Al Moody (No. 1)

Park Name: Al Moody Park

Address: 2225 NE Daggett Lane

Date: 3/29/2015

Time: 10:55am

Al Moody park is located across the street from Ensworth Elementary School just a few blocks away from the hospital. It also neighbors a large residential area that includes 2 apartment complexes, several duplex/town homes and single family houses. It was named after Bend's first pediatrician Dr. Edwin Albert Moody. For more fun facts please see the Bend Parks & Rec website at http://www.bendparksandrec.org/.docs/park_id/10006/pg/10463

Now that I have the formalities out of the way lets get into it.....

The Pros......this is a big park. I mean wow there is some serious space to utilize for playing ball, picnics, kite flying and just general fun. It has a long paved walking path that leads you around the park which I think would be great for my little guy to ride his tricycle. They also have a basketball hoop which I thought was awesome for older kids that aren't going to enjoy the play structures anymore but still want to get out of the house.

Al Moody has a nice covered picnic area next to the children's play structure that would be perfect for birthday parties or family picnics.....you will have to take my word for it because some how I manage to not take a picture of it.

The children's play area is not large which I like because I can't lose my little adventurer running from one area of the park to another. The equipment is newer and the play area was pretty darn clean for public park. They have a small train play structure for the littles which was Caleb's favorite part of the park. It has an engine and a caboose that the kiddos can climb through and it sits on that spongy faux asphalt which I personally love.

We met a super nice mom named Sarah and her two boys while we visited Al Moody and let me just say if she represents the neighbors surrounding this park then it is definitely full of nice people. I hope we run into more amazing people like her and her boys in our park travels.

The Cons......the play area is geared more towards older children with the exception of the train. There are only two swings at this park and both are for bigger children meaning open front and open back so no swinging for the littles. This park also has my least favorite ground cover for the playground......wood chips. I am sorry to all of you who love them but I hate hate hate them. They give Caleb splinters, they stick to his socks, his shirt and get stuck in his shoes. And they are even worse when they are wet!!  Hate the wood chips.

I was not impressed with the weird teeter-totter either.  It is metal and it doesn't move much. One of the things I liked about the park is also a little bit of a con. When I say there is a lot of space as a pro I mean the grassy areas. The con about all the space is the tree-lined hill behind the playground. It is very rocky and not landscaped which would be awesome for older kids but not so fab if you have little explorers who think they are big kids too.

Another con we noticed was that there were some dog mines in the grassy area that were not picked up. For those who don't get my reference above let me be blunt, there was dog crud around so be careful when letting kids and adults of any age run in the grass especially close to the trails. Now I am going to let you in on a little secret.....I have a dog. Now when I take my dog to a park I always bring poop bags and I do not let him pee in the grassy areas. Personally I do not like to bring my dog to a kids park, I am a firm believer in kid parks are for kids and dog parks are of dogs however I am also realistic and know we can't always keep them separate. So folks if you have to take your dog to the park be prepared with poop bags and water to pour on pee spots.  Okay off my soap box back to this park!! :)

Overall the was a great park!  Caleb really enjoyed it and has already asked to go back to his "train park".  I really enjoyed this park too, in fact on an overall scale of 1-10 I give Al Moody park a big 7 and two enthusiastic thumbs up :)

I asked Caleb what his favorite thing at the park was and he said "my train...um...my basketball and friends." 

Happy Park Adventures Everyone!!!