From the category archives:

Mission Viejo

Barbadanes Park: Ever Fantasize About Riding A Giant Honeybee? (Yeah, Me Neither)

February 7, 2010

Barbadanes Park will always be a memorable trip for me because of all the nearby residents who were hanging out or walking through when we visited. We went during after school hours and there were a group of 12 year old eating bags of Funyuns and drinking Kool-Aid just like the old days. The play [...]

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Seville Park in Mission Viejo

December 3, 2009

Mission Viejo parks come in all shapes and sizes. We literally stumbled upon Seville Park as our family hiked along Los Alisos Boulevard meandering around and through the Wilderness Glen trails. There’s a long swath of open space and trails along Los Alisos which are pretty kid-friendly.
Location: Near Los Alisos Boulevard and Trabuco Road in [...]

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Valyermo Park in Mission Viejo

November 18, 2009

Valyermo Park came to us by way of Michelle. This is a small Mission Viejo neighborhood park between Trabuco and Jeronimo on the north/south and between Alicia and Marguerite on the east/west. Michelle wanted to “submit a review on a smaller park in the interest of adding some variety for the area SAHM’s that are [...]

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Florence Joyner Olympiad Park in Mission Viejo

November 13, 2009

Olympiad Park named for Florence Joyner features a statue of her and artistic details in tribute to Olympic athletes. See if your child can find the rainbow Olympic torch “burning” in a rainbow of color. I love this park. I’ve never posted it because it’s always too busy to shoot photos of the equipment. When [...]

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Melinda Park in Mission Viejo

October 19, 2009

Melinda Park in Mission Viejo sits right along Rancho Santa Margarita Parkway on the border of Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita. It has great views of Saddleback Mountain.
Location: Sits at the corner of Melinda and Rancho Santa Margarita Parkway. Melinda is between Alicia Parkway and Marguerite Parkway. It’s also reachable by taking Olympiad and [...]

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Aurora Park: Neat-o Nature Walk and Yellow Taxicab

June 29, 2009

Aurora Park was such a surprise. We went there for a playgroup at the end of the school year with our preschool friends. We stayed for 2+ hours! Once we were done playing on the playground, we headed for a nice walk below the park on a sidewalk loop.
Location: Drive up Alicia Parkway toward the [...]

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Oso Creek Trail: Turn at the Tunnel Slides to Explore Nature

April 13, 2009

Oso Creek Trail runs along Oso Creek below Oso Viejo Park playground in Mission Viejo. Our first visit to the trail was magical. We arrived late on a cool Sunday evening. No one was at the playground – so we all had a good play and then let the kids lead us down [...]

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Oso Viejo Park (Norman P. Murray) in Mission Viejo

March 30, 2009

Oso Viejo Park is part of the Norman P. Murray Community Senior Center in Mission Viejo. The Senior Center is gorgeous with a fantastic patio garden and nice walkable trail. It’s an all-around great outdoor experience.
Location: From the 5 Freeway, take the La Paz exit and head east past Marguerite Parkway. Make a left on [...]

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Marguerite M. O’Neill Park: Taking Care of the Land

January 2, 2009

Marguerite O’Neill Park is one of my favorite in Mission Viejo. Living in Orange County, I’ve become accustomed to streets, shopping centers, and parks bearing the names “Marguerite” and “O’Neill.” The Rancho Mission Viejo website recounts the history of the rancho which once encompassed the land spanning from present day south Orange County to [...]