From the category archives:

Irvine

Meadowood Park: Ride the Incredible Spinning Umbrella and Learn Your ABCs

March 8, 2010

Meadowood Park in Irvine was a Plan B park for me. We’ve been stalking Citrus Ranch Park to get photos for you. So we headed out there the Friday before it opened – just to find it blocked off and guarded by security. So off we headed down Portola Parkway to find a different place [...]

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Pretend City’s “Good to Go from Head to Toe” Open Invitation

February 25, 2010

You may have seen my post about Pretend City housing an initiative called: “Good to Go from Head to Toe.” At the time I wrote that post, I hadn’t visited the museum yet. My kids were thrilled when we were invited to learn more about the initiative and the activities at the Museum.
Way to Play [...]

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Great Park: Balloon Rising With High Expectations

February 23, 2010

The Great Park with it’s great orange balloon and great PR is currently little more than a glorified parking lot. This incarnation of the park is called the “Preview Park.” It’s designed to give you a glimpse of what’s to come. Upon its completion, this metropolitan park will be almost double the size of New [...]

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Irvine Central Bark: Check OCDogFriendly.com For More Canine Parks

January 28, 2010

Irvine Central Bark is one of 13 dedicated dog parks in Orange County. Scott submitted a recommendation for Central Bark because of its separate Big Dog/Little Dog areas. Scott warns he’s seen relatively big dogs in the little dog area –which could be explained because the sign outside says older, frail dogs can use the [...]

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Pretend City: How to Play All Day While Growing Healthy Kids

January 19, 2010

Research shows children learn best and develop optimally through meaningful play and hands-on learning experiences. The new Good To Go From Head To Toe initiative offers free classes and events to help parents and caretakers understand child development and connect with children through play. One of the best ways to see if your children are [...]

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Woodbury Community Park: A Training Ground for Mountaineers and Hamsters

January 7, 2010

Woodbury Community Park in Irvine is just what you’d imagine: a beautiful oasis centering a planned community. The park is at the center, spreading to apartments and housing, then big block retail on the outskirts. If you enter from Sand Canyon you’ll start with the retail. I prefer driving in from Jeffrey where you skirt [...]

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Turtle Rock Nature Center and Park

October 30, 2009

Visiting Turtle Rock Nature Center and playground turned into a very enjoyable afternoon for my kids and I back in September. I recorded our day on my Simple Nature Adventures post. I just got a comment on that post reminding me I never actually did a review of Turtle Rock Community Park or the nature [...]

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Sweet Shade Park in Irvine

October 28, 2009

Sweet Shade Park is one of Irvine’s city parks. It’s tucked off Harvard Avenue near the Villages of Columbus neighborhood. The bright blue geometric play structure caught our eye as we drove by.
Location: This park isn’t even on the map yet. It’s off Harvard Avenue which runs parallel to Jamboree Road. The easiest cut overs [...]

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Aldrich Park Exploration at UC Irvine

October 26, 2009

Aldrich Park is the natural centerpiece of UC Irvine, but most outsiders don’t even know it exists. University students use it to shortcut to classroom buildings set on a ring road which organizes the campus. On quiet weekends, Aldrich Park is a dream for adventurous OC kids and families. We spent our $8 on [...]