Gotta Be Fun things to do with kids in and around Cowlitz County Article in Valley Bugler   By Jeanette Mahoney, Gotta Be Fun Photography Let me introduce myself. I’m Jeanette Mahoney, wife, mom, grandma, and photographer. I’ve lived in the Cowlitz County area, Longview in particular for about 32 years. My children grew up here, and now my grandchildren are growing up here are as well. When we do things with our kids or grand kids it makes memories. I really would like my grandchildren to have a lot of fun memories of things we do together, and thought I would share some of those fun ideas with you. I am sure I don’t know what all the fun things are to do here, so if you would like to make some suggestions to me, you can go to our website, www.gottabefun.com, click on the Valley Bugler Button, and let me know your suggestion.If we use your suggestion in an article, you will win a prize! I am sure you are thinking of countless fun things RIGHT NOW!

Now, on to some fun stuff. Did you know that in the cities of Longview and Kelso there are 16 playgrounds at the parks. This doesn’t count school ground playgrounds, and I know the county has playgrounds at both Riverside Park and Willow Grove Park. So there is no shortage of playgrounds to visit. Children love to go where they can run, climb, swing and make noise. It’s good exercise for growing bodies and minds.

My grandkids (Molly 8 yrs., Patrick 5 yrs., and Seamus 3 yrs.) and I decided to visit a few of these parks and let you know what we found. I have put a list of the Longview Parks with playgrounds on our website. Kelso has a wonderful playground at Tam O’Shanter Park.

The other day I was asked to watch the grandkids for an afternoon so I asked their mom if I could take them to a park. I decided to go to Rotary Park at Oak St. and Rosewood, in Longview, near Mint Valley School. The day was a sunny warm sixty degrees and the kids left their coats in the car, it was a very nice day to have in February. I opened the door and off they went. There were two climbing structures, one for younger kids and one for the older kids. Each had slides, steps, climbing areas and fun things to do. There are bars to hang from and if you are strong enough you can cross it hand over hand.

The swings were their favorite; both Molly and Patrick could get onto the swings themselves. There are swings for small kids that have an enclosed part so they won’t fall off. I put Seamus in the enclosed swing and gave him a push but it was too high and scared him a little so we slowed the swing down. His swing in the back yard doesn’t go very high so he was not used to that. When he got used to the swing, he had a fun time. Three year old Seamus really liked the slides.

There are picnic tables so you can sit and watch kids or you could have a picnic. I took pictures of the kids playing on the equipment. It was a fun place to go.

After playing there for awhile, I suggested that we go and check out another park, which surprised them and it is still known as ‘the day they got to go to two parks’. We went to Bailey Park at 34th and Oak St. in Longview. It also had nice equipment for both younger and older kids, although one slide was patched with a rough patch the kids didn’t like very much. There is a structure for kids to hang from bars that is like a track about 6 feet from the ground. Molly was too small to be able to use it – but she thought it was very fun to sit on my shoulders while she griped the bars. They have swings, too, and there is a covered area where you could eat snacks or just watch the kids.

Parking was a little difficult because there is no parking on two sides of the park and a third side shared the boundary with a fenced home. So there was just parking at one end. But we managed and the kids played for awhile then decided it was snack time.

The Ocean Beach Dairy Queen was close by so we stopped there, and washed hands before ordering Dilly Bars and having a nice cool snack before it was time to head for home. Dilly bars for four came to about five dollars. Some handy items to take would have been: band aids in case someone got a scratch, sunglasses or hats if the kids have them, water if they got thirsty, and hand wipes to clean dirty hands before they eat a snack.

Next month I’ll tell you how to take a “Penny Walk” with your kids. And I will let you know how our own penny walk goes - (Molly can hardly wait)!

Submit an idea for a fun thing to do with kids in and around Cowlitz County. I your idea is chosen to be used in an article, you will win a session and 8"x10" print from Gotta Be Fun Photography.