Seven Hills Park - 4/10

Last week we went to an East Bay Playgroup Meet-up at Seven Hills Park near Union City. It was a bit of a drive and not being much of a morning person we were running a little late.When we first arrived we joined the mom's on the grass in the picnic area. Holly fell asleep on the ride down and needed a few minutes to wake up.We had a lot of fun playing on the blanket in the shade and crawling in the grass. She also made friends with one of the littler babies. It was my first time meeting most of the moms.There kids are a lot older, most of them almost two all the way up to five. It was amazing to see how prepared the mom's were, and showed me how I will need to change it up now that Holly is becoming a toddler.Sippy cups, juice boxes, little cups of Strawberries and string cheese, snack packs and fruit and all kinds of little snacks. I had Cheerios and bottles, but not anything as exciting as the other moms.They offered to share and Holly tried some strawberries but she didn't really eat them, she played with them instead. So I think I have a little time before she is ready for all the fancy snacks, and even cold packs to keep them fresh.Soon she got bored on the blanket and was off and ready to play. She was eager to explore. The park was in a little valley that we climbed down into it from the car.It was mostly set up for older kids, but that didn't stop Holly from toddling around and climbing about. She is getting really good at navigating these little platforms.It was a warm and sunny day and Holly was eager to go up the steps and down the slide. But it was way too big for her to go down all on her own.So I decided to let her sit on my lap and we went down the slide together. She had her sights set to climb back up, but with her slippery socks she wasn't getting to far.So she was off to see what other trouble she could get into. The park had that really nice bouncy turf so it was easy for her to walk around and play.Holly decided she wanted to swing, but she was too little for these swings and the other's were being used. She quite enjoyed trying to walk under foot so I redirected her into something else.The park has a race car theme and most of the kids had there bikes with them and they raced around the tracks. Holly liked sitting in the car rocker and climbing about.She was ready for another break and we walked back over to the blanket on the hill. When we left home it was really chilly, but it was quite warm in the park. I thought about changing Holly but decided the long sleeves would protect her from the sun.She decided to explore the park and check out the trees, and got a lot of practice walking on uneven ground. But it didn't take long before she got herself into trouble.She was eager to explore the other kids bags and pull stuff out of them.. I had to wrangle her to keep things put and zip them up and move them out of her way. But then she got distracted as some of the other kids came up for a visit.This little boy was so sweet and Holly was eager to make friends. She is so social and very curious about older kids and liked to watch them.She was entertained with her new friends. She reached out to touch his noise, and then he pet Holly' soft cheeks. Him Mommy scolded him though :-( and said he could touch feet hands and head. Maybe she was afraid he didn't know how to be gentle but he was great with Holly. She then made friends with this little girl, but I think she was really after her juice. She was a four year old. She told me she lived in Hayward and asked me where the baby lived. I told her she lived in Berkeley and she said Berkeley is Yucky. I asked her why and she said her Mommy told her it was yucky.Hmmmm... Maybe not the best fit, a group of mom's who didn't think that Berkeley was the coolest place in California to live! We were in the "south bay" (sigh)Most of the mom's left about an hour after I arrived. They had been there for a while though. We stayed about 45 minutes more and got a chance to play in the rocking cars some more and swing on the swings before we headed out. Holly fell fast asleep in the car on the way to our next adventure.Slides - 0 - I was torn on this score, there is a slide, but it will be a long long time before she can do it herself, and she can't do it with help. There was also only one slide.

Swings - 1 - yes

Surface - 1 - There was both grass and the bouncy turf, my favorite surface.

Shade - 1/2 - The park itself had no share at all but there was some in the trees and the picnic area, but that was pretty far away. The ground and structure did get a little hot.

Climbing - 0 - There was really only one platform leading up to the one large slide, so not a lot to explore

Parking - 1/2 - There was parking but it was way up on a hill and we had to climb down into the park

Bathrooms - 1/2 - They existed, but were pretty far away from the play area.

Distance - 0 - This was around 30-40 minutes away.

Friends - 1/2 - Well there was a play date so lots of kids, but it is hidden away and there were no kids who weren't part of the group.

Fun - 0 - She liked toddling around, going on the swings, and sitting in the cars, but there wasn't a whole lot to do. We were there for less then two hours and we did it all more then once.

http://www.union-city.ca.us/leisure/Sites/seven_hills.htm