It’s raining. It’s foggy. Everyone’s getting cranky. Worst of all, if you stay up late enough it actually gets to be dark. August in Fairbanks has set in. September will be beautiful, and sunny, and perfect in every way, but right now it doesn’t feel like it’s coming anytime soon.
So Sunday afternoon we fought the drizzle of our bad moods by meeting friends at the park. Snedden Park, tucked away on Slater Drive, is the best toddler park in town. It’s mellow, spotless, and peaceful. After she visited one day, Cheryl, another subarctic mama, e-mailed me about how great it is and inspired me to do a review.
Yes, we all flock to Pioneer Park because it has a train and
carousel. But sometimes it’s too crowded with big kids who dominate the metal twisty slide and the big teeter-totter on the toddler playground. Other times the carousel becomes a hot point for tantrums. Cedar recently became inconsolable when another girl chose “Cloudbelly,” her favorite horse. She was unable to choose another horse and a rideful of kids watched her from their saddles. I had to carry her out screaming and kicking.
Yes, Fun Time Park is right by Hot Licks (which is a plus and a minus). It’s littered with cigarette butts and big kids spin the merry-go-round at 65 miles per hour.
Snedden Park is an alternative. It has an off-the-beaten-path feel. There’s a separate set of toddler climbers and a great lawn with little hills for running. The merry-go-round is often empty enough for a daddy or mama to push at toddler speed without big kids complaining. Cedar, Bonnie, and Coral had a blast.
We did run into this warning:
It seems that Canadian toddlers are developmentally advanced. I think Coral may be Canadian. At just 12 months old she handled the climber just fine.
.
I took my daughter to Pioneer Park once and made the mistake of using my last 2 dollars to buy her a carousel ride. She thoroughly enjoyed the ride, but couldn’t quite understand the concept of “Mommy’s out of money so no more rides.”
I’ve tried to avoid it since.
That kid ran through 30 tickets at the fair on the super slide. I know I’d go bankrupt if I made carousel rides a habit.
Shhhh….don’t tell anyone about Snedden! We found it a few years ago and it’s our favorite park as well. I love the river just winding by and that there is a great toddler section – in the FARTHEST corner of the park AWAY from the river…someone was thinking there!!
Anyway, we have a weekly picnic there with other families and have never been disappointed.
My five-year old daughter Kendall doens’y quite get the “Mommy’s out of money concept either” hahaha. In fact, this statement only arouses Kendall’s curiousity. “Well why don’t you have money mommy?” and “Where can you get money mommy?” I’ve never tried Snedden but it sounds like it would be heaven for Kendall.