River Des Peres Park, St. Louis City

Location: 6701 River Des Peres Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63116

Website: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/parks/parks/browse-parks/view-park.cfm?parkID=74&parkName=River

Playground Ground Cover: Poured Rubber

This playground has some nice features. Unfortunately, there's no signage and there's no parking. Also, the website says there are restrooms but I didn't see any. There is a building there that looks like it would house the restrooms but there are no signs and I didn't even see door knobs.

You can see here I just pulled into the tiny driveway off of River Des Peres. But my car is blocking the trail, which is pretty active. I saw lots of people running and riding their bikes and they had to go around my car. I didn't see any other area to park, which is a shame because this is a great playground. I even drove through the subdivision behind it to see if I could park there but all the houses had fenced-in backyards and it wouldn't be right to trespass to get to the playground. The city really needs to add parking so everyone can enjoy this playground!

All the landscaping is new, as well as the benches, trashcans, and sidewalks.

I've never seen this puzzle at a playground before. The kids worked on it for a long time.

The playground consists of just one big play structure and no swings. The structure has a very large spider web climber, several different slides, a rock wall, a bridge, a puzzle, steering wheels, a spinning circle, and lots of bars and poles. Everything has a nature theme of trees, leaves, frogs, and logs.

Greater St. Louis Air and Space Museum, Cahokia IL

Location: 2300 Vector Dr, Cahokia, IL 62206

Website: http://www.airandspacemuseum.org/

We visited this museum on the way back from Eckerts. I'm glad we didn't go out of our way to visit because frankly it was a bit disappointing. I didn't really know what to expect, but I thought there would be more real airplanes. In actuality the museum is all indoors. It's just 2 rooms full of memorabilia. My kids are 5 and 3 and they just didn't enjoy looking at things in glass cases. I think this would be better suited for older kids. We saw a lot of historical artifacts which I found interesting, especially the Ozark Airlines area, because my stepmom was a flight attendant for them in the 70's. There is no entrance fee, but the man working did say I was free to leave a donation, which I was glad to do.

 This green and white plane used to belong to Howard Hughes.

Lewis Park, University City

Location: Bounded by Delmar Blvd. and Yale Ave., University City, MO 63130

Website: http://www.ucitymo.org/105/Parks

Playground Ground Cover: Wood Chips

This is a beautiful park. You can see it from Delmar but parking is a bit tricky. The street right before the park (Yale from the East) is gated, so you can't get in that way. I turned right onto Vasser Ave and parked at the red circle. There is a sidewalk there that leads right into the park. The playground is at the north end so it's not a far walk at all.

There are 2 play structures, one for toddlers and one for bigger kids. There are also 2 rocking things, 2 baby swings, 2 sling swings, and a beautiful lake with nice paths. There is a water fountain but no restrooms.

 Picnic tables and benches

The small structure has 3 slides and some bars. 

Reber Park, Winchester

Location: 109 Lindy Blvd, Ballwin, MO 63021

Amenities: picnic shelter, restroom, playground, tennis court, ballfields, horseshoe pits, and fitness trail.

Website: http://www.city.winchester.mo.us/Parks-and-Recreation/

Playground ground cover: wood chips

Reber Park is located in the center of Winchester, MO, a very small municipality located in west county, just west of Manchester, MO, near the corner of Manchester Road and Sulpher Springs. There are 3 playgrounds at the park, the first two are near the off-street parking lot.

The toddler playground has a couple straight, small slides and some places to climb. There is also an activity wall that has a steering wheel and tic-tac-toe among other activities. It is located near the parking lot, next to the school-aged playground.

The school-aged playground has a small slide and 3 adjacent larger slides. Also, there is a zip line with a handle, several climbing areas, a separate spinning and bouncing device (for one or 2 children each), a free-standing jungle gym, and 4 sling swings.

According to a mother I talked to in the park, the park gets overrun by middle-school children sometimes in the afternoons, which are not the best playmates for toddlers - just keep that in mind when you choose what time to visit the park. I did not witness any problems when I was at the park though.

At the far end of the park is a third playground (from the parking lot, cross the ball fields to reach this playground). This playground has a toddler/preschool play structure, a bouncy teeter-totter sized for young children, 2 baby swings, and 2 sling swings.