[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Stephen Press
Hometown Weekly Staff
In the spirit of the Summer Olympics, Walpole has taken a silver medal. The event of choice: playgrounds.
Wait, what?
You heard right. Walpole can now add an award-winning playground to its enviable list of accolades. Boston Moms Blog, a collaborative blog written and read by local mothers, has released its top 15 fenced-in playgrounds in Greater Boston. In the number two spot? Bird Park’s playground.
It’s not difficult to see why the park is so highly rated. As toddlers blithely run around its swings, slides and see-saws, one gets the sense that they are experiencing a sort of sensory overload.
One-and-a-half year-old Lucas Steinkrauss seems the perfect picture of contentedness as he idles on a see-saw. His father, Bill, looks on nearby, smiling.
“This is my first time, but she’s been here quite a few times,” he says, motioning to his wife, Julie. “We have to come here with a decent allotment of time, because he just gets so fascinated with those cars over there. Once he sees those, we’re probably locked in for an hour and a half.”
Ah yes, another excellent wrinkle. In a tennis court directly adjacent the playground, there are a plethora of big-wheels, Playskool cars, and any other imaginable miniature plastic conveyance one could wish for as a tot.
Bill’s mention of the cars causes Lucas’ eyes to widen. He chuckles. “It’s one of his words - ‘car.’”
There are other attractions, of course, and Lucas seems keenly aware. He is, after all, something of a regular.
“I bring Lucas during the week sometimes. It’s always packed with moms, which is really nice. It’s a really nice park,” Julie says. “Sometimes, we take the stroller and go around some of the trails, which is really nice. It’s just a really nice environment.”
It’s an environment that can even make the adults a bit nostalgic.
“I think this little jungle gym here they’ve got is great,” says Bill. “It’s got a slide. Eight years old, and I’d probably be going for this twirly one at the end. Obviously the swings over there are a big hit.”
“I’d probably be going for the swings,” adds Julie. “They have little flowers, they’re little pods that you sit in and you twirl around. It’s pretty cool. I don’t think we had those when I was eight years old, but I’d probably go for that.”
Mother and father smile as Lucas continues to take in the ambience. “As kids,” says Bill, “their imagination takes them from there, you know? They’ve got everything they need.”
The original post from Boston Moms Blog can be found online at http://goo.gl/IgH03E.
