HR19 & HR20

We visited HR19 & HR20 on Thursday, August 31, 2017

We parked in the circle on Harmel Dr. and walked to HR20. It was a short walk, down a little hill, which means you have to walk back up that hill to get back! This is a nicely shaded tot lot. There are 2 bouncy animals here, which are a bit high off the ground. There's also a nice sized sandbox. Three big kid swings and 2 baby swings all of one beam. The big kid swings are a bit high off the ground. The metal slide is about 4 feet high and goes straight down. There are steps going up to the slide platform. One bench to sit on. This tot lot backs up to a little creek. There's a path going around the creek, and a very small hill down to the creek.  The water is not deep, but it can get muddy, so if your kids get near there, make sure they watch their step.

sandbox

swings

slide

creek

From HR20 we walked to HR19, which was about a 12 minute walk on the paths.  This is also a nicely shaded tot lot. There's a square sandbox here, it had a few leaves in it, but that's not unusual when there are a lot of trees overhead. There was one baby swing and one big kid swing, both on the same beam. The two bouncy animals were a little high off the ground. The slide was metal and about 5 feet high, there is a ramp and a ladder up to the slide platform. One bench to sit on.

sandbox

slide

swings and bouncy animals

LR19 and LR22

We visited 2 tot lots in Long Reach on August 23, 2017.

We started at LR22. We parked on April Brook Circle, right at the path, but this tot lot is also accessible from Painted Yellow Gate and Gray Sea Way.  There are 2 big kid swings and 2 baby swings. The big kid swings are a little high off the ground here. There's a sandbox and a 2 bouncy animals.  There's a nice ramp up to the slide, no steps. The plastic slide is about 5 feet high and has a couple of bounces going down. There is one bench here to sit on.

swings

sandbox

bouncy animals

slide structure

ramp up to slide

Next we walked to LR19, which was about a 7 minute walk on the sidewalk of April Brook Circle and the path. It's also not too far from the Kendall Ridge Pool. This was a nicely sized tot lot and had a bit of green area to run around on. We also crossed a bridge on the path, and that's usually very popular too! There are 3 benches to sit on here. The slide structure is large, and has big platform steps  going up to the slide. The slide itself is plastic and about 5 feet high, it goes straight down. There's a sandbox and 3 bouncy animals here. There are 2 baby swings on one beam, and 3 big kid swings on a second beam (in separate areas). The beam for the big kid swings has a place for a 4th swing. Again, the big kid swings here are a bit high off the ground. There's a square balance as well as a balance beam of 2 heights here.

baby swings

big kid swings

balance

balance beams

sand box

slide structure

bouncy animals and slide

OM17 & OM18

Today, August 14, 2017,  we visited 3 tot lots in Oakland Mills.

First we went to OM18, which is right off of Castile Ct. However, upon arrival we discovered that this tot lot doesn't really exist. There was a sign there stating "Tot lot usage survey in process. This area subject to video monitoring."  However, all that was at this tot lot was a tunnel, and a beam for swings. The swings were not there though. So, I don't know if this tot lot is being improved, or is possibly one they are thinking of getting rid of.

Since there wasn't much to do at OM18 we crossed the street to OM17. There are a few paths that lead to this tot lot. We entered right on Farewell Rd, but a couple of the roads off of Farewell Rd also have paths that lead to the tot lot.  OM17 is a nicely spread out tot lot and is surrounded by a big green field. So, if your kids don't want to play on the equipment bring a ball to kick or throw around. There is a set of monkey bars here - again, for the tall kids to climb up to.  All on one beam are 3 big kid swings and 2 baby swings.  The slide structure is very nice. There's a steep ramp going up to the platform and there's also a ladder on the side to climb up. The plastic slide is about 5 1/2 feet high and has a couple of bumps going down.  There are 2 benches to sit on. Parts of this tot lot are shaded.

slide structure

slide

ladder going up to slide

From here we walked to OM16. The walk was less than 10 minutes. For a review of OM16, click here.

OB10

We visited OB10 on July 31, 2017.
OB10 is accessible from both Smooth Path and Honeyladen Pl. It is visible from the street.  There is one baby swing and 3 big kid swings, all on one beam. The big kid swings are a little high off the ground. There is a set of monkey bars here - again, pretty high up, not for the short kids, unless you can carry your child across. There is one bouncy animal. The plastic slide is about 5 feet high, with two bounces going down. There is a ladder going up to the slide. However, the slide can also be accessed by going around on the grass to the top of the platform.  There is one bench to sit on. This tot lot has some green area around it for the kids to run around in, but it does go up to the sidewalk. This tot lot also backs right up to a house, so we were careful to keep our kids in the 'tot lot' boundaries. It was pretty sunny here, but there were shady pockets, and probably as the day progresses, different areas get the shade.

one view of the slide and monkey bars

2nd view of slide and monkey bars

swings!

KC24, KC25, KC26

We visited 3 tot lots in Kings Contrivance on July 27, 2017
We started at KC25, which has a few entrance points. We parked on South Carlinda Ave, but there are also entry points off of Shaker Dr and Cape Ann Dr. The path at South Carlinda and Shaker Dr is right across the street from the Macgill's Common pool. The tot lot was about a 3 minute walk from there. There is one big kid swing and one baby swing. The square sandbox has no toys, and there are 2 bouncy animals. The plastic slide is about 4 1/2 feet high and goes straight down.  There is one bench to sit on here.  Pretty well shaded here as well.

From KC25 we walked to KC24, which was less than a 5 minute walk. This was a very nice tot lot. It was very nicely shaded, except for the swings, which were mostly in the sun. The swings were on a 'lower' level of the tot lot. There are 2 baby swings on one beam, and 4 big kid swings on another beam. There's one bench by the swings.  Up a small set of steps is the rest of the tot lot. Here you'll find 3 bouncy animals and a nice set of balance beams - 4 of them connected, all of slightly different heights. There's also a sandbox here, but again, no toys. There's a very nice slide structure too, there are 2 slides and a set of monkey bars attached to it. Both slides are plastic and go straight down - one is about 5 feet tall and the other is about 6 feet tall. There are big platform steps going up to the slides. This tot lot is surrounded by a large green field which is nice for the kids to run around. There's also a group of large rocks (or boulders)  to sit and climb on. There are also 3 benches to sit on. If you were to go directly to KC24, the closest parking is on Deer Chase or Cape Ann Dr.

bouncy animals

balance beams

big kid swings

baby swings

slide structure

slide structure

rocks

As we walked back towards KC25, we took a detour over KC26. It was about a 5-7 minute walk, and involved crossing the street.  This was a tiny tot lot, with only a small tunnel and sand box. There's one bench to sit on and also some rocks here to sit and play on. It is well shaded. The closest parking here would be on Cape Ann Dr, Quantrell Row, or Cottonmill Ln.