Whitney Hernandez, 9, waits for water to fill up her little sister's bottle. Whitney helped her little sister who was afraid of splash pad to get used to it by slowing approaching the water area, holding her sister's hands. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org
Children hang out in the splash pad in Dover Beach in New Haven. The temperature went up to 95 degrees on Thursday. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org

As the hot weather persisted across Connecticut this week, people took advantage of city parks and splash pads. The city of New Haven features a number of the water parks.

The brutal weather is expected to break by Sunday, and next week should be more seasonable.

Evelyn Ojedas, 6, of East Haven, pours water on her father, Alain Ojedas, who waited for her while she enjoyed the splash pad. She continued to fill up the water bottle from the splash pad and run to her father to pour it. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org
Rainbows form around the splash pad near the Quinnipiac River in New Haven. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org
Whitney Hernandez, 9, of New Haven enters the splash pad. Her family recently moved to a new house and has been enjoying the neighborhood parks. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org
Whitney Hernandez, 9, waits for water to fill up her little sister’s bottle. Whitney helped her little sister, who was initially afraid of the splash pad, by taking her by the hand and slowing approaching the water area. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org
Whitney Hernandez, 9, waits for water to fill up her little sister’s bottle. Whitney helped her little sister, who was initially afraid of the splash pad, by taking her by the hand and slowing approaching the water area. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org
Dianelyes Tena, 9, enjoys the water splash in the hot afternoon. Tena said she loves hot weather because she can spend a lot of time outdoors. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org
Kendall Walker, 7, of New Haven, left, enjoys the water. Yehyun Kim / ctmirror.org

Yehyun joined CT Mirror in June 2020 as a photojournalist and a Report For America Corps Member. Her role at CT Mirror is to tell visual stories about the impact of public policy on individuals and communities in Connecticut. Prior to joining CT Mirror, Yehyun photographed community news in Victoria, Texas and was a photo and video intern at USA TODAY and at Acadia National Park in Maine. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Yehyun was born and raised in South Korea.