From the category archives:

Beat the heat

Ridgecrest Park: Saddleback Valley Views and Shady Swings

February 1, 2010

Ridgecrest Park provided us our first sunny play outdoors day after all that rain a few weeks ago. I don’t know if it’s because we were playground-deprived, but we had an especially good play here. I can see how it would be great in the summer with its shade over the playground.
Location: Right off Aliso [...]

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Crystal Cove State Park: Tidepooling at a Natural Playground

January 24, 2010

Crystal Cove State Park’s waters are a designated underwater park–which may be why the tidepooling was so amazing on our visit. December and January are notorious for the highest of high and lowest of low tides. I’m sure you’ll find something different on every visit throughout the year.
Location: We’ve been to other parts of [...]

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Aliso Viejo Community Park

December 26, 2009

Aliso Viejo Community Park is centrally located along the border of Aliso Viejo/Laguna Hills next to Aliso Viejo Middle School. However, it’s at the end of a dead end street so it can feel quite isolated and quiet. This is one of the few playgrounds I can think of with a fenced-in toddler area.
Location: Laguna [...]

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Clarington Park in Laguna Hills

November 24, 2009

Clarington Park is a Laguna Hills neighborhood park situated in the triangle formed by Alicia Parkway, Paseo de Valencia and Los Alisos. It’s a tranquil oasis with large trees for shade and very manageable play area – even with multiple kids. My favorite time to go is in the late afternoon and evening. It’s also [...]

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Canyon View Park in Aliso Viejo

November 4, 2009

Canyon View Park in Aliso Viejo offers 12 acres of fantastic play space at one of the entrances to Wood Canyon Trail. Between climbing on the playground equipment, biking around the park path, and running around the huge grassy area, my family always leaves this park happy and exhausted. Noel and Mali took us to [...]

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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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Heritage Park above Dana Point Harbor

September 24, 2009

Heritage Park in Dana Point sits atop a bluff over Dana Point Harbor. Lantern Bay Park is on one side near the Marriott. If you cross Golden Lantern, Heritage Park is reachable by parking at the harbor below or the street above.

Location: To park at the top of the hill, take Del Prado [...]

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Los Rios Park in San Juan Capistrano

September 15, 2009

Los Rios Park in San Juan Capistrano is a playground addition to the very historic Los Rios neighborhood. If you’ve ever taken the train to the San Juan Capistrano Amtrak Station, you’ll be able to find this playground. It sits directly behind Zoomars Petting Zoo. The moms at Just Spotted did a great write-up of [...]

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Creekside Park in Dana Point

September 12, 2009

Creekside Park in Dana Point sits right off of Stonehill Drive near Interstate 5. It’s super easy for freeway access and very near Dana Point Harbor. I always describe this park as the one with the climbing wall – since it’s such a massive and distinctive feature. This is one of those parks which feels [...]