This dad loves creating experiences and memories for his family. I also love to kick off or close…read moreout different seasons of the calendar. As summer comes to a close and the school year begins in just a few weeks, I wanted to find a fun, yet affordable, activity for my family. A last hurrah for summer, if you will. Pine Lake Water Park was the perfect little getaway. Located 2 hours from Indy, it was a nice little drive in the summer sun listening to Rilo Kiley (my daily album generator gave me a Public Enemy album, so I chose to listen to that later in my headphones! Lol). Directions were easy to follow and even though Pine Lake is located down a small road, it was easy to find. The thing I loved most about Pine Lake was the size. It is a nice, small to medium size area. It is easy to see almost the entire park from the beach area. I have an older teenager and two younger children. It was easy to watch my teen go off and do some activities while also being closer to my girls. The activities were fun and included multiple types of water slides, a zip line, a spring board and platform jumps, a water obstacle course for younger kids and a few unique apparatuses like a teeter totter that floated in the water. There was enough to do to keep my kids entertained for hours. They don't allow alcohol or outside food. But the parking is just outside the gate and you can leave and return easily with your wristband. They have several picnic tables around the parking area for public use. We packed a cooler and a bag for dry food and took a little lunch break in the shade. I will agree with another reviewer that mentioned how murky the water is. Due to a lot of people being in the water plus all of the movement, the water isn't clear, at all. That really only makes a slight safety concern. There are life guards everywhere, and I never felt that anything was unsafe. However, don't just leave it up to the staff for safety. I still watched my kids like a hawk. Just a little tip for the wary parent. Pine Lake was affordable, fun and a great daytrip adventure. My entire family had a wonderful time, and we plan to visit, again, next summer. I pray the sunshine warms your soul and clears your head and your heart.

All the fun of a waterpark, but on a lake! (Or man-made pond!) This is a super fun place to spend a…read morehot day. There is a huge body of water in which to swim, water slides, a water obstacle course, a diving area, and an area away from the lake with a splash pad for little kids. It's the kind of place you want to stay and play all day. That being said, this is a lake (man-made pond?) and not a pool. The ground is sandy and the water is murky and you cannot see a couple of feet below the surface. So if you have young children or children who are not confident swimmers, you should keep a constant watch on them at all times. There were a couple of times when my child, who is a confident swimmer, went underwater and just disappeared. You literally cannot see anything under the water. For a few heart-stopping seconds, I was wondering where he went and luckily he surfaced shortly after. But there are parts of the lake that are deep and two times I saw lifeguards race into the water to dive after people who went into the water and didn't come up as fast as they'd like. This happened in the diving area, which goes down very deep. So, just be aware. This isn't a hands-off place for parents by any means. My children really liked jumping off the deck into the lake, and also the water slides. My youngest enjoyed the splash pad, which has a bucket that fills up and dumps water on you every so often. One thing to note is that you're not supposed to bring coolers into the park. However, you can bring your own food (I guess as long as it's not in a cooler), or purchase food at the snack bar that opens around lunch time. If you want, though, you can leave and visit your vehicle and have lunch in the parking lot. I saw lots of people doing that, and there are a few picnic benches scattered about. Be sure to bring a blanket or something to sit on! There are lots of grassy areas where people sit and put their stuff. We also brought a beach umbrella, which was a good idea because the sun was beating down and there wasn't any shade!

This is a nice park. The playground is big, and there are a number of fun things to play on/with,…read moreincluding slides (multiple), bridges, a rock wall, tunnels and more. It's all very colorful and fun. There's also a splash pad with multiple water features, and it's located in a nice shady spot with benches all around. Shade! Around a splash pad! This seems to be a rare thing nowadays, but yes, there is shade here. As a parent, that's probably what I like this park: There is always somewhere shady to sit or stand. This park also had a gigantic roofed overhand area with benches for big parties. When we visited, there was a church party going on. There is also a little rain garden on the outer edge of the park, which was a welcome sight. I love when parks make the effort to incorporate native plants into their park spaces. It doesn't go unnoticed, and it's greatly appreciated! Potawatomi Park is directly outside of Potawatomi Zoo. The two share a parking lot, so it might be a drag to find parking on busy days.

Went to a picnic in this park. Big grounds and lots of room for multiple groups to have picnics…read more Also right next to the zoo in case you want another activity to do. Bathrooms are kind of far away depending on where you are at the park.