Krushi Park Alameda - 7.5/10

This is a cool little park we recently discovered in Alameda called Krusi Park. It is a lot of fun, but sure was an adventure getting there. Now I know where it is, it will be easier next time.This park is huge and attached to a school, the GPS and official park Address bring you to a street on the far side of the football and baseball fields, far from the play ground.When we went to the park we were meeting my Alameda meet-Up group for a play date which I think began at like 10:30, we were already running late. Getting off the Highway the High Street Bridge was closed, and we had to take a major detour, once we arrived at the destination, we were utterly lost.I circled the park (several blocks) looking for a playground. I saw one group of Children but they were in a day camp. it is really hard to see this AWESOME playground form the road, and it is actually hidden behind a school on one side and a row of houses on the other.The entrance we finally found on the Opposite side of where we were was actually a maintenance driveway and when i pulled in I could see the playground. by this time, Holly had fallen asleep in the car and I didn't want to wake her, but I was meeting a group, and an hour late...So I parked in the maintenance driveway left the car door open, and walked over the the park entrance, I could see my car from there, and looked for people I could recognize. Many of the mom's I had not met before, but after I few minutes I found Melanie, and told her I'm here!I discovered that due to the unusually cold weather and windiness that most of the group were leaving and heading home out of the cold, so that I should not wake Holly, and we could all play another day.I ended up driving to a drive through and getting myself some lunch and then reading emails in the car for about another 90 minutes and then Holly woke up. We ran some errands, like returning the Child gates we bought to use in Mendocino, and get some supplies. By then it was much sunnier, though still a nice breeze, and I decided to head back to this park. it looked like a lot of fun.Holly made friends easily and played in the sand with her new bucket. This was only 3 dollars at Walmart, the nearest one to me is in San Leandro, but it was actually pretty close to this park, since the park is on the far side of Alameda.It was a bit of a challenge to share the bucket, as all the kids wanted to play with it, and Holly doesn't quite get the concept of sharing yet. One baby got so upset when it was time to leave and her mommy said she couldn't take the bucket with her that she had a full on tantrum. I almost wanted to just give it to her, but I didn't.The park also had baby swings near the big kid playground..The ground here was Tree bark, so I had to put Holly's shoes on her. Even though I had to keep a close eye on her, she actually enjoyed climbing on this structure too. She would hike up the bridge, then sit and side down the other side... Silly girl. I thought it was great practice for her, and I simply spotted her but mostly let her do it on her own. She is still learning about walking up and down "hills"This was another type of bridge that sloped down in the middle and moved when you walked over it, and Holly had a lot of fun on it too. Mommy stood on one side and it would make her go up or down depending on where I was standing which was a lot of fun. I also thought it was pretty impressive that she was walking and climbing and playing with her little snack trap, but she did not want to give it up. I should note though, that Holly did have one spill. She was in a little area with a diagonal platform that had one opening of a tube and another opening of a side and she had been climbing up and down the platform and in and out of the tube like 30 times. But then, for some reason, a bird chirping, the little boy sitting on the slide near her, she wasn't paying attention and walked right over the edge and fell down the step and bumped her head. I was right there, but couldn't get to her right away. I ended up climbing up the slide to get to her, but a mom on the side, through the rail helped sit her up while I climbed, and then I sat and hugged and rocked her until she was all better. She was fine, just scared, but it goes to show, she just doesn't pay attention all the time and I have to be vigilant with my calling out and reminding her of steps and edges. When we were ready to get down, a dad helped me out by catching her at the bottom of the slide, and then I climbed down.One of her favorite things, as you can tell by the pictures above is climbing through these tubes. I think they are a lot of fun, and we play peek-a-boo through the windows.Eventually she made her way back to the sand area and found other toys to play with when other kids were "sharing" her bucket. I think it is really cute how much she likes dump trucks, but she seems very drawn to them, whenever we see them on a playground in the sand she runs over dumps the sand out and takes fists of sand to fill it back up. Sometimes she even pushes them around like they are driving in the sand, but not often.Slides - 1 - There were many slides, on the tot structure they were small enough for her to do on her own, and on the big kid one, with a little help.

Swings - 1 - Yes, and she made good use of them!

Surface - 1 - I am giving this a 1 because the tot structure had bouncy turf and a fun sand pit. The big kid structure had the tree bark that I didn't like, but then again we don't have to play over there, and the tot area is fenced in, so I don't have to worry about her wondering to the other play area.

Shade - 1/2 - Most of the park is not shaded and the bouncy ground was hot on your feet. there was however picnic tables in a shaded area where you could go to get out of the sun and have lunch or a snack.

Climbing - 1 - there was a lot of stuff to climb on, and it was especially popular for the slightly older kids to climb on that beautiful dragon and jump into the sand, so there will be more for her to do as she gets older.

Parking - 1/2 - There is street parking, and it is pretty shady too, but it isn't super close to the playground, and it might be tougher to find at a high traffic time.

Bathrooms - 0 - Not anywhere near where we were playing, maybe in the school, but we wouldn't have access.

Distance - 1/2 - Although this trip took us like 40 minutes, with no traffic and an opened bridge, I could get there in 15 so I will give it a 1/2 point.

Friends - 1 - Lots of kids and moms to meet and chat with. Plus a popular place for my play group.

Fun - 1- lots of fun, Holly had an amazing time.