Parks and Exploration

When my husband and I moved from Morgan Hill to Mountain View, we knew we'd be moving to a smaller house without the large yard we once had. But we figured being closer to my husband's work and excellent schools would more than make up for it.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover the amazing parks in Mountain View, which give our children, Josie and Owen, plenty of space to play and discover.

Josie and Owen couldn't remember the names of their favorite parks in Mountain View. So we made up our own.

"Let's go to 'the blue park', today," Josie says most mornings when I walk into her bedroom to lift up the shades.

"The blue park" is Sylvan Park. It has not one, but two large, blue play structures and plenty of grass and sand for everyone; it is a regular in our rotation of park visits. It's also a great place for me to meet other moms because play groups often meet there.

Their other favorite is "the green park", otherwise known as Rengstorff Park. Before we head out the door, Josie and her brother, Owen, make sure to grab a piece of cardboard from the recycling bin. They use it to increase their speed as they slide down the huge cement slide unique to Rengstorff Park. They slide on the cardboard over and over until they move on to one of the two, green, play structures with slides, monkey bars and swings for kids big and small.

When we moved to Whisman Station, Josie and Owen couldn't believe that there were two parks just minutes from our front door. She calls Chetwood Park, "our park" because we can see it from our front porch. And Magnolia Park is "our sand park" because, still just a short walk away, it has the perfect sand for building castles. Fortunately, she is gracious enough to share "our parks" with the other children who come to play.

My favorite park is Jackson Park, which I named "the L park" because it is walking distance to two of my favorite activities: the library and a latte. After playing at Jackson Park, we walk to the library for some reading fun and then walk to the Starbucks on Castro before heading home.

Josie and Owen are always at a loss for words when we pull up to "the best park", aka Cuesta Park. They don't know what to explore first. The rolling green hills, the massive play structures, the unique climbing contraptions or the gazebo steps that they love to run up and down. Usually I bring another person with me when I take the children to Cuesta Park. There is so much to explore that Josie and Owen usually end up exploring in different directions.

Josie and Owen haven't realized that there are many more parks in Mountain View we have yet to discover. I am excited to show them what each new park has to offer. And I am really excited to see what we decide to call them.