mcdonald park

somewhat tucked away from view is mcdonald park - a lovely wide open lawn space with a playground to boot.

from the city website:

"McDonald Park is located at 1000 East Mountain Street. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 4.8 acres. Small neighborhood park with features that include: one basketball, volleyball, and a two sided handball court; one softball diamond; open grass area; picnic facilities; benches and a pergola; restrooms; playground equipment; and drinking fountains."





previous pasadena parks:

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park
4. grant park
5. victory park
6. jefferson park
7. allendale park
8. san rafael park
9. robinson park
10. brenner park
11. washington park
12. villa park


AND....


by the way - if you are looking for something to do tomorrow, be sure to check out the annual bungalow heaven home tour happening from 10am-4pm.

more details can be found at the following website.

skywatching at villa park

villa park gets the award for being the park closest to my home. and while it isn't the most incredible park, it does have a community center AND the tuesday morning farmers market. that alone makes it a pretty amazing place.

from the city website:

"Villa Park is located at 363 East Villa Street. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 8.1 acres. This park is located near the downtown district. Park area includes; lit softball diamond with bleachers; one regulation soccer field with lights; multi-purpose field; patio area; swimming pool (open during summer months only); four basketball backboards; picnic tables; grass area with trees; parking lot; children’s play area; restrooms; and drinking fountains."

more skywatch friday can be found right here.



previous pasadena parks...

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park
4. grant park
5. victory park
6. jefferson park
7. allendale park
8. san rafael park
9. robinson park
10. brenner park
11. washington park

washington park

we're heading north for today's park. washington park has this feeling of being tucked away from all around it. if you wish to enjoy this park you actually have to go down into the park from washington blvd.

from the city website:

"Washington Park is located at the corner of Washington Boulevard and El Molino Avenue. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 5.5 acres. Large well-established neighborhood park with wide variety of facilities. Park is divided by a small natural ravine, or stream bed, affording a unique play environment for children. Park facilities include: two separate picnic areas; small parking lot; two lighted tennis courts; one lighted basketball court; two one-wall handball courts; one small softball diamond; small open grass area surrounded by trees; children’s play area with equipment; restroom; and drinking fountains."




previous pasadena parks...

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park
4. grant park
5. victory park
6. jefferson park
7. allendale park
8. san rafael park
9. robinson park
10. brenner park

brenner park (and some very exciting news!)

this quaint little park has these unique white canopy structures that seem straight out of the 70s. i'm sure there is a story behind them...

from the city website:

"Brenner Park is located at 235 Barthe Drive on the corner of Mountain Street and Barthe Drive. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 1.7 acres. A neighborhood park, which contains one softball diamond for day use with bleacher seating for 72 spectators; one lighted tennis court; and one lighted basketball court; a small open play area; a tot lot; picnic tables, some with canopies; restrooms; and drinking fountains."




previous pasadena parks...

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park
4. grant park
5. victory park
6. jefferson park
7. allendale park
8. san rafael park
9. robinson park


UPDATE!!!

i am so happy to announce the birth of our incredibly beautiful daughter! we will always remember april 20th. mom and baby are both healthy and well. i'm sure in the days ahead, we will have more photos of our pride and joy to share with you.

robinson park

as a baseball fan, i love how much of the public space in pasadena is named after jackie robinson and his brother mack. robinson park is one of those wonderful nods to pasadena's amazing athletic sons.

this park was the beneficiary of a recent renovation and now boasts of a beautiful athletic field. our public information officer has a lovely write-up on her blog.

from the city website:

"Robinson Park is located at 1081 North Fair Oaks Avenue. Hours of operation are: Monday thru Thursday from 9:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m. Friday from 9:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. Saturday from 9:30 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. The center is closed on Sundays. This community center facility offers the public a variety of recreational activities and opportunities for all age groups. The center's building facilities include: one large gymnasium; social recreational room; lounge; arcade area; meeting room; kitchen; music room; restrooms; drinking fountains; and swimming pool (summer operation only)."



previous pasadena parks...

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park
4. grant park
5. victory park
6. jefferson park
7. allendale park
8. san rafael park

san rafael park

this park is so far west, it's almost in eagle rock. a small playground, and a giant grassy field that would be perfect for a game of ultimate frisbee. oh yeah, and it also has a lovely mosaic park sign.

from the city website:

"San Rafael Park is located at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Melrose Avenue. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 0.90 acres. Small neighborhood park with facilities consisting of benches; grass area; playground equipment; picnic facilities; and drinking fountain."




previous pasadena parks...

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park
4. grant park
5. victory park
6. jefferson park
7. allendale park

allendale park

another installment of pasadena's illustrious parks. this one is located right next to the allendale branch of the public library, as well as being located right across the road from blair high school. it gains big bonus points from me for including a baseball diamond, which of course i chose to feature in today's blog post.

from the city website:

"Allendale Park is located at 1130 South Marengo Avenue across from Blair High School and adjacent to Allendale Elementary. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 2.9 acres. Major park attractions include: one softball diamond with lights and bleachers (300 capacities); one lighted multi-purpose field suitable for youth soccer; and one tennis court with lights. Additional facilities include: 5 picnic tables; benches; parking lot; open grass area with trees; outfield use for soccer; playground equipment; restrooms; drinking fountains; and branch library."



previous pasadena parks...

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park
4. grant park
5. victory park
6. jefferson park

jefferson park

day six of the pasadena park marathon. i hope you're hanging with me! jefferson park is a pretty little park located right across the street from jefferson elementary school.

from the city website:

"Jefferson Park is located at 1501 East Villa Street. Park Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 4.4 acres with existing facilities that include one lighted softball diamond with bleacher capacity for 150 people; small open field for soccer, flag football, or overlay softball; lighted basketball court; play areas; picnic tables; benches; drinking fountains; and a water park."



previous pasadena parks...

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park
4. grant park
5. victory park

skywatch friday at victory park

today the pasadena park series coincides with skywatch friday. so you get a little taste of the pasadena sky, as well as a new mosaic park sign! victory park is right next to pasadena high school, and also where the saturday farmers market is located. it is also located right across the street from our fantastic church.

from the city website:

"Victory Park is located at 2575 Paloma Street. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 24.6 acres. Park area includes; a large children’s play area; three softball diamonds with bleachers and lights; one baseball diamond with lights; one multi-purpose lit field suitable for soccer or flag football; sand volleyball court; large parking lot; picnic areas; restrooms; and drinking fountains."

more skywatch friday can be found right here.



previous pasadena parks...

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park
4. grant park

grant park

the fourth installment of the pasadena park series. featuring of course, another new park, and another new mosaic tile sign! grant park was a park that i had never visited before taking on this project. meredith and i really liked the look of the giant red spiderweb thing.

from the city website:

"Grant Park is located at 232 South Michigan Avenue. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 2.5 acres. This neighborhood park is ideally situated for use by downtown residents. Park facilities include two lighted tennis courts; half-basketball courts; softball diamond; three horseshoe pits; open grass area with several trees; restrooms; drinking fountains; picnic tables with canopies; barbecue pits; and a large playground area for children."



previous pasadena parks...

1. brookside park
2. singer park
3. central park

central park

day three of the tour of pasadena's parks. central park is (of course) centrally located in old town pasadena. right next door to the castle green.

from the city website:

"Central Park is located at 275 South Raymond Avenue. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 9.2 acres. This near downtown facility includes six horseshoe pits; picnic tables; rose garden; children’s playground area; benches; restrooms and drinking fountains. In addition, there are two lawn bowling greens and a clubhouse under the auspices of the Pasadena Lawn Bowling Club, an affiliate of the American Lawn Bowling Association."




pasadena parks so far...

1. brookside park
2. singer park

singer park

day two of our tour of pasadena's city parks. a new day, a new park, and new mosaic tile signs. are we having fun yet? only 18 more to go!

from the city website:

"Singer Park is located at the corner of California Boulevard and St. John Avenue. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 2.9 acres. Small neighborhood park with open grass area containing many well-established trees and rose beds. Other facilities include: children’s play area; picnic tables; benches; restrooms and drinking fountain."




previous parks...

1. brookside park

the park that launched 1000 posts

several days ago i wrote this post in which i joked about taking a picture of all of pasadena's mosaic park signs. apparently quite a few years ago, the city decided it would be a great idea to get groups to help paint tiles to form a double-sided mosaic art piece for each of the city parks.

as it turns out, several of my loyal readers were very supportive of this crazy idea. so i set out to photograph.

i discovered that there are 20 of these mosaic park signs around town - each one completely unique, acting as public art, and a monument to each city park. and so, what follows on this blog is 20 days of photographs from these 20 parks - featuring of course, their beautiful mosaic signs - front and back.

this will either be the greatest idea, or one of the most boring. i'll let you be the judge. sit back and enjoy!

kicking things off is the park that got this whole thing going. from the city website:

"Brookside park is located at 360 North Arroyo Boulevard. Hours of operation are from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The size of the park is 61.1 acres. Pasadena’s largest fully maintained park facility located just south of the Rose Bowl Stadium. Extensive parking facilities are available off Arroyo Boulevard. The north section of the park contains one lighted regulation baseball diamond with seating for 4,200 and restrooms. The central section includes two lighted softball diamonds each with 240 seating capacity; a large, lighted multi-purpose field for flag football and soccer; a speaker’s platform with permanent seating; numerous picnic tables; play area; restrooms; and drinking fountains. Barbecue pits are available in most picnic areas."

la pintoresca branch library

pasadena's public library is a beautiful building, but the library system doesn't stop there. this branch is one of just nine locations in pasadena! pretty incredible.

revisiting the castle green

one of old town pasadena's marquee buildings, the castle green has a storied history - and has taken up quite a few photos here at the sky is big in pasadena.

skywatching at j.p.l. and hahamongna

i've been discovering more and more about our local area parks because of a top secret project i'm working on (for a hint, check out the comments on this post). today's photo is of hahamongna park with nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in the background.

for more on the fate of this lovely space, check out petrea's perspective at pasadena daily photo.

more bloggers doing the skywatch friday thing can be found right here.

l.a.'s china town dragons

i've often seen these golden dragons protecting the entrance to los angeles' china town, but i had never seen them breathing smoke like this until the other day while on a bike ride.

what's the deal? have they always done this?

anticipation!

we are anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child. so many unknowns -

when will it arrive?
what is the gender?
who will it look like?
what are we going to name it?

so much to think about.

easter hunting

our church (pasadena mennonite) has a lovely tradition of having a potluck lunch on easter sunday. the afternoon always included an egg hunt for the kids - innevitably filled with too much candy and just as much cuteness.

play ball!

the dodgers play their first game of the 2010 season today against the lowly pittsburgh pirates. i took this picture at their last spring training game this weekend against the angels.

the grass is green, and it is time to play ball!

think blue

the major league baseball season kicks off today with a single game between the yankees and red sox.

tomorrow our beloved los angeles dodgers kick off the 2010 season as they look to defend their national league west title. lets go dodgers!

which barney's?

old town pasadena includes barney's ltd and barney's beanery. you would think that someone would have caved and changed their name to avoid confusion.

anyway, this is a photo of barney's ltd - home of a decent happy hour menu and massive (although somewhat unexciting) list of beer.

king ranch grocery store at dusk

hope you enjoy this one.

more skywatch friday can be found right here.

april theme day: red

it is the first of the month, but you're no fool - you knew that already. i thought this image from 2009's rose parade was perfect for today's city daily photo theme. of course i'm not alone in this quest for red. hundreds of other daily photo bloggers are working with today's theme.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants