Dorothea Dix Park - Gipson Play Plaza

On the last Wednesday of the summer, I took the boys to the newly opened (June) Gipson Play Plaza at Dorothea Dix Park. I had heard weekends can get incredibly crowded, so I figured this would be the perfect time to check it out.

Brock is just about at that age where playgrounds are just so not cool anymore... but he seemed to really like the climbing and sliding parts. 

The playground has so many really cool features - I had only read about a few of them, so it was definitely a surprise to see the whole water area! Guess it was a good thing they only wanted to wear crocs! 

This is a view of the climbing area across the way. 

Kade loves these open slides - he would have been there much longer if Brock did not push him to move along!

The water area - appropriately called Watermill Mountain! 

So many little (man-made) streams to explore and configure! 

Numerous pumps increase the water flow, while stones redirect it by blocking certain paths.

I wish this was built like 7 years ago - my little aquarian would have lived here, he was even more drawn to the water! 

Kade had no problem wading in the water with his Crocs - it was a pretty warm day!

Let's explore some more! After walking around the waterfall wall, we passed the House of Many Porches. Really cute!

This was an interesting sculpture on our way to the swings - they are huge! 

The swings are built on one 91 foot long pole! Nice way to cool off swinging and relaxing. 

Of course there was a bit of bickering going on here - one wanted to go high and the other one did not! 

The swings were nice, but we needed to cool down a bit more. I did a little research while the boys were swinging and yes! - that house of many porches does sell treats! I treated us all to amazing popsicles by the Raleigh Popsicle Company - all fresh ingredients - while we rocked on the porch!

Peaceful view of these old oak trees as I finished up Kade's mango popsicle - "I didn't know it was going to have real mango in it!"

Made our way back around the park to check out the Sensory Maze Garden. 

I was genuinely impressed with the park! The City of Raleigh did an incredible job and I think this is just one more reason to visit this amazing park! I hope to bring the boys back soon! 

And one more fabulous Moose picture to add to our end of summer festivities!