Las Vegas Park Review #5: Willows Park

Willows Park - 2775 Desert Marigold Lane

Pros:
- Acres of grass
- Nice baseball fields and basketball courts
- Quaint sculptures from children's stories appear along a fantastic (yet short) walking path that winds through the neighborhood.
- Two playgrounds
- Quite clean
- Felt safe, even when walking through the tunnel that goes beneath Town Center Drive
- Birds galore (not in a gross, pigeon way, but in a beautiful song bird way)
- Covered parking!! 

Cons:
- No baby swings.  Actually, no swings at all.
- No toddler playground, although we had plenty of fun on the bigger kid playgrounds (it was windy and early on a weekday afternoon, so we had the place almost to ourselves)

Notes:  I didn't see restrooms, but I suspect they were at the swimming pool/community center building.  I don't know if the general public has access to them when the pool and/or building aren't open, which was the case when we were there.

One of the baseball fields

First of two playgrounds, note the lion statue to the right of the tree

The tortoise and the hare along the walking path

At the end of the walking path is a secured access gate into a community trail.  I SO wanted to go in there.

The second of the playgrounds.  Pardon the angle, I tried to take it quickly, before a little girl went in the shot.
Didn't want to freak out her mom.

Grassy area behind the community pool

Earth Day 2011

In honor of Earth Day, here are my favorite Earth-friendly products.
 
A Slice of Organic Life by Shererazade Goldsmith.  I love this book as much for its idealistic projects (raising pigs an chickens) as for its more realistic projects, like container gardening and homemade butter. Maybe you could be extra Earth-friendly and get the ebook or check it out at the library.

The Bamboo Bottle, $25.  The next time I need to replace my water bottle, this will be mine....assuming I can figure out where to find it.  It's not currently offered online.  Constructed of bamboo and glass, the bottle is free of chemicals, easy to clean, and easy on the Earth. 

Method Wood for Good, around $5.  It's safe for my family, it works, and it smells fantastic, too.

Mrs. Meyer's Countertop Spray, $3.99.  I make a lot of my own cleaning products, but this is a good alternatvie.  Natural, earth friendly, cruelty-free, and effective.  Nice fragrances, too.

 Whole Foods reusable shopping bags, $.99-about $2.00.  These are the best I've found in terms of durability and volume.  I love how I can easily fit them over my shoulder, they hold bigger items like cereal boxes, and that they're made of recycled materials.  Plus, if one does give out, WF will replace it for free.  There is one drawback.  It's my understanding that these bags are made and shipped from China.  That's a pretty serious drawback, but I think that a bag that I'll actually use, and use for years, is better than a locally-sourced but inferior bag that I won't use.  It's your call.

Las Vegas Park Review #4: Summerlin's South Tower Park

South Tower Park at Park Vista Drive and Vista Center Drive, Summerlin


Pros:
- Separate play areas for big kids and little kids
- Plenty of grass
- Several shade trees
- There's a water play space, although it wasn't on when we were there
- Nice equipment
- Shade over some of the little kids' equipment
- Felt safe (it was a Sunday afternoon, though)

Cons:
- The circling ice cream trucks blaring their jarring music.  Vultures.
- Bored teenagers were hanging out at the park.  They were too big for the playground equipment and used foul language and threw a football at one another.  Hard.
- Overflowing garbage bins
- Just two baby swings

Las Vegas Park Review #3: Gardens Park

Garden's Park, Summerlin

This park is in our old neighborhood and has some sentimental value, but it really is a great park.

Pros:
- A lot of grass and many shady areas to land for awhile
- Nice sandy area for playing
- Nice playground equipment for very little kids with a slide, and imagination play area
- Tuesday evening farmers' market
- Nice tennis, sand volleyball and basketball courts, as well as a roller hockey rink
- Bocce and shuffleboard courts, horseshoe pits
- Has always felt safe to me
- Usually quite clean

Cons:
- Just one baby swing (!)
- Very busy on weekends
- The bathrooms aren't great

Las Vegas Park Review #2: Western Trails Park

Western Trails Park

Pros:
- Includes an equestrian park, so we often walk over to see if any horses are out and about. 
- There are peacocks in the area.  I say that's cool.
- Can be on the way to Target if we go to our second-favorite Target.  And Golden Spoon.  Yes, I categorize that as a "pro." 
- Generally clean (though I haven't used the restrooms)
- Feels safe - I've never witnessed any spooky types there, although I don't believe there is any type of security* (see below)

Cons:
- Just two baby swings
- Playground equipment is geared towards older children
- A broken bench or two
- Short, rough grass and few shady grassy spots for lounging
- Grassy area is small and almost always being used by adults and big kids for football, frisbee, etc. (not great for a toddler)
- *Sort of desolate during weekdays, which can feel creepy

Las Vegas Park Review #1: Mountain's Edge Exploration Peak Park

So over the past few months we've been on a hunt for a great park for our 13-month-old.  It's sort of tough here in Las Vegas.  Summerlin has a ton of parks, but otherwise there's not much to get excited about.  The public schools lock up their grounds, so we can't even access the slide, etc, at the elementary school that's one block away.  (Is that common?  They don't do that in Nebraska.)  Anyway, here's the wish list for The Ideal Park:

- Baby swings.  Preferably several.
- A lot of grass to run around in.  Preferably soft grass.  (I know, I know.  That's not Earth-friendly here in the desert, but it's the wish list so I can wish for it, right?)
- Slides for little kids. 
- Separate play spaces for little kids and big kids.
- Zero-depth water play spaces.
- Shade.
- Sand.  Not open desert "sand."
- Clean & safe. 
- Bathrooms that don't horrify me.
- Security.
- Oft-emptied garbage bins.
- Other activity centers for little kids, like those things they sit on that are essentially atop big springs.

We've been to several now, here's the first:

Mountain's Edge Exploration Peak Park
Pros:
1. This park has fantastic grass.  Lush, green grass, and a lot of it.  C ran and ran in it.
2. Each time we've been there I've seen at least one, but usually two security guards with bikes.  I've never seen any unsavory sorts out there or even any rowdy teenagers. 
3. While people have their dogs there often, I've never seen much evidence that they don't pick up after them. 
4.  There's a nice-ish area with sand, although it's not really the sand I meant, it's pretty nice little area.
5.  There's a water feature, although it hasn't been running in the times we've been out there.  It's probably too soon.
6.  Clean and free of garbage.
7.  Many small shady spots.
8.  Beautiful and well-maintained plants.
9.  Walking trails, although they're not toddler-friendly.

Cons:
1.  Just two baby swings.
2.  Playground equipment is geared more towards older kids.  Maybe age 4 and up or so.  It is fantastic equipment, though.
3.  Very busy on weekends. 

We haven't been in the restrooms, but the building looks nice.  Generally a security guard is in the vicinity, too.

water playground

between the tower in the background and the rope jungle gym is a slide that goes through rock

Surprise successes in the kitchen

I needed to head the the grocery store, but hadn't planned anything for the next few nights' dinners, so I printed a few recipes from the first web sites I visted without giving them any more thought. Sometimes it's best not to overthink things. Granted, they are sites I trust, but still. I had most of the ingredients on hand, so there's the added bonus.

Warm White Bean and Spinach Salad (from How Sweet It Is)
Sour Cream Noodle Bake (from The Pioneer Woman Cooks)

BB liked them both, too, and C thought the extra cannellini beans were fantastic.

Happy Friday

Ingrid Michaelson, You and I

Eating, Doing

So we have been eating and I have been doing things lately.  Nothing's appeared here, but I assure you, it's true.  C's eating more and more of what we're having, sans salt.  Here are some of the things we've had lately for which I can link to recipes:

Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes (C ate, too) from the Williams Sonoma site (a go-to source for me)
Halibut a la Provencal over Mixed Greens (from Nov 2010 Cooking Light)
Chicken Stuffed with Spinach, Feta, and Pine Nuts (from Sept 2010 Cooking Light)
Braised Short Ribs in the crock pot  made WITHOUT the beer.  I used low sodium broth instead (C loved this, but we were underwhelmed)
Baked Eggs with Tomatoes, Herbs, & Cream

And what have I accomplished??  I survived C's first actual vomit experience without vomiting myself.  I have a weak stomach, so that's sort of miraculous.  Someone asked me once how you can tell if a baby has vomited or merely spit up.  Let me tell you, if you are not sure, then it was not vomit.  So sorry for mentioning this "accomplishment" if you, too, are squeamish. 

In addition,
- we finished the powder room.  That's been a long time coming, huh?  Anyway, I'll post some pictures after we hang a picture and I find a rug.  Maybe we aren't really done, then. 
- I bought a new car.  I had the old one for 10 years.  Trusty old girl. 
- we had C's 1st birthday party
- I organized the million recipes I've printed on full sheets over the years into a binder.  Still need to add sections (i.e. "appetizers," "soups," etc)
- C had his first dental appointment
- C and I participated in a project conducted by the UNLV psychology department

Pet-a-Palooza!

Okay, so there shouldn't be an exclamation point in the title.  C was sick, so we couldn't go to Pet this year.  Ho-hum.  Anyway, I have it on good authority that there's some pretty awesome pictures, interviews, and performances here, on the Mix 94.1 site.  More to come, I suspect, so keep checking back.  I was so sad to miss it, and especially Andy Grammer.  I think we'll be hearing a lot from him in the future.  What say you?  Here's a cover....



Oh, and C is much better now, thank you.