Phoenix Light Rail and Museum of Natural History

My youngest daughter has this thing about buses.  She loves them.  She always wants to "take the bus".  So, when we decided to head to the Museum of Natural History with a group of friends, we opted to take the light rail from the park and ride near Bethany Home all the way to the museum in Mesa.  One toddler didn't share my Jillian's love of buses, but all of the other kids loved the light rail.  I loved not having to drive the 50 minutes out to Mesa and back.

 This gigantic dinosaur greeted us when we entered the museum.

There's a place to build puzzles....

You can watch a giant storm sweep through a created landscape at regular intervals.  The kids loved that.

There are tunnels and an indoor jail to explore.  My kids could have spent hours playing here.

The outdoor area where kids can pan for gold was also quite popular.  It was another place that my kids could have happily spent well over an hour playing.

Back inside, the kids found this "green screen".  They could act as silly as they wanted to against a green backdrop and it would show up on a black and white screen for their friends' amusement.  I'd have to say that this was the hit of the museum for my crew.

All in all, the kids (spanning in age from 14 all the way down to 1) had a terrific time at this museum.  I would highly recommend it for a fun outing.

Hassayampa River Preserve

We have been to the Hassayampa River Preserve in Wickenburg twice in the last two years with friends.  We typically go in the spring, while it's warm but not yet hot.  All of the trees there provide nice shade.

You enter the visitor's center to pay your admission.  The visitor's center has lots of stuff to look at, including some very nice displays about the history of and the wildlife in the preserve.  The staff does provide a fun scavenger hunt for the kids to do while they're on the trails, if you want to partake in that.  After that, you hit the trails.  As you can see, there's a big map of the trail system, complete with photos.

Most of them are flat, easy to navigate with little kids - although it's nice to have big brothers who are willing to carry little sisters when they get tired!

The kids never got tired of looking at bugs, sticks, rocks...all the usual fun things nature has to offer.

There was one steep trail, that leads to a breathtaking view of the preserve and surrounding Wickenburg.

Both of the 4-year-olds with us that day made it up and down, with varying levels of assistance.  It is a little more treacherous of a trail than the others.  I have slipped on gravel both times I've hiked it.  Meanwhile, the kids beat me to the bottom.

The last place we go to is the pond.  It's a favorite.

It was a favorite the year before, too....

We highly recommend the Hassaympa River Preserve as a field trip for families or groups of friends.

Granite Dells

On Sunday, we packed up a picnic lunch and lots of water, loaded the kids into the van, and headed up to Granite Dells for lunch and a hike on the Peavine Trail.  We parked at the Preserve.  It was a reasonable $2 fee.  There were covered picnic tables and decent bathrooms right off the parking lot.  After lunch, we set out on the Peavine Trail, which winds along one side of Watson Lake.

A wrap is an invaluable piece of baby equipment when you're a mommy and you're doing lots of walking.

 Soon, we came upon our first glimpse of Watson Lake.  Unfortunately, there is no swimming allowed in the lake.

 Rounding the corner, we were able to see the distinctive Granite Dells.

 It was hot.  We walked about 2 1/2 miles up the trail before we turned back around and headed back to the van.  The trail was flat, easy walking.  Our youngest probably managed about 2 miles on her own before she needed to be carried.

Before we left the Prescott area, we checked out Watson Lake Park.  There was a nice playground there, and more of the Granite Dells that looked like a fabulous place for imaginative play and climbing that would entertain the troops for several hours.

Clint and I are planning to visit again without our kids - in the early fall hopefully.  We'd like it to be just a little cooler.  We'd like to hike the entire Peavine Trail, and perhaps rent a kayak right at the lake and explore the lake that way too.

Cabela's

I'm not sure if it's just my kids who get giddy at the prospect of going to Cabela's in Glendale, but I had to share it here simply because:

1. they are ALWAYS thrilled to go (especially when their daddy takes them).

2.  like my 4-year-old was saying in the video above, they have sno-cones...and what can beat that?  The sno-cones at Cabela's are a special "daddy" treat; I don't buy them when I go.  So....our kids always prefer to go with my husband.

3.  it's indoors, and you can go without spending any money.  It's a nice, local, "beat the heat" field trip.  Folks in Arizona can appreciate those.

4.  besides the items Cabela's has for sale, there are lots of things to look at.  My littlest used to call it the "dead animal store".

Those are two of the big displays in the store.  There are heads decorating the walls all around the store.  They even have a small wildlife education museum.

And, going back to the video at the beginning, they have the "talking deer".  It does!  It talks to you.

5.  there are actually things you can do there (besides shop).  They have a very small indoor archery range, a laser target shooting game, and even a cafe (which is not pictured).  Kids can have birthday parties there (my oldest daughter actually had her 10th birthday party there) and enjoy a scavenger hunt.

Power Hour at Oasis Gymnastics

Living Social recently had a fabulous deal on passes for open gym at Oasis Gymnastics.  Several friends and I each bought some passes, and today we brought our kids.  Undoubtedly because school is out, it was a lot more crowded than it normally is during the school year but that didn't stop our kids from going wild and having a ton of fun in the gym.

It was the perfect way for kids in Arizona to blow off some steam indoors during the summer heat.

Regular price (without the deal from Living Social) is only $5 per child, so it's a great deal.  Power Hour is Monday - Friday from 10-11AM.  My kids' only complaint?  It was only an hour!

Visiting the Antique Shops in Historic Glendale, AZ

We had some time to kill before the watermelon eating contest at the Watermelon Festival, so my kids, my oldest daughter's two friends, and I decided to explore the historic district of Glendale.  One thing that historic Glendale is not short on: antique shops.  On a whim, we decided to poke our heads into one and look around.  I really wasn't expecting a 14-year-old, a 12-year-old, an 11-year-old, a 10-year-old, and a 4-year-old to enjoy "antiquing"....boy, was a surprised.  I could hardly get them out of the shops!

My son (the 14-year-old) is a huge history buff and loves anything to do with the military, so he was captivated by all of the military and World War Two-era memorabilia.  He was also enchanted by the old-fashioned models of planes and submarines to build.  I just may have to do back when it gets closer to his birthday, because in his words, "you can find cool stuff like this in (insert name of hobby or craft store here)."

On the other end was my 4-year-old, who fell immediately into creative play when she found the antique displays that had a child-sized table alongside some funky kitchen cabinet thing, the old-fashioned crank-and-turn laundry machine and old school ironing board, and the fancy dishes.  Quite simply, she did not want to leave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YINOtdDHa-o

All of them had fun exploring every nook and cranny.  It was a lot of fun in an unexpected place.  Definitely go spend some time poking around in the quaint stores of historic Glendale.

Glendale, AZ Watermelon Festival

I took my kids and two of my oldest daughter's friends to the Watermelon Festival in historic Glendale this weekend.  The farmer's market area was nearly microscopic.  There was a small corner of inflatables, which all cost extra money.  There were some artists displaying wares.  And...there were the watermelon games.  $1 per game or all seven games for $5.  The hands-free watermelon eating contest was definitely the highlight, and made the trip there worthwhile....

One of the antique shops also had a fun, free, watermelon-themed craft for the kids to do...