Cute rambly zone on the edge of Cobbs Creek Park: Papa playground

Playground: Papa Playground
Location: 68th & Landsdowne
Date visited: May 19, 2012

Equipment:

• Medium playset with hanging rings, bounce/balance pad, crawl-through hoop and tube, two slides (double straight, tall spiral), fireman's pole, shop window
• 4 strap swings
• tot lot with micro-playset (steps and a small plastic slide), telescope, bus wheel, teeter-totter (works well!), hobby horse (semi-broken), 4 swings (2 strap, 2 strap)
• little hills between two zones to clamber up and down

Ages: 0-8
Surface: rubbery/chips/grass
Shade(0-3): 2
Water: N
Other: football field, baseball field, extra grassy areas, rec center, water ice shop across the street
Access: Open, but presumably subject to standard rec center hours

Impressions: A cute little playspot in the midst of grassy parks and busy ball fields.  Good for a little recharge, or a quiet outing with picnic possibilities and water ice/ice cream across the street.  Not extensive, but decent variety of stuff and what's there is nice.
Overall rating: 8

A gem way out West: Rose Recreation Center

Playground: Rose Recreation Center
Location: 75th & Lansdowne (park on 75th @ base of hill/path just past bus stop, even though not marked as OK -- otherwise you need to park a block or two away)
Date visited: 5/19/12

Equipment:

• Small-kids' zone has 4-person teeter-totter, 4 bucket swings, a low ribbon climbing wall, mixed climbing, double wavy plastic slides, a lower straight metal slide, toddler-height monkey bars, and a periscope
• Big-kids' zone has 4 strap swings, a tall "spaceship" climbing zone, a large playset with rope climbing net, miscellaneous climbing, solid (open) bridge, and two slides (one medium straight metal, one high plastic spiral); and a novel spinning zone, with two spinning platforms with spinning hanging "bars" overhead for mixed stand/hang dizziness.

Ages: 1-10
Surface: rubbery/woodchips/grass
Shade(0-3): 1 for small kids' zone, 3 for big kids' zone
Water: N
Other: grassy hill, rec center, two basketball courts (one maybe just for leagues, as no nets mounted on visit and seemed fancier), baseball field
Access: open

Impressions: This playground is walkable from nearby neighborhoods but hard to park near (at least until you know the locals' trick to park in the unmarked spots just after the bus stop on 75th).  However, despite proximity to large busy roads, it feels pleasantly woodsy, and even on a hot day the larger-kid area is shady and cool.  There's a nice mix of classic and modern play offerings, and lots of grass for picnic possibilities.  The only complaint we had is that it could use more attentive trash pick-up service!
Overall rating: 9