Recently, my family participated in the Redlegs Run. (Which I highly recommend doing next year!) My husband did the 10k while my kids and I ran the family run. We arrived downtown at 7:30 a.m. and our race wasn’t until 9:30 a.m. I was worried that the kids would be bored and begin getting cranky. NOPE. They had a blast waiting for their race. There is so much for them to do along the river. What a great place to spend time with kids.
First we found a nice spot along the river and enjoyed our breakfast. It was a beautiful view of the bridges, the river, and people prepping for the race. After we were finished eating we enjoyed sitting on the swings just snuggling up to one another. (Probably my favorite part of the day!) We snuggled and played “I spy” before getting down to head over to the playground.
One of the things I like most about the Cincinnati area is that all the parks are so different from each other. They provide different adventures, opportunities, and fun. The Grow Up Great Adventure Playground did not disappoint!
Once they were exhausted from playing it was time for our race! The Redlegs Run was a great time for all ages. The start line was near the river and the finish line was in the Great American Ballpark near home plate. It was so cool! After the race we were able to enjoy free food, drinks, and entertainment in the ballpark!
As if our day couldn’t get any better…we headed over to Carol Ann’s Carousel. The kids enjoyed their ride on the beautiful carousel as I took in the beauty and individuality of each of the 44 animal/characters. While they went around and around for $2 a ride, I was able to get in a history lesson of Cincinnati just by pointing out all of the different characters/animals.
You can’t make a trip down to Smale without getting wet. Before we left we let our kids play around in the water play area. They enjoyed splashing and trying to stomp the water away! Once they were soaked and tired we headed home.
We spent a great portion of our day along the river. What a fun and beautiful place to take kids. Needless to say, both of my kids fell asleep at 5 pm after our fun filled trip to Smale Riverfront Park and the Redlegs Run.
Mom Reporter Tina Pratt is the mom of two littles. She is a former PreK- 5 special education teacher that now works as a behavior coach. She enjoys being a tourist in her own town and finding ways to embed lessons into everyday fun!