Fantasy Fountain

If my children had it their way, they would be lumps on the couch (or floor or bed or chair...) with their eyes glued to a screen. In my post "Free & Nearly Free Summer Activities in Redding 2016" I talk about how they like to screen hop and how it makes them grumpy. 

I have noticed that if they have been on screens too long, they start to get angry when they have to pull themselves out of the virtual world and come back to reality. Even if we are going to go do something fun, they will get mad that they have to break away from their screen. That's when I know it's time to detox them and be a little more vigilant about limiting screen time.  Am I alone in this battle? I think, probably not.

So on a particularly grumpy summer day, I wanted to get out of the house, this time the destination was Fantasy Fountain in Enterprise Park. The two little ones were on board, but my nearly-almost-teen-who-thinks-he's-an-adult, grumbled and said he didn't want to come. "That's for little kids."  After inflicting much guilt upon him for not wanting to be with the family and telling him I would make it impossible for him to get on a screen (picture it: tablets and phones gone, deactivated wifi and a missing PS3 power cord...) he decided he would join us, but vowed to not have any fun or participate in any way.

"Just put on your swim shorts just in case." 

"Fine. Whatever." {Lots of rolling of eyes and deep sighing}

At first he was true to his word. But dang it, Redding is hot in the summer! And I finally talked him into standing under the dumping bucket...just once. "Fine. I'll do it." 

All set to be dumped on, until little brother runs in! There's a little guy under all that water!

Just for the record, he had no fun, what-so-ever. None. 

The Stats: Fantasy Fountain

Where: Enterprise Park, Redding (see map below)

Cost: FREE

Hours: 10:00am-8:00pm Weekends Only beginning May 28, Open Daily June 6 through Labor Day, Weekends Only through September.

My 12 year old was right, in that there were mostly small children there. On the day we went, my daughter who is 10 was one of the oldest. So my 12 year old was definitely the oldest "child".

Fantasy Fountain is located in the Kids Kingdom area of Enterprise Park. My kids did take a break from the splash pad and roam the playground for a bit. 

I have to tell you that when my children were small, I hated Kids Kingdom. It is such a massive play structure, that I would easily lose them in it and have a hard time keeping track of them, causing me a lot of stress worrying about where they were. However, as my kids are older, with instructions to stick together, it is one of the few parks that has a play structure big enough and interesting enough to hold their attention. 

There is a huge, pavilion with lots of tables. Our church and family (separately) have had large gatherings at this pavilion. You can reserve it for your next gathering, on the Redding Parks & Rec Website. 

Come down to the Fantasy Fountain and beat the Redding heat!