Dreamland - 5/10

Last week we went to the Dreamland Playground which is part of the Aquatic park system. I think this is a little known gem, and I hope more people find out about it.Because the park is tucked away in a more industrial and commercial part of town, near the waterfront, rather then in a neighborhood, it is more of a play destination, then a walk to the neighborhood park kind of place. Since you have to drive there, when we went, there weren't many other people playing.I would imagine on warmer weekend days it could get pretty busy, and I would hope so, because it was amazing, but for bigger kids. This is a park that I will need to review again in 6-12 months, and see how Holly fairs when she is older.It is very beautiful made of wood and designed like castles with mazes and pathways to climb. they were also pretty baby safe because they were walled in on the sides, so she couldn't fall off the edge.The problem was, she would climb, climb, climb and get to the top and want to go down the big slide. But the slide is too big for her to do on her own yet. In this case, we were able to slide down together. But the pathways she climbed on were rather narrow, yet I couldn't let her go alone, because she still sometimes forgets where she came from and sits back on the edge.There were other neat climbing structures like this spider's web, and there was a tire swing as well, so for older kids it is a delight of mazes and activity.Holly did have fun, but on the day we went she must have been hungry, because she wouldn't walk 2 feet without sitting down and trying to eat the tree bark. Eventually this got on my nerves. I tried to feed her, and although there were picnic tables, it wasn't easy or successful, and she only ate a few bites before trying to get down and eat the bark.You can see here an overview of the park and how fun and cool it is, and will be I am sure when we go back, but I can only say yucky so many times before i decide to remove her from the environment. With Sand, or even rocks, she is pretty good about listening and then moving on, but with the tree back, well, its the perfect bit size of a cheerio, and she wants to chew on it.She did have fun exploring and we did do some climbing, but she was frustrated that she couldn't go down the slides. So she defaulted back to her new favorite activity.Doesn't she look so sweet and innocent here, you would never believe that her mommy was shouting, yucky, yucky, and trying to get the bark out of her mouth. I suppose she might not actually swallow it, but if she did, it could rip up her stomach, its pretty ragged, and she doesn't really know how to chew yet, so she does swallow large pieces of food. So I have to be hyper vigilant.There were a few smaller slides that she might have been able to do, but because they were tube slides I couldn't hold her hand, and since I climbed up to the top with her, there was no one to catch her at the bottom. The base of the slide is rather far off the ground, so perhaps if we go again with Daddy, I will let her try some of them.We did find the swings and she of course had fun on those, and I'm not saying we had a bad time, but it was certainly a time that she needed much more supervision then i normally have to give, and I had to tell her no a lot which i don;t like to do. We will definitely be back again, when she is a bit older, stops mouthing everything, and can slide and step up with a little more sophistication, of course at 4 to 5 she would have a blast, but I think at the speed of her gross motor skills, even at 18-24 months, she would get a little more out of it.Slides - 1/2 - There were many, but we went down together, or she would need to be caught.

Swings - 1 - yes

Surface - 0 - Tan Bark, she ate it. Yuck. The play structure is wood too which is cool, but can give you splinters.

Shade - 1/2 - There was no natural shade and it was warm, but on and under the play structures you could get out of the sun.

Climbing - 1/2 - There were tones of steps and platforms to climb, but all needed supervision at this point.

Parking - 1 - There was a small lot near by

Bathrooms - 0 - to be honest I don;t know, I am sure there are bathrooms near by the Aquatic park is very large, but none I could see from the playground.

Distance - 1 - Maybe 5 minutes from home. Could even take a long walk there.

Friends - 0 - There were only a few older kids when we went, but when I revisit I will go on the weekend, perhaps there will be more kids then,

Fun - 1/2- She did have fun, it was huge and there was so much to explore, I could imagine her spending hours there, especially if she didn't stop every 2 minutes to eat the bark. It will be even more fun when she is older.

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