Taking in Life Around Me....A Walk in the Park #Sundaystills

This #sundaystills challenge is hosted by Terri from Second Wind Leisure. It's a great themed photography challenge that you'll enjoy. I love seeing the other participants interpretation of the theme each week...it causes me to think outside the box. I joined in hopes of it pushing me to get out and take more photos...I have to some degree, but I also like that Terri is okay with us finding photos in our archives, which is also a lot of fun. So check out my photos and then head over to Terri's page to participate or visit other's posts. There are some awesome contributors who always inspire me.

This weeks theme is "walk in the park". A park is defined as "a large public green area in a town, used for recreation. An area devoted to a specified purpose (and industrial park). A large area of land kept in its natural state for public recreational use. A large enclosed piece of ground, typically with woodand and pasture..etc".  Parks come in a variety of sizes and contain a variety of  things that define them.

We also sometimes say, "that house was on a parklike setting". "That was a walk in the park", which means something was very easy to do, or very pleasant, something that went smoothly. 

I love visiting parks. My favorites are ones with a lot of green space, trails, and water. When I'm with my grandkids, I love visiting ones that have great play structures. One of our local parks actually has some workout equipment. 

I wanted to head out to grab some photos of parks this past weekend but just couldn't seem to fit it in so I'll go with some throwbacks. 

Now that I have grandkids, we spend time at the parks playing on the play equipment. I like to find parks that have a good variety of things for them to climb and play on.

Near where my daughter lives (5 minutes away) is an amazing lake. Lake Sacajawea is a man-made lake covering 67 acres. There is a 3.6 mile trail that circles the lake. It has several playgrounds around the lake. There is plenty to do for everyone. 

In the fall, it is stunning...the colors come alive. 

There is a large dock that can be reserved for events. My daughter and I had her coffee cart at the park last year for an outdoor spin class. So fun. 

This photo is a few years old but it's fun packing a lunch and taking the grandkids for a picnic. 

In 2020, for Mothers Day, My girls, mother in law and I took a walk around the lake after grabbing smoothies. It was a perfect morning. 

When our daughter and son in law were living in Texas and we would visit, one thing we noticed about their area was how big the parks were. Just a lot of space. There were more big parks than small neighborhood ones (well, that we could see). 

About a 10 minute drive from our home is a great waterfront park that has amazing green space, play equipment, paved path, food trucks and a new indoor market area. It is a favorite. Oh it has an amphitheater as well. 

Last year we took some time, went to the park to play on the play equipment, splash in the water and end it with ice cream. 

One of my favorite trips we did was to the Olympic Peninsula and the Mt. Rainier National Park. Both of these areas are worth a visit! 

Absolutely love visiting National and state parks. I just love parks in general. 

Now, what are things that are a "walk in the park"? For me I would say; cooking, working puzzles of all sorts, spelling, talking to people, taking photos.  I would say that for something to be a walk in the park simply means, it doesn't cause stress, is relaxing even if it's hard, it's doable. 

I have done these two National Park puzzles and they were so fun. 

I love cooking, trying new recipes, and love when I master something. In the last several years I feel like I'm close to considering working with sourdough and making Kombucha a "walk in the park". 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin