Supera Park

Ahoy matey!  Welcome to the park of pirate ships, sandy islands and palm trees! We headed over on a Wednesday afternoon, the sun was shining and it was hot.  Luckily, this park is almost completely covered with trees and provided shade to allow us a break from the sun.  Parking on Racine was super easy and there were tons of spots on both Draper and Lill as well.    

The main attraction of Supera Park is that the play structures are shaped to look like pirate ships, complete with sail.  The rubberized flooring is colored in a way that the boats are in the water and there are beaches surrounding the area.  There is a little island playhouse next to a huge sandbox and this is where my kids spent the majority of their time. 

Lots of climbing options are available at this park.  Both of my kids loved being able to see how high they could get, but it wasn't too high that I couldn't help if the need be. 

 
The park was kept very clean, which was nice since both of my kids decided to take their shoes off after being in the sand box.  They ran around and played and did not have to worry about stepping on broken glass or other garbage.

My only complaint, very minor, is that the drinking fountain was stuck in an on position.  This made it so that the drinking fountain area was flooding and slippery.  Not very ideal for trying to get a sip of water.

Love:  large, gated park, lots of trees for shade, clean area, picnic tables, benches, lots of climbing, a good amount of swings, teeter totter.

Hate: overflowing drinking fountain, no bathrooms.

Special Feature: Pirate theme!

This park is frequented by the ice cream truck - bring some money!



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Winnemac Park

Today we wanted to find a good park for riding bikes.  Winnemac Park was the perfect spot for what we wanted.  The park is located on almost 40 acres of green space, complete with paved trails that go throughout the grass.  All around are prairie plants and huge willow trees.  This is one beautiful park!

The actual playground is located on the corner of W. Argyle and N. Leavitt.  The play area is completely fenced in and there is tons of space within.  The playground equipment is typical of a renovated park: rubber flooring, lots of slides, monkey bars, toddler area.  However, one cool feature is that surrounding the park is a little side walked "road" for the kids to ride their bikes around.  Living in the city makes it tough to go bike riding with small kids and this was a great, safe environment for them to get their ride on. 

There were many picnic tables and benches throughout the playground area.  A few of the benches were in the shade, which was amazing on this sweltering day.  This is definitely a park that would be ideal for a picnic.  

Outside of the playground is a field house, tons of baseball diamonds, a running track, tennis courts, prairie trails and Amundsen High School.  The school has an indoor pool that the day camps use (I do not think it is ever open to the public).  But, luckily you know that a bathroom is not too far away.

 
Love:  there is a parking lot located off of Damen (be aware that this is about a quarter mile from the playground, so street parking would put you closer), lots of trails for exploring and riding bikes.

Hate:  Low rider swings, wish pool was open for family swims.  

Special Feature: Has to be the surroundings in general, tons of trails and GREEN GRASS!  Great place for riding bikes for kids.



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South Lakeview Park

Summer just started and already I feel so busy!!  While my daughter was at a birthday party around the corner (at Emerald City Theater, very cute by the way) my son and I strolled down the street to South Lakeview Park. 

The park has a great location at the end of a cul-de-sac on W. Wolfram and next to N. Lakewood Ave.  It was one of the hotter days and the park was nice because it offered some shade.  Rubberized material - check, small and large play areas - check, water fountain (that works) - check.  A great place to hang with my little man while I waited for my daughter to get done pretending to be a princess. 

Now that my son is officially in underwear, noticing the bathroom situation has become even more important to me.  This park unfortunately does not have facilities.  However, I did notice many little boys using a set of bushes as a potty.  I will admit that if I absolutely did not have a choice I would be the first to "allow" my son to pee on a bush, however, I'm not sure that I am totally down with the 10 year olds who can more likely hold it a little longer using the bushes as a public bathroom.  Will I change my mind in 8 years? Maybe. 

The Pee Bushes

One negative - the swings are way too close to the ground.  My son is only 2.5 and had to pick his legs up to be able to fully swing.  We ended up moving over to the baby swings so that he could really swing. 

Love:  lots of trees, a cute gazebo with a bush lined sidewalk, a basketball court (four hoops), little clubhouse, lots of slides, zipline like toy, a very secluded area. 

Hate:  swings are too low, bushed lined sidewalk also serves as a bathroom.

Special Feature: lots of places to have lunch outside, a teeter totter.

*And lastly, Muskies is right around the corner.  One of my favorite greasy burger places.  Get the cheese fries, you won't regret it. (or maybe you will?)

New Park Reviews

It's been a long, cold winter.  Ok, really it wasn't that cold and quite honestly, thanks to this amazing March weather, it really hasn't seemed that long!  Either way I hibernated and chose not to review indoor spaces during the winter.  I much prefer the green stuff.  I hope to get some new reviews coming your way very soon!