Queens Park

I went to this park the other day and I realized that it is much larger than I actually knew. I didn't get to see the whole park but I did get to see a large part of the park. This park definitely is one of my favorites and I personally think that everyone should go to this park at least once. The park contains a lot of grass close to the waterpark and surrounding the playground. The actual playground itself has mulch for the ground which can be good and soft but can sometimes give you slivers. I should know!

As I started walking into the park, I noticed that there was a basketball court. I couldn't tell if it was something that required booking ahead of time or not but it did seem large and very nice. A few people were playing on the court and looked like they were having a lot of fun. The basketball court is off to the side of the park and makes it feel more private regardless if it is or not.

The next field that I saw was one of the biggest fields I have seen yet (but I haven't seen them all yet). There was a spot for people to play lacrosse and then there was a soccer area as well. The grass looks like turf grass instead of real grass but that just means that it will look green all year round!

The part of the park that I spent most of my time in is Rainbow Playland. As you walk up to the sign, the yellow letters don't stand out well and so it looks funny from a distance. This seems to be the best area for the children to play. The Rainbow Playland offers a large amount of different activities for the children and can even be fun for the adults that attend.

There is a petting farm that is located very close to the entrance of the park and it is really awesome. They have goats, sheep (not many), one baby cow, rabbits, chickens & roosters, ducklings, peacocks, and in the past they have had pigs. The animals would change but not by a lot. I have gone to the petting farm numerous times and the animals for the most part are the same type of animals. You get to walk around and pet any of the animals that you choose. Very few of the animals are behind locked cages which makes it a really fun place to hangout.

The waterpark seems like a lot of fun for the kids. There are these fire hydrants that shoot water quite powerfully out of the top. Usually there is a mist that you can feel from the water that comes out of the fire hydrants and can be quite refreshing. In the background of the photo you can see a oval shaped hoop that you can run through that offers a nice mist as you run through it. Sadly, there is only one which isn't fun because they can be a lot of fun.

They have this one water station that has faucets pouring out water into a tunnel and runs into several other tunnels. You can drop a leaf into the beginning portion of the station and watch it take its course until it drops off the edge. Sounds boring but to a small child, this offers all kinds of entertainment.

They have this ship at the waterpark and it has a watergun at the front of it that shoots towards the fire hydrants. The water shoots out almost as powerfully as the fire hydrants and so you can ensure that you will be soaking wet within seconds of standing in front of it. The ship can offer a nice climbing area for the kids and looks very child-friendly.

The playground offers some bouncy seats for the smaller children and they don't all look the same. One looks like a horse while another looks like a tyrannosaurus rex. I had noticed that there were quite a few of them so don't worry about there being a shortage.

There is a climbing station for the children to play on and around which is always fun. This seems to be in the shape of a triangle or a rocket but I guess it's up for interpretation of our imaginations.

There was this one section where there were three diggers to play with in the sand. They all were a different color and were nicely spaced out. This was the only section of the park that offered any sand for the children to play with.

There was a small truck play piece for smaller children to use. There was the "trunk" that you could climb in and sit down in and then the front bench that offered two steering wheels to use.

There are five baby swings but they swingsets look different than the rest of the baby swings that I have seen. The swingset is in the shape of a "T" and has one baby swing on the each end. Two sets of the swingsets offer regular baby swings.

The third baby swing offers one regular big kids swing and then one really cool looking bulkier baby swing. I feel like the really cool baby swing is more made for toddlers but there are straps and so I would leave it to a mother's judgement.

There is a swingset for big kids that only offers two big kid swings. These swings are tucked away off to the side of the playground. My fiance and I played on them for a bit and they seemed like a lot of fun.

There is a tire swing at this playground but before you get too excited, you should know that it is not a real rubber tire. This tire swing is plastic made to look like a tire and is very very light. When my fiance tried to climb onto it, he fell quite easily. The tire swing is hard to climb on because of how light it is so I do warn you to be careful. You can still twist the swing around easily and have fun on it but who doesn't like the classic rubber tire swing?

There is this massive climbing jungle gym for the kids to use and it offers lot's of entertainment. You can climb up on multiple sides and pretty much let your imagination run wild. There is a set of monkey bars that arcs up two of the sides of the jungle gym. There are two crescent shaped seats that you can use to rest if you're feeling tired from all the climbing. 

As you go towards the big kids play area, you'll notice a very colorful bridge/walkway that leads to it. The walkway has a ramp that seems rather exciting. I personally enjoyed walking on this walkway and I'm twenty-five years old.

Upon arriving at this big kids play area, you will see a large straight slide that you can use. If that's not exciting enough there is a twisty slide for you to use. There are two ladders that you can use to climb straight to the top and once you are up top you can play around. There is not a lot up there but that's why God gave us our imaginations! On the opposite side of the slides, there is a pole you can use to slide down. This may not be the preferred choice for those children that don't like heights because the drop down does seem high.

This park is perfect if you plan to have big parties or gatherings where you'll be serving food (or you just want a place for your whole group to sit). There are two sections of benches that are each covered by a roof and offer a large amount of seating. They are on the outskirts of the playground surrounded by grass but both sections of benches are far enough from each other that you can have two separate groups at the same time.

There are several benches that surround the entire park that are perfect for a family or for anyone else who is looking to sit down. There really is no shortage of benches at the park which is really nice compared to a lot of other parks.

There is this large seesaw at the playground that I played on and it was a favorite of mine from when I was a child. You can fit quite a few children on this seesaw at once and it can be quite bouncy!

There is another seesaw that kids can use but this one can only fit two kids at once. This isn't quite like a regular seesaw where the kids do all the pushing. This one has two springs that make the seesaw really bouncy and a lot of fun.

There are these two bars that you can play with to flip around on. There is a small stool for those children that are not quite tall enough to reach the bars. That's the first time that I have seen that at a park and is a really great idea.

Aldergrove McDonalds (264 & Fraser Hwy)

This play place is one of the more exciting play places that I have seen. This is a favourite if the kids that I nanny. This one is on the corner o 264th and Fraser Highway in Aldergrove. 

There are two slides that you can go down, both are twirly. There are several spots for the kids to climb and also to look down. To get around to each spot there are solid tunnels to crawl through. 

On the other half of this giant play place, there is more fun for the kids. There is a swinging tunnel to crawl through. If that's too scary for the kids, there is a solid tunnel beside the swinging one they can crawl through. The only thing that is really on the other side is a giant open area filled with mats. 

There is also a bench where you can sit beside Ronald McDonald. He will have his arm around you and it's a perfect opportunity for a photo! 

The small play place is kept very simple but seems to be fun for small children. You climb up and there are several bubble windows to look out of. The stairs to climb up are very easy since they are short. They also look fun with their many bright colours. 

The kids can climb through a tunnel and that brings them to the slide. The slide is short but seems to go fairly fast. The slide is nice and wide but only goes down straight. 

Walnut Grove Community Park

This park is located in Walnut Grove and can be hard to find at first. The park is located behind the highschool and cannot be seen from the street. There is a parking lot that goes behind the highschool making the walk quite a bit shorter. There is a waterpark, a small kids playground and a big kids playground. There are also fields to play various sports which is always nice to have. The one downfall to the playgrounds are that there are no swings at all. 

So the waterpark is boring when you look at it when it is off but it certainly looks great when it is on. The waterpark offers a variety of water spraying. There is misting, a waterfall, and waterguns. The waterpark is spacious and colourful. 

The waterguns at the park are very child-friendly and fun to play with. They are in the shape of frogs and the water is hot out from their mouths. You can turn the frogs to shoot the water at your friends if you want. 

One of the cool features to this park is that it has two bridges that you can walk over. Both bridges go over the water stream that comes from the waterpark. There is enough room for kids to walk underneath or crawl but it's too small for adults to go underneath. 

The water from the waterpark goes a pretty long distance. The stream gathers at the opposite end of the waterpark by a big drain. The stream is fun for the kids to walk in and splash in. 

Like I said, there are two playgrounds. One is for small kids and one is for bigger kids. The smaller playground looks like a ship and is mostly for climbing around. There isn't too much to do on top of the playground. 

There is one bouncy ride and would have to be shared. It's colourful and simple but  fairly fun for small children. 

The other part of the small kids playground is also a jungle gym but it's very small. You climb up and then you go down the slide right away. That is basically it and so it can become boron quite fast. 

Next is the big kids playground which offers slightly more. There is a twirly slide but it's not fast. There is a variety of ways to climb up the playground. There are swinging monkey bars but they are very high up the playground and most kids seem to avoid them. There is a fire pole that you can slide down. There are also a few bars where you can do flips and hang off of them. 

There are a couple baseball fields which are quite large. You can easily have two groups each playing baseball without them affecting one another. 

There is a couple soccer fields but it looks like they are under construction at the moment. Both are large and nicely spaced from each other. 

Then there are numerous picnic benches. There are two sections of covered picnic benches. Each of the covered sections have quite a few benches that would easily accommodate a group. There are also single benches spread throughout the park. There is no shortage on seating for the people that come to the park. 

Cloverdale Athletic Park

This is a park that not only has a playground but a waterpark as well. There are several different things at this park that can meet a variety of ages. 

First off there are 8 big kid swings and two baby swings. I find that most parks don't offer quite as many. The swings are on the outer edge of the playground and offer a view of the entire playground. 

There is a jungle gym for older kids that has this really cool tube you can crawl through. There are two slides beside it but they are quite short. There still is one large slide for them to go down. There's a twirly pole which is always a blast. There is also some cool looking monkey bars to climb around. 

For the smaller children, there are two jungle gyms. One really only contains a slide which is a bit boring but it does look like a train engine. The other offers a slide, tic tac toe, and an open area to play. There is even two steering wheels you can use. 

There are two teeter totters for the kids to go on. They are not very high off the ground which seems to be boring. They do have tires under the seats which offers a pretty epic bounce. 

There are three springy seats that are a classic for kids to use. The younger ones hop right in and bounce all around. 

There is this one really fun spinny ride that is guaranteed to make you dizzy. You sit in this thing that looks like a bowl and spin around and around. I always enjoy riding in it but so do the kids. 

There's one more bouncy ride for the kids but it really is only for small kids. You can fit four kids on at once and they can bounce in all kinds of fun and crazy directions. Sadly, it doesn't get much love from the kids. 

There are two cars that can be used to climb around on. Kids can use their imaginations and drive them. The tires are fun to bounce on too. They seem to draw a lot of attention which is neat to watch. It's a good thing there are two of them. 

Finally, there is the waterpark. At first glance, it looks like it would be a lot of fun. There are three water guns but only two of them work. The water guns are quite powerful and reach some good distance. A few of the mist water poles don't work very well and so only have the waterpark is good to play in. 

Being an athletic park, there are a few different sports related areas to enjoy. There is a field where you can play soccer and a second field where you can play baseball. Both fields are large and full of really fresh, green grass. 

There is a basketball court that is right near the waterpark. The court is full of concrete but is fenced in so that the ball doesn't escape. 

Lastly for the athletic side of the park, there is a really big ball hockey court. Again, this is fenced in which is quite handy for those playing. 

The last thing I will mention about this park is that it features a lot of benches. Some of them are covered which is really nice in the summer when you're looking for some shade. Then there are some benches that are uncovered and spread around the playground.