12252 West St, Garden Grove, CA 92840
Hours: Opened everyday except closed on Tuesdays (9 AM-5 PM)
Restrooms? No
Playground Surface: Rubber
Parking Lot? Yes. Dedicated parking lot in front of playground. Shared with Fire Station
Gated/Fenced? No
Overview
Located in the city of Garden Grove, directly adjacent to Fire Station No. 6, Westhaven Park is rather small but packed with fun. The Firefighter theme fits this park perfectly. The park features a huge lawn area, but the main attraction for kids will assuredly be the fire truck and fire department play structures.
Kids can play inside the fire truck, while pretending to be firefighters or head over to the fire department structure and slide down the fireman’s pole. The park is best suited for toddlers but even kids a little bit older will enjoy it. Additionally, the park never seems to get too crowded and its always fun when the kids get to see the fire trucks coming and going.
Features
Playground with 2 separate play structures and includes a fire department and fire truck theme (located directly next to Fire Station No. 6).
Fire Truck Play Structure (For Kids 2-5 Years Old)
- Fire truck (Engine 3) with a slide coming out of the back and a spiral climbing ladder
- Steering wheel on the inside and a fire hose built into a small climbing wall to climb inside the fire truck
- Ambulance and police car spring jumpers and a red whirl and twirl spinner
Fire Department Play Structure (For Kids 5-12 Years Old)
- Fire Department play structure that reads “Garden Grove Fire Department” on it
- 2 slides including a spiral slide and a wave slide
- 2 huge American flag poles (with flags) built as part of the play structure
- Fireman face cut out for kids to stick there heads in and pretend to be a firefighter (cute for pictures)
- A Fireman’s pole and loop ladder climber
Other Amenities
- Good size lawn area adjacent to the playground
- Fire department directly across from the playground
Scout’s Story
Today would be another day of my wife and I attempting to get our daughter, Scout, outside to play while limiting her contact with others. As I have written about so many times now, Scout has been battling stage 4 cancer (germ cell neoplasm) for nearly 4 months now.
We are currently at a stand still in her treatment as we await P.E.T scans on her tumors to determine our next steps in her treatment. The difficult part has been getting the scans completed, as we are having to go to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles and the waiting period was originally 6 weeks. On our first attempt to get the scans, Scout’s blood sugar was too low (most likely from fasting) so they couldn’t do the scans and we had to reschedule and wait another 5 weeks to get in. That is currently where we are in this process and we are very anxious to just move forward in this battle.
As our lives are currently centered around Scout’s battle and ridding her of these cancerous tumors, normal daily activities have become a bit of foreign activity to us. Luckily Scout was now more than a month removed from her last chemo treatment and her blood counts and levels were steady enough that we felt comfortable taking her outside. On this day, we would be meeting up with Scout’s Grandma and Grandpa, who would be visiting from Arizona. On our drive to meet them we elected to stop at a few parks and let Scout play, as if she were a normal, healthy kid.
December 7, 2022
Scout’s Day at the Park
We had so much fun visiting Westhaven Park on this day. One of the really neat things about this park is that the fire station is directly adjacent to the playground. As the fire truck rolled in (Scout loves fire trucks), the firefighters waved and said hello to Scout. Their kindness is never surprising. As we watched as Scout played, I couldn’t help but realize how perfect this park was for her. At 19 months old, everything around this playground was navigable and manageable by her. Scout ran from the front of the fire truck to the back of the fire truck, time and time again. Instead of sliding down the slide, Scout elected to repeatedly climb up it. Which she managed to do very well.
Next, were the spring jumpers, which Scout loved and then came the red whirl and twirl spinner. This may have been her favorite piece of equipment on the playground. I was shocked by how well it spun and Scout ended up super dizzy but still with a smile on her face. I tried it out as well and regretted it when I was unable to get it to stop spinning so that I could get out. Of course my wife was unable to help me because she was laughing uncontrollably. After taking pictures of Scout in the fireman cutout, Scout sat down and finished our visit off doing one of her favorite things. Picking up and playing with rocks.
We had such an amazing time here and the constant smiles on Scout’s face brought such joy to our hearts. These moments never pass without me understanding how important they are and how lucky I am to be able to experience them. No day or moment, will I ever take for granted.
December 7, 2022
