Pass! National Park Passes run $80 and are good for a year. They can be a great deal for people traveling to national parks and federal lands, but do your research first! Some national parks are free already, and others have low cost entry. However, there are other parks like Yellowstone, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park which cost a $25 entry fee. Before you buy, check out prices and possibly look into other discounted passes. Senior citizens get discount passes, and families with 4th graders can apply to get a free pass!

We also picked up passports to the national parks. It's currently $9.95 to get a national parks passport, and it's $14.95 to get a national parks passport with a kids' passport companion. I'm a total dork, and I envision my kids keeping their parks passports to keep track of all the great parks and federal areas they see throughout their lives. My husband teased me a bit about that, so he didn't get his own $10 passport and is stuck sharing with me. I laid down the law!

This year's cover is a special edition because they're celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

The passport to the national parks divides the country into different regions: North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, National Capital, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, Rocky Mountain, Western, and Pacific Northwest. Every year, they release a set of stamps that highlights one park or historic site in each region, which you can order online or purchase from a visitor's center.

You'll also see an area for "official cancellations" in each region. Visitors can get a cancellation stamp in their national parks passport at hundreds of different national parks and historic sites. Click here to find a list, by state, of all the places you can visit to get a cancellation stamp:
http://www.eparks.com/store/content/863/Passport-Cancellation-Locations/

The kids' companion book is a lot of fun, but it involves writing tasks and is best for school-aged children. There is a field journal section. Also, there is a section for kids to fill out a list of the mammals they see, the birds they see, and the plants & trees they see. There's also room for kids to create their own categories and lists. Finally, kids can keep track of the Junior Ranger programs they complete.

Enjoy some family and nature time this summer! I hope I helped inspire someone to check out a local or not-so-local national park or recreational area!

Prospect Park

My parents came into town for a quick trip this weekend. They arrived Friday evening and left already on Sunday morning. It was really nice to see them and, of course, show them the house!

My mom and I wanted to take the kids to an egg hunt at Union Park. Time got away from us, and by the time we got the kids dressed and ready, we were really cutting it close to get to the hunt on time. We drove by the park without seeing it, so we decided just to give up on the idea and take the kids to another park to play.

We went to Prospect Park, which is right off of the Des Moines River. It's nicely forested, and a busy trail runs through the park, on the opposite side of the river from the playground. I really want to go back when everything's green!

There was a crew team or something in the water. It was a beautiful day for it.

The park is lovely, and I could see taking the family there for picnics. The only downside was the trash. It was overflowing from the trash cans, and some people had set their bags of trash around the pavilions and stuff. I guess park clean-up hasn't started yet for the season, but it really needed it.

South Karen Acres Park

It was another perfect almost-spring day on Friday. Temperatures reached 60, and there was a nice breeze. It's perfect park weather, so the kids and I set out to play at yet another local park! I looked for parks nearby on Google Maps and found one called South Karen Acres Park. It's just a little southeast of Walker-Johnston Park, where we'd played the day before.

This park is in the middle of a residential area, but it has some wide spaces for kids to run and play. There was also a little kid-sized basketball hoop, and there was a (currently empty) wading pool for the summer.

The playground was small, but the kids loved it. That is, they loved it until Oliver spotted...

...the ride-on, sand-digging crane!

That was when he went crazy for the park! We used to play with those all the time when we were kids, but I think they mostly disappeared when sand parks were replaced with wood chips and gravel. Oliver took to the crane immediately and dug and dug and dug.

Here's a video of him working so hard:
                      

Jo just loves to be outside and play. She has no fear on the play equipment and was content to just keep climbing & sliding.

I had to keep telling her that this climbing wall was for going down and not up. She seriously kept trying to go off the edge there.

Wee!

Digging in the sand:

There was also one of those merry-go-rounds that they used to have at parks when we were kids!

And, again, we spotted a trail running through the park. A few cyclists went by as we played. I checked the map. Apparently, this trail does a big U and can take you back to Walker-Johnston Park, where we played yesterday. About halfway along that trail is a main trail that you can follow south all the way into Des Moines and the parks there.

Photos of the kids playing with some trees and planting magic beans for a beanstalk:

I'm really looking forward to seeing these parks and trails when everything is green. Just a few more weeks!

Walker/Johnston Park in Urbandale: The Park of Slides

It was another beautiful almost-spring day, so the kids and I went on a mission to try to find a park. I spotted Walker-Johnston Park on a map, but I couldn't find the playground on Google Earth. It must be brand new because it's there now! Parts of it were still under construction (but it was safe to play). The playground is next to the skate park.

Never in my life have I been to a park with so many slides! If you count the double slides as 2, there are seventeen slides at this playground! One is the steepest slide I've ever seen. Joanna had no fear and attempted to go down most of the slides. The tube ones were her favorite, even though she shot down so fast that she'd spin around and come out the bottom facing backwards!
                       

Oliver, my ever-cautious child, was not interested in trying out the steepest or fastest slides. At first, he would only go on the smallest slides. Before we left, he worked his way up to some of the "medium slides."

Now here's the cool part about this park. It's not open yet, but there are two super-long slides that go from the playground down to the swing set. So, kids literally slide down the hill to swing :)

We walked down to the swing set. Oliver really dug the tire swing.

We went for a stroll across the bridge by the playground, which goes over North Walnut Creek. On the other side is a soccer field, which the kiddos enjoyed running across. Back the other way are baseball fields and tennis courts.

There were picnic tables under some trees, which would be a nice place to sit down in the summer.

By the bridge, we also spotted this trail, pictured below. Apparently, there's a way you can take it to another trail and follow it all the way south until it merges with the Bill Riley Trail, which we saw earlier this week from Greenwood/Ashworth Park. It's all connected. Pretty neat! According to Google Maps, it would take about 30 minutes to cycle from this park to Water Works Park and another 15 minutes to get to Gray's Lake.

Greenwood & Ashworth Park

Monday, I took the kiddos to Greenwood & Ashworth Parks off of 45th & Grand. There are forests of oak trees and supposedly even rose gardens in there somewhere in the summer.

There's a playground near Bergman Academy that we attempted to play at. I missed the turn first and ended up at Ashworth Swimming Pool. I'll have to remember that discovery in the summer! There was a trail head near the pool for the Bill Riley Trail, which I guess winds down through Water Works Park, across the Raccoon River, and into Gray's Lake. The part I saw was paved, which made me think of bike riding. It's under two miles from one point to the other, so it might be really fun to do with the kids sometime soon! Soon being when they are riding bikes, I guess...

We only attempted to play at the park because it was soaked through from melting snow! It was the first warm day in a while. It was probably in the high-50s when we arrived and was mid-60s when we left. We played there for about 20 minutes and left soaked & muddy. Oliver wasn't very happy about all the water.

The kids cheered up when we left the playground equipment. They scavenged for acorns, and Oliver buried them to grow trees.

Jo liked the large oak leaves.

I love trees, especially oaks. I think I was the happiest of the three.

From there, we parked near the pond and hiked around there a bit.

Muddy face!

Oliver wanted me to help him get up on a small tree. I helped Jo, too, but she wasn't too sure about hanging out on a limb!

By the time we left, our feet and ankles were soaked. The kids had muddy knees, and Jo had a muddy butt. Oliver's face was dirty, too, and our hands were filthy. We definitely had a good time! We warmed up with a Starbucks afterwards, and I bet the baristas were wondering if we ever bathe.