When we lived in Maryland, we were always going to one park or another. In our little town we were regulars at three or four different parks quite close to our house, often meeting friends for a picnic and time on the playground. If we felt the need for variety, there were another half-dozen parks a 15-minute drive of where we lived.

Where we live now the situation is a little different. We’re in a big city so of course there are a ton of parks here. But for some reason we have not found any nearby parks with playgrounds that we like. The park that’s closest to our house has a teeny playground, and there are always odd characters hanging about. I’m not sure what sort of shenanigans, if any, are going on but it’s not a place I feel comfortable taking Annalie all by myself. The next-closest park is a “sensory park” that was developed for seniors and the physically-challenged. It has a couple of swings and some neat gravel paths and bridges, but…it’s kind of boring, frankly.

The sensory park and a couple of others near us all have the same problem: a lack of shade. When we first moved here last summer, Annalie and I had several frustrating park experiences with playground equipment being too hot to play on. It made me nostalgic for the parks in Phoenix, many of which have large canopies over them to provide shade.

After a few disappointing park visits last summer, I temporarily gave up. I figured, we had Snail Mountain if we wanted to go outside and climb stuff, and Annalie loves going to the Green Mall and walking along the edges of the raised planters and up and down the mall just as much as she likes playing in any old park.

Then, of course, we traveled a lot this past fall and winter and didn’t need to worry about finding a good park in our own neighborhood. But spring is here, and yesterday it seemed like a good day for a picnic.

Recently we drove by a park not far from our house that we had not been to yet. Troy and I actually stopped there once when we were house-hunting and I was desperate enough for a toilet to use the park’s crappy public restroom. I never made the connection that it was so close to our house till we drove by it again.

Yesterday we packed a cooler with what I consider essential picnic items (boiled eggs, kosher dill pickles, apples, tuna salad, sliced Cheddar) and threw in an avocado—since we happened to have one—and some Ritz crackers. We put the cooler in the car, stopped by Jack-in-the-Box for drinks because it happened to be on the way, and drove to the park.

Of course the first thing Annalie wanted to do was run to the playground, but my mom and I were hungry and wanted to eat. Annalie complained a bit, but she was hungry too. Once she’d eaten half an apple and a couple of crackers with tuna she was champing at the bit to run.

Our table was next to the side of a rocky hill, so we pointed Annalie at it and she clambered up like a little mountain goat. At the top she paused, looked around, then hollered, “Mo-om, I don’t know how to get down! Can you come up here?” I climbed to the top and pointed out that there was a less-steep grassy path curving around the side of the hill back down to the bottom, so we walked down that way. Annalie took a couple more bites, went back up the hill, came down and ate a bit more, went back up the hill, etc.

We finished eating, cleaned up our mess, and went to explore the playground. The equipment wasn’t the newest or cleanest, but it was great! There were tunnel slides that were cool to the touch despite the bright sun, and a cool slide made out of rollers. There were two tire swings, a couple of poles for sliding down, and even a tall ladder for climbing. Annalie definitely approved.

A few minutes before we planned to leave, another mom and her two kids arrived. The mom sat down on the opposite side of the playground from us and the kids ran right over to the slide. The little girl was about the same age as Annalie, and after a couple of minutes they were chasing each other around, digging in the mulch together, chattering away. At one point Annalie came running over to our bench for a sip of her drink and my mom asked what her new friend’s name was. Annalie shrugged. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask her!”

By the time we waved good-bye to the other kids, Annalie was tired and her cheeks were flushed with heat and exertion. I asked her if she liked the new park. “Yeah! I think we should come here again and bring Bug with us and maybe Superchic and Rapunzel next time! And have another picnic.”

Operation Find a New Park That We Actually Like was a success! Now if only someone could explain this weird tiger face painted on the sidewalk to me.