The old homestead is looking very different these days.

In 1999, Dad donated the five acres where my four siblings and I grew up to the City of Burien.

The last time I had been up to Mathison Park was last summer at the family reunion.

At that time, there was a playground by the street and some rudimentary trails.

But over the winter, Burien Parks completed Phase II of the improvements.

Added features include a toddler playground, a meandering paved path and a steep hiking trail.

As I drove up to the north end of the park, the first thing I noticed was you can practically see clear through the whole five acres.

Thanks partly to the munching goats brought in last year much of the old stickers and ferns (now known as invasive plant species) in the lower 4 (acres) are gone.

And in place of the straight steep dirt path we used to trudge up after school as we made the final push home from Sunnydale, Sylvester or Highline is a winding paved road wide enough for emergency and maintenance vehicles.

Just like Dottie Harper Park down the street, this Western Washington dense underbrush forest now looks like an Eastern Washington clear forest.

We've lost our cozy cluttered private playground from childhood, but as adults we are so thrilled that Burien kids and families can enjoy this forested respite from an urban environment, just like we did.

I think my brothers and sister would agree that this is the best outcome we could have hoped for. I suppose it doesn't fit the traditional economic development definition, but we think this is the highest and best use of the property.

And I couldn't help but notice that the tree trimming around the viewpoints has been done with sensitivity.

It reminds me of when my engineer dad would try to convince my mom to let him cut down several trees to allow an unobstructed view of Mt. Rainier from our living room.

"But, Ted, the trees are the view," she would exclaim in exasperation.

Who'd have thought when Dad signed away the place with "trepidation" that the city staffers would be environmentalists, too?

The paved path not only offers great views of the mountain when it is out, but also probably the closest public overview of the airport.

It seems to me after all these years exposed to an urban environment, some of the still standing old trees are looking a little peaked.

The trees have not moved closer to the airport but I am afraid the airport with its pollution has moved closer to the trees.

Continuing down the gently descending path brings you quickly to the southern meadow of the Peters park addition.

The Carver sisters donated the lower acre in memory of their grandfather, Herman Nikolas Peters. I thought my parents were pioneers when they moved here in 1944. But Peters homesteaded the area in 1899. A monument in the meadow lists his many contributions to Highline.

Coming back up the hill, taking the soft trail on the left will get your heart pumping as you hike through the west part of the park past the isolated house where the killer geese used to hurl themselves against the fence trying to get at passing terrified kids.

If you stray off the path, you can catch a peak view of Puget Sound and downtown Burien.

This is the back way I took with flashlight in hand to attend Boy Scout meetings.

I would jump over the troop leader's back fence and land on the other side in his compost pile. I wonder why he wasn't happier to welcome me into his living room?

I've got to admit things have changed so much in this section that I can't identify where the big kids built their camp with the underground tunnel made of plywood covered with dirt. Funny, Child Protective Services never visited my parents over that.

As you emerge back into the cleared area, you come across the new preschool playground. It's on the site of the old lumpy softball/football/badminton field.

Many a day, I would circle that field around and around behind a mower. My older brother claimed he had grass allergies so I was struck doing it. But hey, it was two bucks for only an hour and half's work.

It's kind of strange to glance over and see the old house fenced off. While building the house, Dad would come home from Boeing and place 10-12 blocks pumice blocks for the walls each night.

The city of Burien is holding a Phase II grand opening and Arbor Day celebration at the park located at 533 S. 146th Street on the morning of April 13. Some of the family members will help plant a tree.

Burien celebrating Arbor Day at our place? Our mom-- the original tree-hugger-- would be so happy.