Not having any fun at the park!

Maybe you can troubleshoot me here. Whenever I take my 4 to the park (15 mos, 18 mos, 3, 5) it's chaos! Our park is very large and has a big park area for big kids, a little park, a swingset and a splash pad. My toddlers are still learning about boundaries so I feel like I am constantly picking them up and putting them back in the baby area. then when they are in the baby area they are always making a break for the stairs which I can't let them on alone. Then I have my kids playing with our toys and other kids come up to share (fine) but their parents aren't watching and inevitable the kids are mistreating my toys or taking toys my kids are playing with and then everyone is fighting over toys. And then everyone starts whining for me to push them on the swings but there just aren't enough swings for everyone. ahhhhh
When we get home I'm just exhausted. I love the park with my own 3 kids but add one more and it's nutso! what's up with that? maybe you have some ideas for me to make it less crazy?

When I had mixed ages we split our time between the baby area and the big kid area. In the baby area the big kids had brought things to do or helped the little ones. In the big kid area the babies played in the sand near the structure while the big kids played on the structure. Swings were off limits because I was not able to leave the babies. They became a treat for my own kids when we went to the park evenings and weekends. Limit what toys you take from home to the park and make more use of the park facilities if you can.

Also set a rule that no child can move more than 5 feet from you without permission. Pair up an older child and a younger child and their job is to follow the child around in the kiddie park and then after awhile they get to go to the big park while you watch the babies near by.

If the kids are not able to do the item on their own they don't get to do it. I don't lift, catch, hold the big kids at all. They are responsible for their own comfort zone on the climbers.

Try going to the park at a different time when it might be less busy or be a different group of kids.

It sounds like maybe your park is more spread out than the ones I go to. My most frequented park has one climbing structure and it is suitable for all of the kids as long as they are steady on their feet and ready for climbing (usually around 16-18 months). I bring a ton of sand toys (lots of multiples of the same thing) and rarely have issues with fighting even when other kids come to share...at least nothing that can't be worked out fairly easily. I go with 7 kids when my own two are there and there are four swings, so we take turns. From the swings, as long as I stand behind them and push from there, I can see the others playing and if I need to dash over to the structure to help someone, the others are safely containedin the swings. For a park that is more spread out, I would keep them all together and do as Playfelt suggested...move from one area to another all together. I do have one park that has teeter totters which are quite far from the structures, so we all go there first and take turns on them and then we head all together to the play structure area.