Park Time

We spent lots of time at the park this summer, most of it was at the big new playground at Keopuolani Park in Kahului. But one Saturday morning (way back on July 10 actually!) there was something going on at War Memorial and the parking lot at Keopuolani was completely and totally FULL. We had promised Dean a morning at the playground so he could play "Ninja Warrior" and he was NOT happy about this development and the lack of parking. We didn't want to drive all the way to Kihei to go to Kalama Park or all the way Upcountry to go to Giggle Hill, so I was worried we were headed for a major meltdown when Joel pulled this little gem out of nowhere!!

It turns out there's this old playground up above Wailuku Elementary that I didn't even know existed. The playground equipment is kind of old, the paint is peeling off in places, but it's fully functional and completely safe. I guess Joel used to set up a lot of his supervised Parent / Child visitations at this park when he was working for Maui Child & Family Services several years ago. It's kind of off the beaten path - we had the entire place all to ourselves and Dean absolutely LOVED it!! It was nice and cool - it's amazing how just moving up a tiny bit in elevation from Kahului to Wailuku and getting that few degrees of temperature change will really make a difference! There are a couple of HUGE Monkey Pod trees around the playground and there's a beautiful view of both the West Maui Mountains in one direction and the North Shore in the opposite direction. I definitely tucked this spot into the recesses of my brain to visit again in the future!!

Here are a few pics of Dean enjoying his morning at the park...

I have a few more days worth of park pics from this summer to share. I'll try to get that done soon!!