For months I have been wanting to check out this park, but for some reason or another something always came up. I think the fact that it is in Hayward had a lot to do with it.
Its called Cannery Park and has these amazing water features which is why I was so eager to try it out. We all know how fond of water Holly is.
The water area was really neat. The surface was the soft padded kind which we really like. The water kept the ground in the main play area cool, but it was too hot to walk barefoot anywhere else.
Holly really enjoyed playing in the water with the other kids, and she actually ran underneath the spouts getting her hair all wet. I love the little grin on her face in this picture.
One of the other kids had these little goggles which Holly picked up and decided to carry all over the park and swing them around.
Here is little Mady, she is about 9 months old now. She is such an adorable little thing. She normally loves the water but it was pretty cold. 
There were a few times that Holly was shivering and I cuddled her in the towel but she didn't want to get out of the water, and in the sun it was super warm.
Here is Benny snacking on a banana, he was so sweet, he wanted to share my watermelon and Holly didn't like it so we had a bunch together.
Here is the little one sitting on the step, but that was one of the problem area's It was super slippery on these concrete steps, and with those huge stones nearby I was terrified every time she tried to go up or down.
She sure did have fun though and I suppose it wouldn't be mommyhood without constant worry about scraped knees and tumbles down the stairs and slips in the water.
I usually let the leash out a little more once we both get familiar with a new place and I see how confident Holly is in her surroundings, but I still tend to hover.
Unfortunately I don't get a chance to hang out with the mom's in this group as often as I would like, so I don't know a lot of them very well, but I enjoy the chance to chat when we have the opportunity.
I love that Holly is so into water. One thing that was really neat about this park was that there was this button you could press to make the water "go" again.
I think it would have been nice if the water was a little deeper, her only opportunity to get wet was if she walked through the spouts.
I love this little picture of her wet foot prints I tried several times to catch this but the sun was shining so bright that they often would dry before I could snap the shot.
Holly ran over to the swing all the way at the other side of the park and had a blast. I think she uses the swing as a chance to decompress. She gets a chance to zone out. Overall we had a wonderful time.
Slides - 0 - There were no slides at this parkSwings - 1 - There were swings but they were on the far side of the park.
Surface - 1 - Most of the park had bouncy turf which we really enjoyed. But there was the rock and concrete area that I wasn't thrilled about.
Shade - 0 - There was almost no shade at all, this was a huge drawback. So much sun, and so very hot. We ended up leaving after a short time because of the heat.
Climbing - 0 - There wasn't a lot of stuff to climb around on.
Parking - 1 - Very close parking at the front of the park.
Bathrooms - 1 - Yes. Though I don't remember seeing them.
Distance - 0 - It was pretty far away. More then a twenty minute drive.
Friends - 1/2 - On this particular day there were lots of friends for us to play with. But other then the kids in my mom's group, there were no other kids that came the 90 or so minutes we were there.
Fun - 1/2- Holly had a lot of fun and she loved the water and she is capable of playing in only the water for hours, but she gets distracted and wanted to run around, but the ground was hot, and the play structure wasn't toddler friendly, so there wasn't anything else for her to do.
A few Sundays back we drove out to San Ramon to attend a Birthday Party for our Friend Benny who just turned two. We went to an amazing place called Central Park.
San Ramon is about a 35 minute drive for us, but it was so worth it. The park had two giant play structures and in the center was an amazing water feature.
This is a new sun safe "rag" suit I got for Holly so she could run around and play in the water without me worrying about her getting a burn. When we arrived we found our group over by the BBQ Pits and dropped off our stuff and said hello.
Holly was eager to go and play though, so we headed over to the play ground. When we first got there she was a little tentative, soaking it all in, but it was only a matter of minutes until she was off and ready to run and play.
She was eager to pick up some buckets and other toys, and Daddy followed her around. It was his first time seeing Holly with a lot of other kids.
He wasn't sure what the 
I had convinced him to wear shorts so that he could play in the water with Holly, he of course whined about it, but once we got there he was so happy that he did. He loved chasing Holly around in the water.
After a few minutes he gave her some space, and she had had so much fun. Running around in the water, splashing, going in towards the fountain, getting sprayed.
I love her new little swim suit, it was nice not to have to battle to get the sun screen on, or worry about her getting burned. The only thing was the little shorts, I ordered a 12 months size and it was still way too big on her.
After a while she ventured out and began to explore the water feature. There were little mini fountains that drained down the steps like a waterfall, she climbed down and then back up and enjoyed watching the water flowing.
And then of course she was eager to make friends. She found lots of little toys to play with and random shovels, buckets, and other sand items to splash.
Just over the wall was the play ground which had a sand ground. So many of the kids would take there buckets over to the water to fill them for there sand escapades.
I think I got a little carried away taking pictures she was just so cute and so happy playing in the water. Eventually we did head back over to the party.
Here I ended up taking off Holly's bottoms, and put just a swim diaper on her, this made it much easier for her to run around.
Benny is totally into Elmo right now and that was the theme of his party. So we got him a Sesame street themed pop up game similar to Holly's favorite toy.
The one where you turn a knob, push or pull a lever and then the animals pop open. In the case of the toy we got for Benny it was the Character's, Oscar, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Big Bird (I think) and they popped out, Oscar came out of his can, I think Elmo opens a door. it also had music.
Here is the little munchkin playing with a ball, and he hair is finally a little wet because she got close enough to the big mushroom fountain to let it spray her.
The party was amazing. There were so many people there, Benny has a lot of relatives. Even his great grand mother. She cooked an amazing pasta salad.
There was a lot of food, and it was soo good. A brisket, and pulled pork, which Holly really liked, Burgers and Hot Dogs, and lots of really good drinks. Punch for the kids, Root beer for me.
This is one of the two play grounds. There were so many cool slides and various places to climb and explore.
One thing that was so cool was how the play structured lined up with the grass on the second level. You could climb in from the side on the top or you could walk up the platforms.
I didn't take a lot of pictures at the party itself but that's Benny in the shorts walking around, and in the back ground is the BBQ. His grandpa spent the afternoon cooking up the meat. Oh so yummy!
This is the view behind our little seat on the grassy hill. The trees are so beautiful. It was nice to have large shaded areas with spurts of sunshine.
That's David Benny's Dad, and he is carrying Maddy who I think is about 8 months old in this picture. I think he is talking to Karen, one of the mom's from our meet-up group. Which is where I met Theresa, Benny's Mom.
Here is Holly back to the play ground. She loves these little two way windows.
Smooooshy face! Isn't she like the cutest thing you have ever seen!
I couldn't resist and had to post both of this pictures. She loves makes funny faces and squashing her nose up against the glass.
Here she is playing einney meany miney moe with the toe slides, deciding which one she will fly down.
Oh, and her other favorite thing is crawling through these tubes, back and forth, but of course she has to stop at the window.
Peek-a-boo!
It makes it all the more fun when daddy looks in and they go back and forth jumping to different windows. She loves this game.
This is Skylar, Dora's little one. We know her from the group as well. I love her little grass skirt. They came to the party just in time for yummy cupcakes.
Holly of course made it back to the water again, this time with even more toys to play with and explore.
But her favorite game was running circles around the fountain. The water was nice and cool on her feet.
The water was nice to keep cool on a warm summer's day. We played late into the evening. Going back several times, letting her dry off in the sun, play in the sand, get dirty, and then head back into the water. This is a little video of Holly playing in the water, previously posted. 
Instead of a birthday cake there were delicious cupcakes and some really yummy fruit salad. Holly took a break to eat some of that as well, she drank some juice, and snacked. Over by the picnic area she was thrilled to play in the cooler with the ice.
I guess since this is a park, I should rate it:
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