If at first you don't succeed

My husband had to work on Saturday.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does I like to plan something fun for my son and I to do together.  The first couple of ideas I had didn't pan out, so I decided to take him to a new-to-him park for some physical activity.

I had to pick up some tickets near Nerima Station, so I looked for a park nearby.  After a quick Google Maps search, I found a park with a really neat rocket play structure.  I was super excited to go here with my son.  It looked like a lot of fun.

We bundled up and headed out on my bike.  Although the air was cold, it wasn't wet and the sun was shining.  It was a great day for playing at the park. 

We were able to pick up the tickets very easily, which made me feel great.  I'm always so happy when I can do something easily, as so many things are a challenge for me due to language barriers or unknown rules.  I walked out of the office with a sigh of relief and ready to continue on our journey.

Kuritsu Toyonaka Park, better known as Rocket Park, is just a quick 5 minute bike ride from Nerima Station.  As we pulled up to the park, I let out a low groan.  The play equipment was surrounded by construction fencing.  My son would not be able to climb up the rocket or slide down the shoot. 

I felt so bad because he was really looking forward to playing at the park.  We climbed off the bike and he headed over to the only thing not encased within the fence, a single bar that my son could flip around.  Since he likes to hang like a bat and flip off while trying to make my heart stop, he was happy as a clam.

While he flipped repeatedly, I looked for other nearby parks on my phone.  I wanted to salvage this park excursion.  Not too long ago, during a casual conversation I asked my son what he loved about his daddy.  He replied "I love Otousan's plans.  He plans the most fun things for us to do.  His plans are always great."  Although I wasn't trying to be competitive, I get tired of my plans not turning out.

Within a few moments I found another park for us to go to.  It was actually a park I had wanted to go to in the summer, but the heat kept me from venturing out.  After a quick snack of tangerines and a banana, we hopped back on the bike for the 5 minute trip.

As we pulled up, my son exclaimed "Octopus Park!  Yes!"  Toyotama Park has a big cement slide shaped like an octopus.  He hopped off the bike and ran to climb up the octopus.  He was so excited, he forgot to remove his helmet and he had to run back to put it into the bike basket. 

The bump is a "slide" for wheelchairs, but the able-bodied kids loved it, too.

They were riding bikes up it, jumping over the octopus legs, and more.

The park did not have any grass whatsoever.  But there was a large sandbox in a neat spiral, which gave kids lots of space to dig and build.  There was a small structure with a slide and a cargo net to climb.  Swings and bars rounded out the playground.  The main attraction was the octopus.  It had one staircase up, and 4 slides going down.  There were dozens of kids running around, and my son joined right in.

I absolutely loved this park.  It was quirky and fun.  There was plenty of space to run around and the play things were creative, yet minimalistic, allowing for lots of creative play.  My son had a great time. 

As we were leaving he asked if we could come again.  I can't blame him.  The play parks may be super simple here, but with a dash of creativity they are also super fun.