04/19/2014 - Playground on Northwest End of Humboldt Park, Humboldt Park, North Ave (between California and Sacramento)

Post #19

Link to panorama - http://pnr.ma/dhqznh

After a long winter, we're officially "back on the park."  I decided to take the boys to our third playground at Humboldt Park (there are still more to explore, but so far we've been to this one and this one), since we now live within walking distance of such a huge park.

No sign... so we had to improvise.

Located behind the basketball court that's across from the BK on North Avenue, this nameless park is by one of the ponds.  It has summertime water-spouting equipment, for which we'll certainly have to wait some months, and all of the equipment we've come to expect from your basic playground.

The reviews:

Máximo - ★★★ 1/2, "I kind of didn't like it, because the zipline was kind of rusty, and but I liked it because there was lots of space and lots of climbing equipment, and it was really fun and it was nice weather too."

George Carlos - ★★★★★, "We played cool stuff, I got to play on the swing and I learned something, that that blue stuff (the rubber mulch surrounding the splash pad) was squooshy... and that's why I gave it a number 5."

Squooshy blue stuff.

This one park is sprawling and is perfect for a chase-type game, which we most certainly played this past Sunday.  The equipment is in decent condition for being inside (surrounded by park on all sides) Humboldt Park.  The zip-line, as Máximo mentioned, is rusted and doesn't completely work, and there are a few other structural issues, but in relatively good shape.

Arrival at equipment zone.

The above pic shows some of the "classic," equipment to which we've grown so accustomed during our blogging excursions.  They've got your tunnels, tic tac toe and monkey bars, et cetera.

Another view of the lay o' the land.

George Carlos goofin' on the slide.

One seemingly innocuous apparatus consisted of two 10' planks bolted together and suspended by chains as a rickety bridge set-up (pictured below).  I didn't think much of it, but once Georgie challenged my ability to get across it, we all made quite a game out of it (e.g. how fast can you get across, traverse it walking backwards), which shows how any combination of metal and wood can make for a game in the hands of a 6, 8 and 35 year-old.

Rickety bridge.

Challenge accepted.

Máximo handled the monkey bars with professional skill.

A view from the South.

stuff.

GCVV escaping Máximo

Tunnel.

That corkscrew again.

GC taking a survey of the land.

Swangin' is always on the menu.

The tire is about 15' from any other equipment, seeing as it's potentially dangerous to wandering kids not paying attention as over 100 lbs of child swings rambunctiously on a solid tire-shaped piece of hard plastic.  It is very fun too and I got a piece of the action as the boys made a valiant go at swinging me around on it after they had had their fill.

Big yellow tire.

Not wonderful, but better than a lot of parks we've been to - and cleaner.  My review lands in between the boys', probably, at 4 stars, let's say.

http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/humboldtpark/

11/10/2013 - Maplewood Park, West Town, 1640 N.Maplewood Ave.

Post #17

Link to panorama - http://pnr.ma/bFDdJF

This, I hope, is the most grossly tardy blog post ever... 5 months (and some change) late, and there is another to follow.  But the boys and I are back "on the park," and hope not to fall out of the habit as bad this year.

Maplewood Park is located, as the Park District website says, "three blocks west of Western Avenue, one-half block north of North Avenue," in West Town.

We were there on a day ill-equipped for water, so we have not rated it's wet facilities... but here is how the boys weighed in:

Máximo - ★★★, "I voted 3, three stars, because it had lots of climbing stuff that I liked, and I kind of liked playing there... and yeah."

George Carlos - ★★★★★, "Because, I had a lot of fun, I got to sit in that big chair (big swing chair, which is always a highlight for GC), got to play with you and, uhm, that's it, that's why I had five."

Before we left, Máximo and I had a "thread the needle," throw down.

Great park, I have nothing negative to say about it.  There's a big field for baseball and what not.  It's equipped for big kids and tiny kids alike.  The equipment is in great condition and it is sprawling enough that our tag-type games aren't restricted by limited space.

We've got slides!

Climbing apparatuses!

Stuff to jump and fall onto!

Cages!

GCVV makin a b-line.

 Decent toy-type equipment (e.g. periscope, gears encased in plastic [pictured below])... you know... toy-type equipment.

Toy equipment

 Not to be overlooked is the classic monkey bars.  A playground staple, these things are wonderful for exercise, as well as a way to be unreachable for those intermediate-expert climbers.  

Parks that don't have them should just stop frontin'.

Monkey bars.

Q-Bert lookin' box stairs.

 The presence of the "mushroom cap," stool things can show the newness of a park - Maplewood has 'em, and they're fun to run around on.

"Mushroom caps" visible behind George Carlos here.

A zen moment for my sons.

 The periscope actually worked, which is kind of rare in the city.

Periscope.

 All in all, a great park, not terribly over or under-whelming, but consistent, clean and well planned.

http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/Maplewood-Playlot-Park/

12/01/2013 - Geothe School Playground, Logan Square, 2626 W Belden Ave.

Post #18

Link to panorama - http://pnr.ma/bCTcQw

Of the few parks we had visited before I started this blog, Geothe School's was the worst.  It was run-down, nasty, but close to my home at the time.

Here are some pictures I took in January of 2013 (not terribly comprehensive):

Hiding in the graffiti-insulated igloo.

Parkour

The rubber mulch under the swings was obliterated and there was even an AK-47 drawn on the slide, in Sharpie.

So we were psyched when they tore it down, and even more psyched to get a look at it (on 12/01/2013) and get to know the newer version of the park.

Though not perfect, the new park has much more to offer, especially for the school kids that actually have to play on it every day.  The entire park had not been completed in December, but we could see that it was far larger and definitely fit for consumption, at least. 

New equipment - including a yet to be destroyed periscope (they rarely work)

 It has some updated climbing equipment, which is always fun:

You can see that the rubber mulch is brand spanking new.

This spinning piece was a head-scratcher, but in a good way.  It was confounding and kept George Carlos and me busy.

It spins, which gives it a barf quality.

They have one of these slow corkscrew apparatuses:

We didn't play too long, and forgot to even speak to it's quality via our patented star review system.

But it was most definitely an improvement.

I'm sure it's open now, but the rest was shrouded in mystery back in December.

Nice job with the clean-up Geothe!

http://goetheschool.org/