Frank Brown Park, Panama City Beach, Florida

We took a little trip on Saturday, January 7 to Under the Palms Playground at Frank Brown Park to check out the place. We are also looking for a location in the area for a upcomming birthday party! The link to the park's website is http://www.playballinparadise.com/

So here is the skinny on Frank Brown Park:

The park is great in January. HOWEVER, any park in Florida WITHOUT shade like this one feels like the surface of the sun in the summer. Steer clear unless you are there for the water park (which we will have to check out then) or for a  Softball Tournament (apparently several are hosted there).

There are a few gaping holes in the rubber which need to be seen to, BUT I do like that the play area does have rubber.

Bring a bike if your kids has one- or a skate board/skooter. There were several kids who were riding trails and my little one wished he had his bike.

The play area is great for even smaller ones, but A HUGE CON: bathrooms. There is not a bathroom near the play area. So, we either walked to the aquatic center or go to the huge building about 1/4 miles away. A huge CON for a mommy with a little one.

Under the Palms Playground

A view of the play area.

We loved the swings!!

A view...

The sandbox seemed to be a hit.

Ringing in the 2012 @ Countdown Seaside

ok. I must admit that this (SEASIDE) is one of my absolute favorite place to go in the Emerald Coast. Here people are real friendly and the water is clear emerald. So, this year we decided to try Countdown Seasde- a family affair- and we rated it an A+ (need a rating system) on friendly to the smaller family members.

We also had an opprotunity to eat at Pickles resturant in seaside and try their fried pickles. The pickles were wonderful my family agreed- and my husband is a pickle connoisseur. Really. He is. The atmosphere was very casual on New Year's Eve and that is just what we wanted. The service was fairly quick and their prices were in line with the area. It would be a great place to walk up from the beach and eat at. Here is the link: http://www.sweetwilliamsltd.com/pickles.html


Tips for a New Year's Eve at Seaside:
-Have a blanket or chair handy to watch the concerts.
- Bring something for the kid(s) to do if you plan on staying late for the fireworks. Listening to music for a few hours won't work. Don't expect it to.
- Prepared to park and walk. We brought a stoller- it made parking and walking a breeze.

Here is an overview of the night...

As we walked up to the festivities, the first thing that we spotted was balloon making. And there was a ling. How cool?!

The ballon making lady. On stilts.

The craft tent. They had two crafts for the kids to decorate the noise makers to bring in the new year. Our little one was super excited.

Craft #1.  There were tons of fuzzies and beads to put on the boxes of noise! He loved it.

Craft #2 was a tube to decorate with gliter, paper and sequins. Inside, we wrote our favorite memory from the year and locked it in. What's better than glue and glitter? All of the kids around were excited to decorate their noise makers. And, at that sight we were prepared for lots of noise making at 12:00 AM January 1, 2012.

The crowd. Seaside had several bands rocking the stage to entertain families. They were pretty mellow.

Then, Camden decided he was hungry, so we were off to Pcikles to grab a bit. Mommy and Camden @ Pickles.  

Fun with Daddy.

Happy 2012! 

 Jessica