Anyway, today we hit an old favorite, Randall Oaks. There is a lot to love at Randall Oaks. First, it is very large. I don't know how many acres it is, but it is large enough that we have never walked the whole thing. There is a good combination of open spaces, hills (sledding in the winter), a large and a small playground, and lots of large shade trees (mostly oaks). There is also a little zoo that is a good size for toddlers and preschoolers. We get a season pass each year so that we can go frequently and don't feel like we have to spend a huge chunk of time visiting. While I didn't take any photos of just the park itself, maybe you can see some of it in the photos of the kids playing.
The zoo is set up great for the kids to be able to see the animals. It is not set up so that I could get any decent pictures of the kids looking at the animals.
There are benches near most of the enclosures and it gives Malcolm just the right boost to be able to see over the railings. The horizontal boards are at just the right height that Dorothy can look between them while either standing or sitting in the stroller. There are some animals that the kids can feed, and there are holes cut so the animals can stick their heads out right at stroller height. Dorothy thinks it is hilarious when the sheep, goats, and deer stick their heads out at her. They are always disappointed that we don't have food for them, but the kids don't usually ask and I don't offer to buy animal food.
This is how Dorothy spent most of her time at the zoo.
The raccoon was out in his wading pool, and it was a special treat to see him. Usually, he's napping.
The zoo has made a few changes this year. They now have a rabbit again after 3 or 4 years of not having one. They also use to have rats and I wish they would bring them back. They have also added some guinea hens and two porcupines. I don't know why, but I never realized that porcupines spent some much time up in trees. While we were there today, one of the volunteers was working in the tortoise area and was holding one up for the kids to touch. Much to my surprise, Malcolm touched it. He is starting to get a little braver about touching animals sometimes. That was the only animal he touched today, but the last time we were there, he pet a sheep and a deer. He wanted nothing to do with the cow though.
Once we done with the animals, we headed over to the smaller of the two playgrounds. Malcolm was very excited to run into a little boy from his school and they played together a bit. The playground is built for littler kids and has a nice sand pit. I save empty plastic containers and scoops from our laundry soap and take a bunch of those with us when we go. That way, there is lots to share, but I don't care if something gets broken or wanders off. The kids spent at least 30 minutes just digging in the dirt.
Malcolm had a bit of a breakdown when I told him that he could not take a shovel out of the hands of a little girl (his school friend's little sister).
After digging, they were ready to climb a swing a bit. I didn't get any good pictures of Malcolm because he is much too fast. He and his friend played on the teeter-totter a bit, but they both need to weigh a little more to get it to really go.
Yes, she is wearing a "Hogs are beautiful" shirt. It was mine when I was little and was most likely some sort of promotional item from hog farmers. I'm not a big fan of screen printed, graphic T's for kids, but this on makes me giggle. I wanted to get a picture of her with the pig at the zoo, but there wasn't a way to get both of them in the shot at the same time.
It was lunch time when we left, and as a treat we stopped and had lunch at Culver's, a hamburger and frozen custard place.
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