Holiday Lights At McCormick Railroad Park

I wasn't sure what to expect when we went to Holiday Lights at McCormick Railroad Park, except that the parking lot wasn't very big so I wanted to be there early!  Our decision to go was somewhat last minute, as I tried to decide between that and something at Desert Ridge.  I have to say, though, that this will be a tradition my family continues every Christmas.  It was that fun.

We showed up, got a great parking spot, went to buy or train tickets, and having overheard someone say to someone else that they should get in line right then for the train rides beginning at 6PM, we followed suit.

We got in line pretty early, but we still had to wait for the fourth train before we boarded.  I turned around to look at the line behind us...

So, we boarded the train and we were off.  The ride lasts about 20 minutes.  The first 5-7 minutes go through the main part of the park, which, by the way, is a super fun place for kids of all ages to play.  The last 2/3 of the ride is where all of the light displays are.  All I can say is wow.  Whomever put that together did a really good job.  My kids were absolutely delighted!

They even had fake snow coming down off the end of one of the tunnels.  Words are simply inadequate to express how happy that made my kids!  (Those small white dots right by my daughter's hands are the snowflakes).

After we got off the train, we went to the museum train to visit Santa.  There was about a 30 minute wait and it did get hot in the train with so many people.

Following our visit with Santa, we let my littlest do some meet-and-greets with the costumed characters the park had walking amongst the crowd, take some photos in the cut-outs, and enjoy a carousel ride.

We concluded our visit in the model train museum.  My eldest would've happily stayed in there for hours if I'd let him.  He was completely captivated by all of the details in the model trains.  One of the big tracks was under construction.  One of the guys, who was working on what would eventually be a mountain, said that he was there 5-6 days a week and they expected that track and scenery to be done in about two years.

This truly was a wonderful family evening.  Next year, we will go on a day that my husband has off so we can enjoy it as a whole family.  On our way out, we looked and noticed that the line for the train had stretched all the way to the parking lot...

Adobe Mountain Railroad Park

We visited the Adobe Mountain Railroad Park last year and had so much fun that I scheduled a repeat field trip this year.  I simply cannot say enough good things about the park and the volunteers who staff it.

We started the field trip in the Park's Members' building, where one of the volunteers talked to the kids about the Park, the trains, real trains, and train safety.

After our presentation, we headed to the trains...

Even the little kids LOVED the trains!

The Railroad Park has over 16 miles of tracks.  We went out for a ride, going roughly 5 miles per hour.  We stopped and disembarked at the Museum.

After we looked through all of the train memorabilia, the huge electric trains and other items in the museum, we boarded the trains again.  The volunteers gave us two rides!

After the rides were over, the kids got to enjoy a play train, which was the Eagle project of homeschooled teenager Alex Bivens.

This field trip is so much fun.  The Railroad Park is open for public rides, complete with Christmas lights and hot cocoa, several days in December.  According the the volunteers, those evenings are very popular!

Poinsettia Festival at Gardener's World

It's the time of year, for those of us who do a photo card for our Christmas cards, to get that photograph taken.  When I heard about the Poinsettia Festival at Gardener's World, I thought that would be the perfect place!  So, we went with a friend and her daughter, who were thinking the same thing...although I believe she's going to use a beautiful photo she took of her daughter in a tree there, rather than one with the poinsettas....ANYWAY...

In the parking lot are the usual festival things - a few booths with wares for sale and some fair style food.  This is what we saw when we walked into the poinsettia retail tent...

I thought the retail tent was where the nicest photo opps were, unless you wanted to pony up for a professional photo out in the greenhouse.

We took a free tractor ride out to the greenhouse...

This is not even half of the greenhouse....

The amateur photo staging area in the greenhouse wasn't anywhere near as nice as the professional one, but the price was certainly right in amateur zone....

I did end up getting a photo of my three children for our Christmas cards that I was happy with.  For that alone, the trip was worth it.  We were only there for about an hour.  I don't know if they do more on Saturdays and Sundays (we went on a Friday).  It seems to me that they could've done a lot more to make it a real educational and entertaining festival...

The Mill At Crown King

Last weekend, we went with Boy Scout Troop 461 to the outskirts of Crown King so that the boys could do some mistletoe picking.  Outskirts actually makes it sound bigger than it really is.  We're talking well (26 miles!) off the beaten path nearest paved road here.  Once we turned off the I-17, I found out why Mapquest says it takes 90 minutes to get there!

After the mistletoe picking, apparently the tradition has been to head over to The Mill in Crown King.  It is aptly named...

Yup, that's in the dining room!  The restaurant has taken over the old mill.  It isn't much to look at from the outside...

...but it sure is beautiful to look out from....

My kids, being from Washington and loving the woods, absolutely love it out there.  The smells, the sights, the wildlife....but anyway, back to The Mill.  It's Troop tradition to eat there after mistletoe picking.  I'm a huge fan of finding obscure "mom and pop" restaurants wherever I go and trying them. 

My verdict?  It's fun for the tradition.  Would I make the drive out there just to eat there again?  No.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Ohmygosh, need I say more?  Let's just put it this way, the only thing I didn't like about the Boyce Thompson Arboretum was the drive out there.  From Peoria, it was 79 miles or something like that.  Nonetheless, it's been on my list of places to go for a few years and now that my littlest doesn't scream for the entire duration of every single car ride she goes on, I was ready for the trip.

The view when we got there....

Just inside the Arboretum, heading down the Main Trail...

First stop was a sign that gives visitors more information about getting the most out of their time at the Arboretum...

Different parts of the Arboretum...

My oldest daughter has always had an appreciation for beauty...

My son's favorite exhibit talked about cacti.  I think I agree with him.  I learned a lot at this stop.  I really want to try the fruit of the prickly pear cactus.

Fall colors are not something we see much of here in the Valley.  So, while we were east, the kids played in all of the fallen leaves.

Jarrod and Jilly played Hide & Seek in the bigger palms...

We finished up our day in the Children's Garden.  VERY creative.  It was a big hit with all three of my kids.

There are different stations in the Children's Garden.  The first is the Sounds of the Garden.  There was a giant wooden toad and the kids rub its back.  It makes croaking sounds.  There is a rain-maker, which was neat.  There were wooden windchimes.

The next station is all about Smells of the Garden.  If you look, you can even see the SKUNK in the picture about that station!

That skunk was there for a reason!

The next station was a maze.  My kids went tearing in, quickly losing themselves amongst the vegetation.  I scrept up on them and went "BOO!"  Leave it to my son to say, "Mom's the Minotaur!"  They all thought that was hilarious.  They would've happily spent another 15-20 minutes playing in the maze.

The next station has a sundial clock.  It was surprisingly accurate...

The Arboretum was a big hit with my nature lovers.  My son wants a garden just like it.  Keep dreaming, kid.

My family has a membership to the Desert Botanical Gardens here in town, so I really wasn't sure whether the trip out to the Arboretum in Superior was going to end up being worth it or not.  On one hand, a plant is a plant and desert vegetation isn't always spectacular.  On the other, the serenity of gardens is alluring.  Bottom line, while I wouldn't make the drive out to Superior on a regular basis, I will go back.  In March, actually.  For one of their Homeschool Days.