Near the beginning of their visit, Freya and James announced they hoped to visit as many different parks and playgrounds as possible. Given the level of energy they have and the limitations of even a fairly large suburban back yard, that seemed like a great idea.

The first one was easy. We’re blessed with a very nice park and play area just a block down the street from us. The children remembered it from previous visits and wasted no time the day after their arrival asking to go there.

Venturing just a few blocks further in either direction from our house, you come to schools that also have interesting playgrounds. With classes out for the summer, both were available, though construction near one of them limited what they could do.

The real winner, however, was Greensboro’s downtown LeBauer Park playground, which includes a splash pad in summer. The childrens’ playground itself is extensive and well designed, with lots of area for running around, obstacles to jump on or over, a sand pit, climbing wall scaled for junior climbers, slides, a tilted merry-go-round, and climbing blocks. Despite the hot temperatures, Freya and James both gave it a workout.

Then it was on to the splash pad to cool off. While the children ran around in the water, the adults discovered that one of the two nearby coffee stands was open. Win for all!

A final and unexpected treat was to find a Foosball game and a Ping-pong table set up nearby, with all the equipment needed to play provided. Those detained us for quite a while, leading to some wild Ping-pong matches and a lively family Foosball game.