A Perfect Park Playdate

Last weekend we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and headed downtown to meet our best girls, Amy and Audrey.  We had heard awesome things about Klyde Warren Park (aka the Park-They-Built-Above-Woodall-Rodgers-Fwy).   Um, total blast. Ultimate playdate mecca. I'll the pictures speak for themselves.

Immaculate grass on the kid zone. Super fun slide zone for kids, perfect perch for parents to watch the littles have fun.

Girl talk on the rock.

Devyn was in seventh heaven. Places to run, slide, hide.  Food to eat. Dogs to watch and pet. Baby girl had a v. happy day!

Can we discuss food trucks?  A few years ago you would have "food truck" and maybe a shady vehicle that parks by construction sites with pork rinds and peanuts comes to mind. Nowadays you say "food truck" and you see a line around the block of ten or so gourmet-on-the-go brightly painted, enticing trucks. Our first stop was the beer and margi truck. Nothing hits the spot on a playdate quite like an ice cold Miller Lite. We hit up a great food truck for burgers, Jack's ChowHound. This here is the Chow Chow Burger. Spicy corn relish mixed into fresh ground beef, buttery bun, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, special sauce. It was so juicy and fresh, way to go!

They served Sprite and Cheetos. So, that's all Cade needed, but he chowed down on the Chow Chow.

Cheesy finger high fives.

Devyn loved the dogs, I laid back on my blanket chatting with Amy and Devyn walked around the park saying hi (um, kissing and hugging) all the dogs.  Klyde Warren is such a friendly, laid back spot all the dog owners were so sweet and patient with the kid visitors. It was nice to be able to let the kids run without being A. overcrowded or B. afraid of creeps. Oh-kay, so there was one creep. This man was clearly some type of profesh photog with his vest and camera bag and mega-lens but when he walked by and snapped pics of the kids and us without smiling or asking first, that irked me. It's creepy. Trust me, here I am with my kids snapping away. I love photography. Love kids. But don't be doing that... Sorry, you're a dude. You're by yourself. You're taking pics of my kids without asking. It's weird.

I am SO happy that Devy girl is big enough to play with the big kids. They were amazing with her, it was so much fun to watch.

Okay, so back to the business of reviewing the park. The Dallas Morning News sponsored a mini-library of periodicals and children's books and games that people check out on the honor system. There was a volunteer/paid friendly guy checking out checkers and Candyland to some kids from a kiosk. That was cool, so much fun to encourage kids to play outside and have some good ol' fashioned fun free of charge.  There was also a guy playing some James Taylor songs on guitar. Amy and I kept saying, "This is the best park ever!!" 

 

Back in the kid area there were some awesome climbing structures, a splash zone, sand area, and more. So beautiful!

 The kids used their powers of persuasion to beg for frozen bananas on a stick. I desperately wanted to try the ice cream sandwich truck (um, hello red velvet cookies with chocolate chocolate chip ice cream in between!), but..... the kids. They wanted these bananas. On a stick.  For $5 we were the proud owners of the most perverse looking dessert.  Cade enjoyed 3 bites before giving up. I was either hungry or cheap or whatev, but I ended up eating the rest, much to the amusement of the beautiful group of gay men on the blanket next to us. Glad to be of service ;)   It was yummy, but I'm certain it wasn't as good as that ice cream sandwich looked.

 

Overall Momma Review of Kylde Warren Park:

Cost: Free

Parking: 50 cents an hour, some free spots aroudn if you're clever

Kids: Fun for all ages

Dogs: There is allegedly a dog park, we didn't see it.

Bathrooms: They are in the process of finishing up the bathrooms, in the meantime they have super luxe bathroom trailers with sinks, paper towels, etc. The Rolls Royce of portolets people! Hint: you flush with the pedal on the floor. The kids loved that part.

Alcohol: Beer and Margaritas

Mommy Tip: Bring some snacks, the food trucks are foodie friendly, not toddler friendly. Prices range from $5-$10 an entree and drink and bag of chips for one person.  They do take debit/credit cards in addition to cash. Bonus!

Mommy Tip 2: You can park at the Nasher or DMA and walk over after a museum visit.

Mommy Tip 3: Next time we are going to park in Uptown and ride the trolley down to the park. Not ideal if you're bringing a stroller and one mom/2+ kids, but doable with a friend or spouse.

We got the band today!

Today was our big day! We went to Cranial Tech and met our clinician and got the DOC band. I knew it would be lightweight, hello---it's a helmet for a baby!-- but I was so surprised at just how light it is. It feels like you're holding an egg. Literally my car keys outweigh it. I really like our clinician, he was so friendly and his own daughter had to wear a DOC band too. He answered all my questions and made me feel completely at ease and was so baby-friendly and sweet with Cade.

Cade didn't even notice he had the band on. He was a wee bit sweaty...okay, the kid's hair was totally wet when we took it off after just 10 minutes, but whatev. (No, he's not completely bald, but thanks for thinking it, jerkface!) Um, I'm totally in mommy advocate mode. I just HOPE some stranger makes a rude comment about my baby. I'm kind of excited about getting the chance to go off on them. Hey-- it's the special ed teacher in me. Always an advocate, but at school I have to keep it profesh. And usually the jerks making comments are 8 years old, so that puts the brakes on the whole "going off on their punk ass" thing.

Anyways, proof that Cade's personality has not been affected from 3 hours in the DOC band.


Izzy, however, is pretty protective of her little brother and this strange white plastic taking over his head. She would not leave his side tonight as he tried to get in some play time. Sniffing his whole head, kissing his head, cheeks, hands, toes... It was presh. She circled him all night: during feeding, playtime, cuddle time, and during our bedtime routine. I'm loving her maternal instincts, (about that--- sorry we got you fixed Izzer)! I'm so proud of you, sweet sweet fluffernut!




I did stop off at Hobby Lobby and invest in $30 worth of stickers and Modge Podge. Will keep you posted on how the decor goes. I don't want to crap it up, but just can't live with the plain white institutional look. You crafty Marthas out there, feel free to send me your ideas!

Izzy love

Cade and Izzy love each other. He will watch her and she will
watch him. If she hears him make a loud cry over the monitor she will look to me and then jump out of bed to go check on him. She's a very good big sister. After Cade and I get home she comes over to say hi to him as I get him out of the infant carrier. Then I have to carry Cade to the couch so Izzy can sniff him and give him a kiss. It's really sweet! And to all of you who said we'd neglect our dog after the baby came, not so my friends! We love Izzer more than ever and she's been so good to the baby.

When I was pregnant I told Nick that I couldn't imagine loving the baby as much as I love our dog. I know it's controversial, but I love them both equally! I'm sure that will change as soon as Cade can talk and say "Mommy"...but then it will change again once he gets older and starts talking back. All's fair in love 7 war, right? I am amazed at how fun he is and how expressive he is already. Just check out these emotions and tell me if they aren't appropriate for the situation, what are the chances it's all just gas? No way.

Check out the love!