Sunabe BaBa Park (aka Dolphin Park)

I had heard many wonderful things about this park and was anxious to check it out with O.  We got invited to a play date there and simply could not refuse.

Although I liked the park, I felt it was more geared towards elementary and up children rather than toddlers.  It had a lot of elements that O could enjoy such as tunnels, climbing nets, and the world's slowest roller slide of decent length (It picks up a lot more speed if you bust out the plastic seats/cardboard though).  In between these toddler friendly elements, however, are non-toddler friendly elements like bridges where each boards moves on it's own.  So you'll definitely want to supervise your little tyke on the big play structure.


There was also a nice little merry-go-round that you peddle in a circle... although we ended up just pushing the horses cause it was easier.  And they have an awesome slide with cut-out rock climbing stairs and 3 varieties of slides to go down.  O also liked to play peek-a-boo in the bottom of this structure which is hollowed out with windows.

They had a nice little pavillion area for picnics as well as a huge open area for running and throwing/kicking things with friends.  We didn't really leave the playground area, so I'm not sure what the rest of the park contained.  There was a wooden ramp that looked like it may lead to a pier or something similar.

I plan on checking this park out again when O is a little older and may get more out of it.  But definitely worth checking out.

To get here:

Take a right out of Kadena Gate 1 onto 58.  Turn left at the first light.  Go all the way down until you hit the junk yard.  Make a left.  3 or 4 side streets down you'll see a sign for BaBa Park.  Turn right and park at the baseball field.  The park is just across the street.

Urasoe Park

On one of our local Stroller Warriors outings, we were to go for a run at Urasoe Park.  Well... it's a little hard to go running when you get your running stroller out and the tires are flat.  C'est la vie.  Needlesstosay, O and I went for a walk while the other ladies went running.  :)

The path we were on took you down by a stream that ran under the freeways.  The path itself curved away from the freeways taking you upstream.  There were several miniature waterfalls and rapids with bridges allowing you to either cross the stream to paths leading elsewhere or merely to admire the stream from another vantage point.  Even little bridges in the middle of nowhere here have great detail and artistry and seem to belong in their surroundings.  It's amazing.

Eventually the path dead-ended and we had to go back the way we came. Which worked out well for us because we ended up back at the playground where we could meet up and play with the other ladies and their children.

The playground was awesome.  There was something for everyone, no matter what age you are.  And they had two roller slides.  A small, slightly inclined one for the little tykes and the largest roller slide I've seen thus far for the older kids/adults.  That slide was awesome!  And O even liked going down it with me.  :D

Did you know that you are supposed to ride on something going down the roller slides?  I didn't.  A lot of people brought cardboard or plastic lunch trays to sit on.  And apparently the Japanese actually sell these little plastic things that look like shovels with a butt imprint specifically for riding on the roller slides.  I was told you can get them at Make-Man for like 100 yen.  Anyways, a very nice lady let us borrow hers to go down the huge roller slide.  O.M.G. did it make a difference.  Not only was my butt NOT numb by the time I reached the bottom, but the ride itself was a whole lot faster.  You have got to check it out for yourself.  Totally worth it.

Gushikawa Park

Yet another beautiful, new location for our Stroller Warrior ladies to run at and a great park for the kiddos.

Gushikawa park is located near the bridge leading to Henza, Miyagi, and Ikei Islands on the East Coast of Okinawa. A lot of my friends say this bridge kinda reminds them of the Golden Gate Bridge. I've only ever seen it in pictures, so I'm not sure how accurate that is...  I read somewhere that the bridge is 4.7 miles long.  That would explain why we didn't make it to the other side on our run today, lol.

Anyways, the kids had a lot of fun at the park.  Most of the little kids stuck to the smaller play place on the left.  It is similar to anything you'll find on base, but still fun.  The other structures were pretty cool.  The rope thing on the right kept many of the older kids occupied attempting to climb it and provided me with much amusement while I was there.  There is a decent sized roller slide back behind the pavillion too.

It was a Japanese National Holiday while we were there, so there were tons of Japanese kids at the park that day.  O got abducted with her stroller by a few little girls who basically used her as a real life doll.  They took her for rides, passed her around for holding and rocking, and shared some of their candy with her.  :D