Emerald Glen Park, Dublin - 8/10

This is an amazing park. Emerald Glen Park is in Dublin, which is about a 30 minute drive for me if there is no traffic. One of my mom's groups had a meet-up here and it was well worth the drive.Mainly we wanted to check this park out because of the amazing water features. I mean how fun is that, running through the damp bouncy turf through little fountains of water squirting at various heights and time intervals.But the park did have other things to offer. Baby swings were a great plus, and we used these when Holly needed a break and a moment to chill out and regain her energy.This was a cool push car that Holly borrowed from another little boy, and although the park didn't have donated toys like some others, there were a lot of toys that the kids brought with them from home that they were happy to share.There were also two really fun play structures. The big kid one With a draw bridge, and lots of things to climb and explore. And the tot one with climbing platforms and fun slides.I can't wait until holly is a little older and can navigate a structure like this all on her own. She knows how to walk over the bridge, but this slide was a little too twisty for her to go down on her own.There was also a huge sand pit, which was fun, because she was soaking wet from the water feature and then sat in the sand to play, which of course stuck to her everywhere, but I think she actually quite liked that. the kids would run and fill buckets with water and bring them back to the sand.This is my play group, there were about 20 moms in attendance, its a large group with play dates all over the east bay, I knew about half of the moms from other play dates, but most of them knew each other better then I knew them, as they had been int he group longer.A lot of the moms have kids around 3-4 and many live in places like Union City, Dublin, San Ramon, Fremont, which is why most of the play dates are in those areas, so they attend many more then I do. That said, everyone is very friendly and talkative and makes everyone feel right at home, even though I spent most of the time chasing Holly around.This was something we didn't try out, but will when Holly is older. They were slides built into the side of the rock formation, the kids would climb up the stairs and then come pummeling down it was great.While I don;t mind playing with Holly and following her around, it is nice that the other moms get a chance to really talk to each other at a play date. there kids will go and run off and then come back and check in, a few years makes a big difference in what a little one is capable of, even a few months does.Holly had to get in on the sand bucket and water action so here she is filling up a bucket of water to bring back t the sand area to play in, or make "mud" with.In the back ground is my friends dog, a Great Dane, isn't he pretty, and huge. He was so good and sat in in the grass near the moms, he was so good with the kids too.The little stone features were neat, the kids invented a game where they would dump out a bucket of water down the slanted surface and then slide down to the other side.Holly found this cool ball to play with and enjoyed splashing it in the water and watching how it would make the water stop and go as she moved it.Here is a little spout. I am not sure if there was a pattern or a timer, but at seemingly random intervals the water would go "off" to almost nothing, with a few little spouts left. Holly liked sitting near these splashing, and I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't shoot up and come on when she had her face over it. It never did.In most cases they would go faster at a slow pace giving you some warning. Holly liked using the shovel to splash through the stream of water.She would also use the back of the shovel to stop the spout all together. it is so neat to watch them experiment and learn new things and figure out how the world works.It was really hot so I kept her hat on her and a few times poured water from a bucket over her head to cool her off. I even put sun screen on her legs when I saw she was sitting, and I put sun screen on myself like 20 times.As usual, Holly was very curious about what games the bigger kids were playing, tag or splashing or chase, she always wanted to be in the middle of the action.The rainbow structure was really cool, it had a fine mist of water spraying from all sides for the kids to run through, just enough to get damp and cool, but not soaked as if running through a fountain.We spent most of the afternoon going between the water and the sand. The play structure was pretty hot and Holly didn't feel like spending too much time on it, especially when there were more fun things she could be doing.We took a few breaks to dry off a bit so she wouldn't get cold, even though it was hot out, she did get a bit of a chill after standing int he cold water for several minutes.We had a few snacks on the blanket in the grass with the other moms and kids, and then afterwards we met a few of the moms at a Frozen Yogurt place called blush which was a few blocks away. Mommy also stopped and had some Amici's pizza for lunch before heading home. Holly was fast asleep before we hit the highway.http://www.ci.dublin.ca.us/DepartmentSubLevel2.cfm?PL=Rec&SL=prkfac&dsplyID=430

Slides - 1 - They were hot, but they were fun.

Swings - 1 - Yes, these offered a nice break and comfort from all the activity.

Surface - 1 - Mostly bouncy turf, but Sand too. there were grassy area's also.

Shade - 0 - This was the hardest part, there was no respite from the sun anywhere, OK I lie, there was like one tree near where we were sitting, but the grass beneath it was wet and Muddy, so you couldn't sit there.

Climbing - 1 - Although we didn't spend a lot of time climbing, there were lots of opportunities to.

Parking - 1 - Very close parking in a big lot.

Bathrooms - 1 - Well they existed. I was afraid to use them, it was like these port-o-potties in the parking lot, and I could just imagine the muddy floors, But they were there.

Distance - 0 - This was at least a 30 minute drive, but worth it.

Friends - 1 - Lots of kids to play with, and lots of moms to talk to, and on this particular day, lots of people I knew. Karen, and Dennell, Candance, Janelle F, Sylvia, and many I was so happy to meet!

Fun - 1- We had a blast at this park.