Get Out AZ

I've decided that I need to give this area a chance. We live so far from anything that besides swimming pools, which are only open from May to October, there's very little to do. So I decided that we would try new free things around the Phoenix area on our family date nights.

Our first family adventure was inspired by Keara who, after reading a book with a train in it one day, told me she really wanted to go on a train. So we planned an adventure to take the LightRail in Mesa. We took it to Tempe Town Lake, which we had never been to before. The train stop was about 2 city blocks from the park, but the walk was beautiful. Not to mention the weather was perfect.
This park has a splash pad that is free for anyone with water shooting up from the ground, these little whales to ride on that spray water from their mouths, and a playground with water all over the place so the slides are really water slides. Keara thought the whales were awesome.

Taryn was a little hesitant at first...

but then decided she loved it too! She's getting more and more daring and climbs up on everything herself. I like her riding style.

They LOVED the "train", as evidenced by their big smiles.

The next weekend, we decided to try "Second Friday" in Mesa on Main Street. It's a monthly event where local businesses will give away discounted product, bands will play, freebies will be given out, etc. It sounded like it could be fun.

We inadvertantly parked quite a bit away, but enjoyed seeing the statues along the way. I think it ended up being a big highlight of the night for Keara. As per my family's tradition, we posed with the statues.

Here's a preggo and dark hair shot for anyone who was wondering...Not like you can really see the belly...The best part of the night was going to the museum of contemporary art. There was a gala going on inside and yet they were letting anyone else in for free. I felt a little out of place with 2 toddlers, a stroller, and jeans, walking amidst all these museum connoisseurs who were all dressed nicely, but oh well. The coolest thing they had was this water feature that had a path down the center with blue glass beads under a glass panel, with light shining above it. Water filled that path and all sorts of people were walking on it. Probably not what it was intended for, but we decided to let the girls have fun too.

Otherwise, the event was REALLY lame. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and we won't be doing it again. Keara kept waiting for the fun part, but it never came. At least we tried!