Totter's Otterville - Covington/Latonia, KY

Yesterday we took the kids to Totter's Otterville in Covington/Latonia, Kentucky. We had not visited this place since Ivy was little. It had been around 5 years ago that we had gone here for a birthday party. We remembered it being a great place at the back of a toy store. I was a little shocked upon re-visiting. The toy store has since gone under. Totter's Otterville remains. We got there just after lunch around 2pm. They do not close until 8pm. Children's admission is $7.95 each. I had coupons of $2.00 off each child's admission. Adults do not pay to get in. It cost us around $12.00 for both the girls.

We got inside and immediately went to find the bathroom. I was struck on the way there by how run down they have become. It used to be a 4 out of 5 star kind of place. Now it is a 2 out of 5 star kind of place. It was a busy Saturday at a children's play place so I tried not to hold the state of the only bathroom against them too badly. I would have expected a place this size to have a larger bathroom and more than one of them. They also only have one diaper changer that folds down in the main area of  the bathroom. I had to wait in line behind 3 other mother's to change Bella. I tried to wait patiently. While waiting I did see that they have a small potty for toddlers and preschoolers. I thought that was really nice. They only have two adult sized toilets in the woman's room. One is a handicapped stall. Most of the time I try to avoid using these because I think of how I would feel if there was only one stall available to me and other people were filling it. At places like the mall where there are 10 or 15 regular stalls it is easy to not use the handicapped one. Here I had no choice. After changing Bella I used the handicapped stall. I honestly hope that a handicapped child or adult had not been in there. The floor was wet! Really wet. I did report it and on the next potty break it was cleaned up. I want to point this out to readers: If you go to a bathroom that is unsafe please report it. Someone could get hurt. Places do not always know the state of the bathrooms.

After the bad trip to the bathroom we moved on to the animal hospital room. They have real animals behind glass kind-of like a pet store. The rest of the room is fake animals and "vet" equipment. Bella dressed up in a scrub coat and checked their blood pressure. The girls got a real kick out of this! I am in school and they have seen me practice taking blood pressure well over a hundred times. I think they enjoyed pretending to do the same. After that we went out into the main area near the entry where they had a  special man in for the day. He had a white rabbit that the kids were allowed to pet and he was making balloon animals for $1. Not expensive but I still felt like it was not right. They charge you at the door and you get the feeling that other than food the entertainment will be free. This annoyed me for some reason. Bella is really too young for balloons and Ivy was not remotely interested so I did not have to have an internal battle over where I was going to come down on this. They did spend some time petting that rabbit.

Next, We proceeded to go outside. They have the cutest fake fishing pond. The girls loved this! There are little poles and fake fish in the lake. They are magnetic so the kids can "catch" them. It is really adorable and was a huge redeeming feature for this place. After that we went  through the small outdoor maze. The first time Ivy lead them through. We later let Bella lead us all through. It was funny. She got us turned around many times but eventually lead us back out. The walls in the maze looked like they had better days. There is an outdoor sand area. We did not play in it. I HATE sand unless we are at the beach or prepared for it with spare clothing and shoes. It is such a mess! I simply said we will not be playing in the sand when we went outside and that was it.

We went to ride the small outdoor train which is one of their big attractions but they were closing it down! It was around 3pm & they do not close until 8pm. I could not believe they shut it down. It had rained earlier that day but was running when we got there. There was no sign and when I asked I was told that the guy wanted to go home or something. We played on the outdoor playground equipment which looks extremely run down. I have seen better outdoor playground equipment at free parks in many places. There is a very small toddler playground area near the fish pond that Bella played at for a couple minutes. It looked much nicer than the big one. That is all of the outdoor areas.

We went back inside. We took the kids to the area by the entry. They took off their shoes and went to play in the ball pit. This was the first time that Bella has ever been in a ball pit. She loved it. When they first got in there was only one other kid in it but after a few minutes there were loads. Ivy conned Bella out because she was afraid the bigger kids would hurt her. They went to play in the big indoor playground. They climbed up to the top and played in the helicopter. They went down the slides. They checked out the giant stuffed elephant. It is really neat. I am sure this area is much newer. It was in much better condition.

They have an area named the village. In here there are miniature versions of the grocery store, a restaurant, a clothing shop, and a house. This was Ivy's favorite part last time we visited. They played in here for a while. It is still cute but everything is a little rough around the edges. The whole area was a complete mess. My kids, being true to their genes, had fun cleaning up and putting straight the store and restaurant. Ivy said they were shop keepers with bad employees. At that point my hubby started laughing and said "Wow, What is your mommy doing to you?" I gave him a quick elbow in the side. He laughed and said "Maybe you could talk to the owner of this place about training their employees to clean up a little." I about died laughing. He had a point. They had one girl running around the inside areas trying to keep everything clean. She was great! The problem was the rest of the staff just hanging around near the snack area not doing much but chatting.

The girls also checked out the clothing shop. I let Ivy put a dress on Bella but I would not let either of the kids wear the dress-up shoes. Just thinking of all the feet that had likely been through those shoes that day grossed me out. The little house area was so messy the kids just avoided it. I did not blame them it was so bad you could not walk in there. After that we went to the wet play area. I was happy that they have waterproof smocks so the kids can play without getting their clothing wet. While the kids were playing here I went to the snack area to get us all drinks. I got the hubby and I large soft drinks. Ivy got a small root beer. I was thrilled to see they had milk for Bella. Hubby really wanted nachos so I got one order of them to share. I had found a coupon for $5.00 off $10.00 or more at the snack bar. Our total was blissfully under $6.00! I'm glad because those were the nastiest nachos ever! Seriously, avoid their nachos! The drinks were fine. Their refills are only 25cents which was really nice.

We moved the kids to the block building area so we could sit and watch them. I was so happy to grab a seat. I had other stuff I did that morning and the high heeled boots I was wearing were starting to bother my feet. I was also battling allergies yesterday. The pills are starting to work today. I found out that one of the worst areas for allergies is indeed the greater Cincinnati area. That's just a little side note for anyone interested in visiting in fall. The block area was nice. Next to it was a dance studio. Bella put on a tutu and started to play dance. Ivy tried to play with her but she was a little tall for the bars. Then a child came over and started climbing on top of the bars and jumping off. I looked around for a likely parent for her but could not find one. She later started climbing the dividing walls that are about 5' high. I told her to please get down before she hurt herself. She shot me a dirty look and took off. At least she did not break a leg or fall on another child. We moved our girls down another section to the conveyor belt area. This reminded me of a factory assembly line. Bella enjoyed this. She liked packing the foam blocks into the milk crates. Ivy got bored with this quickly but there was a post office area right by this and she went to check it out.

After they were finished with that area we moved on to the face painting area. Ivy drew a heart on Bella's cheek. I let Bella enjoy it in the mirror for a minute before I washed it off. There were 4 signs stating that the paint may stain clothing. Bella was trying to rub it off before Ivy had finished. I took Bella to the flower shop area to play while Ivy did her face. Ivy drew a mustache and a goatee on herself. It was hilarious! After she was done she joined Bella in the flower shop area. This was one of the cutest areas in the best shape. The kids made flower arrangements for a while before moving over to the art station next door. In the art area Bella did stamps. Next to the art area was a baby area for children under 2. Bella played in here for a little while. The floor is soft in this area. She ran around in there for a little while. Next, the girls played in the miniatures room. It had doll houses, farms, and other various miniatures. After that Bella went across the walkway to the train area. Ivy did not go with her to this one. She was enjoying the doll houses too much.

When we were done with these two stations we were done with the whole place except for the puppet theater room which was exactly where we went. Ivy likes puppets. Bella did not quite get the concept of what they were for. She would pick one up and shake it. Then she would give it to one of us. We would put our hand in it and make it talk. She would laugh and repeat the process with the next family member. When the kids were done playing puppets I gave them the option to revisit anything that we had done. Bella yelled "Fishy." We went back to the fishing pond. We also went by to pet the rabbit again and did the maze once more before we left.

They have this system to ensure safety. They give the parent/adult and the children they are with the same bracelet. The attendant checks the bracelets when you leave to ensure they match. When we got to the front we were shocked to find that nobody was working the gate. The gate is not locked or anything. It just swings right open. Instead of just leaving I decided to wait to see how long it would take for somebody to turn up. We waited for around 5 minutes before a girl comes jogging up and announced "Sorry." If I had been trying to walk off with someones child I would have been not only out of the building but out of the lot and headed for the highway! Please do not trust in their "system." I let her cut off all of our bracelets and headed to the car. I will not be visiting this place again. Do not waste your money making this trip.

Flagship Park - Erlanger, KY

I recently got back in contact with an old friend. We wanted a place to chat while the kids played. She suggested this wonderful little park. It is clean and not very old. The ground on the playground areas is rubber. There is a large covered shelter between the playground and the parking lot. This is a wonderful placement! There is a bathroom right by the playground. There is a walking trail and plenty of trees. The only thing that I did not like was the fact that there is a cell phone tower and electric wires nearby. They ruin the view. The playground is split in half. The little kids area is on the left and the big kids is on the right. There is also a rock climbing wall and a swing set.

The Details:

Location: Off Narrows Road, Off of Richardson Road in Erlanger, KY

Website: http://www.friendshipcity.com/content/357/508/551.aspx

Cost: Free

Richardson Road Park - Independence, KY

Everywhere we move we feel the need to check out every park in the area and by "area" I mean within an hour drive. I get bored of the same old, same old and so does Ivy. We have found a few parks that we love and we visit them on a normal basis. I can honestly say that Richardson Road Park will not be on the short list of favorite parks. This park was rather dirty. There was litter in the grass and graffiti on the playground equipment. The litter could have been fluke but you could easily tell that the graffiti had been there for quite a while. There was only a guy there playing with his dog when we visited. We still played for an hour. Their play equipment is safe and usable.

The playground

Shelter House and Bathrooms

They have a small house with bathrooms at a covered picnic area near the parking lot. We did not even look at the bathroom. There were a lot of tennis courts, a playground area without swings, basketball court, and baseball diamond. The graffiti was more of the country graffiti style. Things like Bob loves Mary and cartoon character drawings. There are large grassy areas and a lot of nearby trees which provides a little shade. There is ample parking.

Bella loves "driving"

Tennis Courts & Basketball Courts

Bella & I posing on the rock climbing wall

This is a foot swing. Bella was sure it was a baby swing, lol

The girls after climbing up the rock wall.

I was not impressed and will not be returning. If you are interested here's the details:

The Details

Location: 3415 Richardson Rd., Independence, KY 41051

Cost: Free

Website: http://www.kentoncounty.org/county_departments/parks_/parks/richardson_road_park.html

Directions: On website

Sharon Woods - Sharonville, Ohio

Sharon Woods park was a fun outing. There are many small waterfalls sprinkled throughout this rather large park. We started out our trip with some play time at the playground near the harbor on Sharon Lake. It was a very nice park. There is an area for big kids and a play area for the toddler crew. There are baby swings but not swings for the big kids here. My oldest found this a little disappointing. There is however a small rock wall and an area that looks like rock that has places to climb up & tunnels to climb through. There is a snack bar right by this park. In the summer there are fountains here but we went in spring before they were up and running. After some play time we decided to check out the harbor and lake. There is a boat house located here where you can rent boats. It was much to cold out for us to even consider a few hours on the water. I also must warn you that boat rentals are not cheap!

At the bottom of the stairs was a paved path that circled the lake. We decided to go for a walk. My husband went back to the car to grab the stroller. We went with the jogging stroller on this day. The path does wrap up and around to the parking lot so you don't have to carry the stroller down the stairs. You do however have to wrap up and around the playground. After we had Bella strapped in the stroller we were off. There were many ducks on the lake and the path. They were almost to used to being around people because you could walk right up to them. It was neat for my oldest who loves animals but if you have a child that would try to touch them I would suggest watching closely because these ducks will not run away easily. We walked along the path for a while then my husband says "What's that noise?" I stopped and sure enough I could hear something. I said "It sounds like water." He just starts walking across the small road. I asked "Where are you going?" He answered "It's coming from over here." Ivy who had followed him across the street yells "WOW! Mom you have to see this! It's a waterfall!" I cross the street. It was where the water ran out of the lake through the dam. It was pretty neat. We stood there for a few minutes.

There was another path on that side of the road that lead up into the woods. It had a large sign. I walked over to see what it said. It looked like something we could do. It was 0.7 of a mile one way through the woods. It lead to the other side of the park and was marked as moderate so we thought we would be able to get the stroller down it. We began down it and figured if we got to a place where we couldn't get the stroller through we would simply turn around. It thankfully never came to that. The path was very nice. It followed along the water. There were many waterfalls along the way. There were also educational signs to read beside the path. At one point it crosses the water. The cliffs here are quite a sight. Since it was spring we didn't encounter a lot of people on the trail. There was a few places we had to work a little to keep the stroller moving but it wasn't bad at all.

When we got to the other side there was another path running along the road we followed. It passes a couple small waterfalls. These are neat and very easy to access because they are right along the road. One even has parking by it. My only complaint about these was the fact that they put concrete around the falls to keep them from washing out. While I can understand wanting to preserve the beauty of the falls, I am simply a purest. I think that people should let nature take its course on things like this. When people do this to a natural site it feels more like a man made item. Still pretty but it loses a little something.

When we got a little further down there was a large bridge leading across the water. On the other side there was a large park with a little log cabin. This park is one of the large wooden ones. Ivy was happy because there were swings nearby. Two large picnic areas are close by as well. There is a huge building by here. It's the Sharon centre. There is a free nature area inside. We took advantage of this. The girls favorite part was a large aquarium with a "log" running through it. The kids climbed inside to watch the fish and turtle swim around. It was very neat. I had one problem with this as a mom of a toddler. The outside edge of the "log" is concrete and you have to really keep an eye on them. They could fall and hurt themselves but more likely is a child running their head into the top of it when trying to climb inside. It is made to crawl through but my toddler could just stand in it. There is an area at the back with chairs for the adults to take a much needed break. The whole back wall is made of windows that look out on a nature area. While we were there we saw birds, chipmunks and a raccoon. In this room there is an area to stick your hands in and guess what you are grabbing. This would of been much easier if they actually all had stuff in them. About half of them were empty. There is also a table with crayons and papers for the kids. As you walk toward the door leading out there is a great photo op wall and a tree to walk through.

There is something called the "Heritage Village" here too but we did not go. You have to pay to get in. It was looking like it was going to rain so we just headed back toward our car. It looked neat so I would like to go back sometime. We were almost back to the lake when it started to sprinkle. By the time we made it back to the car it was raining. I was glad we didn't have to be out in the rain for to long.

There are a few other things to do at this park including an 18 hole golf course (not sure of pricing) and an indoor play area that costs $2.50 a child.

There are ample picnic areas and tables throughout the park. I would also like to give some credit where credit is due. The restrooms were some of the nicest I've ever seen in a park. They were clean and well stocked with toilet paper, soap and paper towels. I was honestly shocked by this! Quite impressive!

Heritage Village is $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for children ages 5-11, Children under 4 are free.

Admission to the park was $3.00 for the day.

Website:  http://hamiltoncountyparks.org/parks/sharonwoods.shtm
Location: 11450 Lebanon Rd. Sharonville, OH 45241