Astico County Park

I took my kiddo to Astico County Park mostly because I discovered they had canoe rentals, and I thought it would be fun to give it a try.

 Word to the wise: Don't give your 3-year-old a canoe paddle unless you are looking for a MAJOR arm workout trying to paddle against the one permanently dragging in the water!  My newly toned arms thank my daughter for the boot camp:)

The website says they offer half-day or full-day rentals, but onsite they also give the option of hourly.  One hour was perfect for us.

Once we got our canoe safely back to harbor, we did a little more exploring of the park.  It was mostly campsites and trails, but we did find a little playground.  I definitely wouldn't go to this park specifically looking to play on their playground because it was pretty minimal, but it was a nice enough pit stop.

Astico Park does have bathrooms.

Astico Park
N3620 County Road TT ~ Columbus, WI ~ 920-386-3700
Admission: There is no entrance fee, but there are fees to rent canoes/kayaks and to camp.

Wirth Park

Brookfield's Wirth Park has so much to offer!

 

We spent most of our time in the Tot Place (playground)...

 ...but we did also meander down this interactive path to get to the bathrooms.  On the way, we encountered a little league baseball game as well.

From what I can gather, we only saw a small portion of this fantastic park.  There are various trails, volleyball & tennis courts, soccer fields, ball diamonds, an ice rink in the winter, and a pool in the summer.  Wow!  We sure enjoyed ourselves when we were there!

Wirth Park does have bathrooms.

Wirth Park 
2585 Pilgrim Road ~ Brookfield, WI

Brandenstein Park

Brandenstein Park in Watertown is your typical neighborhood park.  There is a sand-padded playground.

There is also a volleyball net and a baseball diamond.  When we were at Brandenstein Park, there was a pile of bikes with a group of kids playing a game of kickball.  There is plenty of green space for picnics as well.

There is a port-a-potty.

Brandenstein Park
30 West Spaulding Street ~ Watertown, WI

Brandt/Quirk Park

 Brandt/Quirk Park is Watertown's largest park...without a playground!

That being said, it really is a nice park.  There are soccer fields, a frisbee golf course, and baseball diamonds.

There are also walking trails throughout the park, which is what we did when we visited.  We've also been for a couple of baseball games.  There was a sand and water play area near the ball diamonds at one point, but I did not notice that when we were there for a game last night, so either they got rid of it or I just got lucky that my kiddo didn't find it:)

Dogs are allowed, but I have not come across any enclosures.  Anyone know if they have one?

The park has actual restrooms.

Brandt/Quirk Park
800 Carriage Hill Drive ~ Watertown, WI

Little Amerricka

 We had so much fun at Little Amerricka!!  We started with the kiddie rides.  My kiddo loved these, as expected.  They have quite a few to choose from.

Then we moved onto something a little more advanced:)   My kiddo went on her first roller coaster!

They were not super busy that day, so they sent us around THREE times before stopping the ride!  We had very little wait time for any of the rides.  A much better option for us than Great America, especially with the little ones.

Little Amerricka's pricing allows for lots of customization.  Another perk of this amusement park, there is no general admission, so if anyone wants to go along to watch without riding, they don't need to pay to get in.  They have pay-per-ride tickets as well as wristbands.  Different color wristbands allow you to do different activities throughout the park.  Our whole group had gold wristbands, and we really didn't have time to take full advantage of them.  I would strongly recommend looking at the ride list for each wristband and choosing based on what each person is able/wants to do.  A better option for many might be to purchase one of the lower level wristbands and then buy tickets to do an extra activity or two.  The park is generally only open for a few hours a day, so that is important to keep in mind as well.  While we may have liked to do more that our wristbands allowed, there just really wasn't time to go on all the rides AND go-karts AND bumper cars AND mini golfing.

It was a fun day and a great alternative to Six Flags!  Smaller, less crowded, and locally owned!

One other word of advise: be sure to check the website for hours of operation before you make your plans.  Their schedule is kind of all over the place and changes throughout the summer.

Little Amerricka
700 East Main Street ~ Marshall, WI ~ 608-620-5224
Admission: no general admission; prices vary based on your ride selection: rides start at $1.50/ride, wristbands available from $10.95-$21.95, season passes available as well

Trechel Park

Trechel Park is located in "downtown" Lebanon, a tiny little town in Dodge County. 

It is the smaller of two parks located in Lebanon, but it is still a nice, quiet little pit stop.  There is actually a nature trail that I believe connects the two?  There is actually quite a bit of green space behind the playground as well.  We actually had just as much fun at Trechel Park as we did at Firemen's Park, so I would definitely recommend it, especially if it is busy at Firemen's Park.  There is a port-a-potty.

Trechel Park
Ivy Street ~ Lebanon, WI 

SPECIAL EDITION: Father's Day!

Need a sweet little last-minute addition to Dad's gift?  Or just an idea in general??  This one is for all you procrastinators out there - OR (more like me) the ones who are thinking Crap!  That's THIS weekend?! Don't worry, I gotcha covered :)

I started this interview with my daughter last year when she was two.  I got a binder with some page protectors, and I put the year's interview and the card she makes that year in the page protector.  Each year we do a new one and add it to the binder, so every year Daddy gets to relive what he has meant to her throughout her life.

When you're done printing out this cute FREEBIE, check out some other posts to choose a fun place to spend some time with Dad this weekend! Enjoy!

Download the All About Daddy questionnaire HERE 

(Find more super adorable graphics to use yourself at www.mycutegraphics.com)