Travel

Top 10 Parks [Playgrounds]

Cincinnati has a lot of wonderful parks that the kids just love!

Cincinnati Parent listed 10 Parks [Playgrounds] that are fabulous!

  1. Ault Park
  2. Cincinnati Nature Center PlayScape
  3. Highfield Discovery Garden
  4. Land of Make Believe
  5. Nature Play at BCM
  6. Parky’s Farm
  7. Pleasant Ridge Playground
  8. Smale Riverfront Park
  9. Summit Park
  10. West Fork Park Playland

Out of these 10 parks, I have been to 6 of them! I have been to Ault Park, Cincinnati Nature Center PlayScape, Parky’s Farm, Pleasant Ridge Playground, Smale Riverfront Park, and Summit Park.

My two favorite parks are Cincinnati Nature Center PlayScape and Summit Park.

The Cincinnati Nature Center PlayScape is a great place for the little ones to explore ad get their hands dirty! They are free to do mostly whatever they would like. They are able to play in the water, build with large and small logs and sticks, explore the nature surrounding them, play in mud. The Nature Center provides materials such as spoons, buckets, pans, etc for the kids to use when playing.

Summit Park has two play grounds, ages 2-5 and 5-12. There is also a large field, big bench swings and a playscape with many different sections. The playscape at Summit Park is amazing. There is a section with water, swims, stick/rocks, sand, zipline swing, etc. I love going there and walking too.

Travel

My Top 5 Vacation Spots

Here are my Top 5 favorite places to vacation

  1. Daufuskie Island, South Carolina
  2. Karlsruhe, Germany
  3. Paris, France
  4. San Franciso, California
  5. Las Vegas, Nevada

Here’s why I love these places and think they are great to explore!

Number 1:

Daufuskie Island, South Carolina:Specifically referring to Haig Point, which is a private part of Daufuskie. If you leave the gated area of Haig Point, there are other communities on the island. Daufuskie is a hidden island located across from Harbour Town (Hilton Head Island). This island is very family-friendly. There is something for everyone to do and I can’t get over how beautiful it is! No cars allowed, golf carts only, which makes it so much more fun! There are beaches, pools, clubhouse, beach house, so many restaurants, etc. There is a community dock, which is a great place to watch the sunset. Two ways to get to the mainland — ferry to the Haig Point Embarkation and water taxi to Harbour Town. We absolutely love visiting the island. If you are looking for a new place to vacation, I would highly recommend Daufuskie Island!

Daufuskie Island, South Carolina – Sunset on the beach

Number 2:

Karlsruhe, Germany: If you are looking for an international trip to Germany, I would highly recommend visiting Karlsruhe. It is a smaller city, but so much to see! My fiance was born and raised there, so I go there at least once a year. It is also easy to get to different cities via the train. We like to visit Heidelberg while in Karlsruhe. The city center in Karlsruhe has recently completed construction, and it is beautiful! The castle is also a place to go see, it is very pretty. In the summer, they do a light show that is projected onto the castle! All in all, it is a beautiful city.

Castle in Karlsruhe – Now a museum

Number 3:

Paris, France: Paris has so many wonderful sights! The Eiffel Tower was amazing, although it was pouring rain once we got to the very top and the winds were so strong we got soaked! At night, the Eiffel Tower also gets lit up and is very beautiful! The Arc de Triomphe is beautiful, and I believe you can go to the top, but we did not. The castle of Versailles is also beautiful. We had to wait in a pretty long line in the rain to get in, but it was so worth it! The inside is beautiful and there’s nothing to compare it to. Paris is the city of love, and it was my first international city to go to with my special person! I would definitely recommend going.

The Eiffel Tower

Number 4:

San Francisco, California: San Francisco is your typical California city. The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful and there are a couple of beaches and parks around it to ger great pictures! There is the Fisherman’s Wharf where you will see lots of seals lounging around on rocks and swimming. You may also even come across people swimming nude — yes I saw it and it was nothing that I expected! There are also some older boats that you can step into that have been turned into museums. Lombard Street is also a site to visit, although standing at the top, it is hard to see the shape, but everyone gathers around there. You will see people trying so hard to make the sharp turns. The Painted Ladies houses are across the street from a park that a lot of people go to and it is also a few blocks from the house that you see in the introduction to Full House! I love San Francisco and will always go back!

The Golden Gate Bridge – It always seems to be very foggy!

Number 5:

Las Vegas, Nevada: Las Vegas is a wonderful, amazing, crazy city! The Excalibur Hotel is shaped like a castle, has a casino, and an amazing pool area. I think there are 3 pools and a few bars in the ‘resort’. You won’t walk down the main street without seeing something bazaar, but it’s Vegas, what can you expect? The Bellagio does an amazing water show and MGM Hotel has lots of fun stores and sites to see. I don’t recommend taking a baby, as we did. There are too many people and trying to maneuver a stroller around the crowded sidewalks is difficult. It is a super fun city for adults!

View from hotel in Las Vegas
Travel

Did You Say Golf Cart Parade?!

Just a couple days before we left for our summer vacation, my mom texted me: “There will be a golf cart parade and there is a winner.” Once I got that text, I was so excited to go out and buy decorations for the golf cart!

It was our first time going to the island for the 4th of July, and for this golf cart parade, I had no idea what to expect. I bought the most basic “giant house decorations” from Party City thinking that would make the cut, but I was so wrong. There were golf carts that had many decorations, including multiple blow-up pool floats, flags, stars, streamers, etc. Meanwhile, we have a couple streamers and some USA signs.

It wasn’t all about winning for me though, I just wanted to do something fun and participate! I loved seeing all the other golf carts that were crazy decked out in USA related things. I wish I had more time to plan something spectacular! There is always next year!

Who knew that the other members on the island would get so into decorating their golf carts for a little friendly competition? We had a ton of fun, and will be far more prepared for next year!

Our wonderfully decorated gold cart
Other members golf carts!

Travel

Let’s Go To The Beach!

Who wouldn’t pass up a beach vacation, especially if it was on a private island? I thought the route to get to the beach would be so easy since we were flying! Unfortunately, in my case driving probably would have been easier! After 3 attempts trying to take off, they finally say that we will be going back to the terminal and deplaning! So great, here we are stuck at home still…and then, of course, the pilot says 20 minutes before we try again. We finally got up into the air, but missed our connecting flight and had to take a flight the next morning!

We land at our final destination and hop in our Uber for a 15-20 minute ride to the embarkation and then a 30-minute ferry ride to the island. It has been a crazy 24 hours of traveling and we finally made it to the island!

We made the best we could out of the rough start to our beach vacation and we are having a great time with the family! There is no better way to spend the 4th of July than to spend it with family.

Favorite Beach

My favorite beach to go to on the island is at Bloody Point! It is about a 20-minute golf cart ride, but it is totally worth it! You do have to leave the gates of Haig Point, but the beach at Bloody Point is a lot better! The beach at the Beach Club in Haig Point is not swimmable and it is full of thousands of oyster shells that can very easily tear up your feet! The Bloody Point beach is like any typical beach you would go to. There is lots of space, sand, and water to swim in! The water is warm and the waves are fun, especially for the little ones we take to the beach.

Beach at Haig Point Beach Club
Beach at Bloody Point