Day 40 - Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center

Going to the pool was much easier today with my husband with us.  And also because their were about half as many people there as last time I visited.

Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center is great. You can read my review about it here.

Day 39 - Birthday Partying at Chuck E Cheese's

Happy Birthday, Kid Four! My little blue-eyed thumb sucking boy is three-years-old today. For his party he wanted to play with his cousin who lives three hours away. We'll do that this weekend. Today he had to settle for his second choice, going to the new Chuck E Cheese.

This Chuck E Cheese recently opened in Chandler, AZ. You can read my review of it here.

To have a reserved party at Chuck E Cheese cost $10.99 per child. Each kid gets 40 tokens, 2 slices of pizza, a drink and the birthday kid gets extra goodies and 60 tokens. My kids don't need all that. Did you know you can have a walk-in party at Chuck E Cheese?

How to have a cheap party at Chuck E Cheese

Chuck E Cheese allows you to bring in your own cake for parties. They will even put your cake in the fridge or freezer if you need it. We forgot a lighter for our birthday candles and they had no problem bringing out a lighter for us. Then you just need to get cheap tokens using my tips here. Bring your own balloons and find a good table that isn't reserved and you're all set. Come at a time between lunch and dinner so you don't have to buy food. It is also a little slower at these times. Three-year-olds don't know about the Ticket Blaster or the other random party extras you pay for with a reserved party. Kid Four had a great time playing with his cousins, blowing out his candles, and opening presents.

Day 38 - Fun & Games with the Family

Lots of family time on Sunday. Extra fun this week with an extra aunt and some cousins in town.

The kids have been really into making movies lately. Kid One made a funny movie today called "what to do if" and Kid Two directed a movie based on the shirt he was wearing called "A Dog Ate My Homework." It's fun to watch them come up with ideas and get the younger siblings to participate. 

Games with the whole family can be a challenge. When the little ones are tired, we put them to bed a little early and play games with the 5 and up crowd. They enjoy Cranium and Sorry the most. Today we played Book of Mormon Pictionary. 

For more Sunday ideas check out this post.

Day 37 - Phoenix Art Museum: PhxArtKids Day

 I've never been super into art museums and although the kids love making art, I couldn't see them really getting into walking around looking at paintings. Today the Phoenix Art Museum was having a special PhxArtKids Day. If ever I was going to try an art museum with the kids, I supposed today was the day to do it.

All the kids loved the projects and performances offered for the kids day. The contemporary gallery and kids gallery were also really interesting for me and the kids. Kids One and Two were really well behaved. Kids Three and Four wouldn't stop touching things and running around. It was pretty stressful, especially since a security guard talked to me twice about it. You can read by Phoenix Art Museum review here.

I didn't know how long we were going to last, so of course I didn't want to pay the full $12 for me and $6 for the older 2 kids. Yesterday while we were at the library I picked up a Culture Pass. I talked about them a little in this post. They are pretty awesome. Basically, you "check out" 2 free admissions to museums in the area. The Phoenix Art Museum passes are almost always available. Kids 5 and under are free at the art museum, so I should have only had to pay one child's admission, but the staff member told me not to worry about it and let us all in for free. Awesome.

If you don't care about waiting for a kids day and can't get a culture pass (or have to many people) Phoenix Art Museum offers free admission the first Friday of every month after 6 pm and every Wednesday for 3-9pm.

Day 36 - Relaxing at Home

Waaah? At home? Ok, well, we did drive home from Las Vegas today. And this afternoon we did go to the library to cash in our reading minutes we earned while listening to Percy Jackson books in the car. But the most exciting event if the day was getting back home after 3 weeks.

The boys were excited to get back to their video games. Kid Five loved crawling all over and playing with her toys. Kid One just wanted to play with her friends. Vacations are fun but coming home is the best.

Day 35 - Wilbur D. May Museum

We only had half a day to play before we needed to start toward home today. Kid One remembered liking the Wilbur D. May Museum and requested that's what we do this morning.

This museum is a collection of artifacts from a local Rancher who traveled the world. The coolest part of this place is the huge variety of taxidermied animals. Back in the 1920's, large game hunting was considered a gentleman's sport. May went on safari to Africa and shot a lot of different creatures. Apparently, the locals liked these hunts because they were paid to be guides and the villages also got to keep the meat from the animals. May kept the heads, pelts, and horns and had some neat things made. There were elephant feet trash cans, a card table and chairs made out of antelope horns with lion law ash trays attached at each seat, and lamps that were crafted from giraffe and zebra legs. You can read my full review here.

This was such a random little place to find and not mentioned on any of the major tourist sites. Some of the best attractions are not well publicized. For tips and tricks on finding unique places while on vacation, check out this post from earlier this summer.

Day 34 - Fun Times in Carson City, Nevada

We wanted to try someplace new today. Carson City, Nevada's state capital is only half an hour away from Reno, so we headed south for the day.

There is a children museum in in Carson City, and since they happened to have a 50% off coupon on the Entertainment Book app, we visited The Children's Museum of Northern Nevada. The museum is in the old Civic Auditorium. The building was constructed about 75 years ago and has been a children's museum for about 25 years. Knowing that was pretty cool. The museum itself was a little random, but the kids loved it. You can read my review here.

Since we were so close, I wanted to stop by the Capitol Building. We took our lunch to eat on the grounds. The grounds were very well kept and there was lots of shade. There were a couple other people around eating lunch too. The kids really wanted to check out inside but I was nervous about their craziness. I asked if they could be really quiet and stay right with me. Kid Four even demonstrated his quiet voice. We went inside and a nice gentleman told us to feel free to look around where we wanted. He informed us of a museum on the top floor so we checked that out, too. It was pretty fancy in there. I'm glad I took a chance on the kids. They were very well behaved.

Day 33 - Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Center & Lake Tahoe

We loved Lake Tahoe last time we were here, but we didn't have a full day to enjoy it today. While Daddy was at work we played at The Discovery.

This was our second time at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum. We love using our Arizona Science Center pass to get into all these fun places. This location only covers a family of 4 and charges for everyone over one-year, so we had to pay $10 for one kid. Much better than $50, though.

After Daddy got off work we headed over to Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe. The water was a lot lower than when we came last year. It was still lots of fun. The kids caught crawdads with some new friends almost he whole time we were there.

I always try to find the cheapest way to do everything on vacation. To see my money saving tips go here.

Day 32 - Kimmie Candy Factory Tour & Fleischmann Planetarium

My kids have been asking to go back to Kimmie Candy Factory since we were in Reno last year. Being in Reno this week, Candy Factory was #1 on our to-do list. It only takes about half an hour for the tour, so we added a trip to the planetarium.

I don't know what our kids like more, the behind the scenes look at a candy factory or the factory outlet where they got to choose an "oops" candy to buy. We found this fun candy factory last year while in Reno. I love factory tours so I specifically searched for candy factories near Reno and lucked out with Kimmie Candy. You can read by review about this tour here. To find your own tours, check out my post from earlier this summer.

The Fleischmann Planetarium is located at University of Nevada. They are part of the ASTC passport program that I've been using like crazy this summer. The theater is pretty small and so is the free museum, but there was a planetarium show we hadn't seen yet, and since we got free admission, we watched Attack of the Space Pirates. It had really good graphics and the older kids liked learning about stars.

Day 31 - Driving from Salt Lake City to Reno

Believe it or not, this was a pretty enjoyable 7 1/2 hour drive down I-80. We turned on The audiobook of Percy Jackson 3: Titan's Curse and listened to it almost the whole drive. We had a little over an hour left when the book finished and we turned on a movie.

When we get a long drive where the kids behave like they did today, I feel extremely lucky. Kids Two and Three played well together in the back row. Kid One took care of Kid Five when she needed anything. Kid Four slept a lot. We only needed to stop twice for bathrooms breaks. I like when we listen to books instead of watch movies because the kids get to see all the scenery around us. Today we saw the Great Salt Lake, lots of salt plains, mountains, trains, cows, and a few prisons. 

For some great road trip tips with kids, check out Trekaroo.com's Ultimate Road Trip Guide.

Day 30 - Utah Olympic Park

Last day in Utah and last day for using our Visit Salt Lake Connect Passes. Our main event for the day was Utah Olympic Park in Park City, followed by a late lunch at The Lion House Pantry at Temple Square. We also ended up squeezing in an evening Aerial Tram ride at Snowbird Resort.

Utah Olympic Park has some great ropes courses, zip lines, and slides for people who like high adventure. The Connect Pass let us choose either a guided tour or ropes course, and since only one our 5 children might possibly want to do a ropes course, we chose the tour. It was pretty cool. They took us to the top of the bobsled/louge run and explained all about how the course works. We also got to go to the top of the highest nordic ski jump in the world. Besides the great views, it was amazing to look down the ramp and imagine what those skiers do. There is a free Discovery Zone area where kids can try a mini rope course and rock climbing. Right next to it is a ropes course that children as young as 5-years are allowed to participate in. Adults were doing it as well. We thought about buying tickets for Kid One and Dad to try it out ($15 each) but we were only wearing flip flops and you have to have closed-toe shoes.
Discounts: If you and your kids want to zips, slide, and climb all day long, you can buy a groupon right now for an all-day pass. Look for a groupon discount code for an even better deal.

This was the first time I have ever been to Lion House Pantry when there was not a line out the door. I guess the trick is to go at 2 PM. We had our choice of seats and didn't feel pressured through the line. The food was great. The kids chicken fingers were huge. The Connect Pass paid for $10/adult and $5/kid. Adult meals are $8.99 and kids are $4.99 so it worked out great. The fridge is now loaded with the kids extra chicken fingers which they will get to eat for lunch tomorrow on our drive to Reno. Kid Three was a real trooper today. He was not feeling well but didn't complain about being dragged around. We could tell he was really tired so we didn't stay to explore temple square, but headed back to our hotel.

With Snowbird resort so close to our hotel, I really wanted to try the Aerial Tram (included on our Connect Pass). Kid One is just getting to where she can babysit for a short time. She said she'd rather stay behind with sick Kid Three anyway. Kid Two decided to stay behind as well, so Hubby, Kids Four & Five and I headed over to Snowbird. The tram and Hidden Peak at the top provided incredible views of Little Cottonwood Canyon and the ski runs around the resort. It was a pretty neat experience and I'm glad we got to try it out.

Day 29 - Hogle Zoo & This is the Place Heritage Park

Hubby only had to go into work for half the day, so we got to have him explore with us today. We are on day 2 of our Visit Salt Lake Connect Passes, so today we decided to go to the zoo, then across the street to This is the Place Heritage Park.

We hadn't been to the Hogle Zoo for about 4-years and there have been some major improvements in that time. We loved the additions of Rocky Shores, featuring seals, sea lions, polar bears, and grizzly bears. And the new male lions were Kid One's favorite. She must have snapped a million pictures of those brothers. The African Savanna area is way better than the enclosures where the giraffes and zebras were held previously. Here the giraffes actually have room to roam and the zebras are visible. They also had a "Zoorassic Park" event going on where there were cool animatronic dinosaurs throughout the grounds. Kid Two must have snapped a million pictures of those.

Today was our first time visiting This is the Place Heritage Park. I had low expectations, but I figured at least we could do the train and ride the ponies. Turns out, this was another place I was totally wrong about. I'm so excited to be finding all these great new places. There are pioneer houses from all over Utah that have been relocated here. They are all open to explore. That's the boring part. The cool part is that there are people dressed in period appropriate costumes that act like they are from the 1800's and let you join in to get a taste of what it was like living back then. Kid Three was feeling sick so we didn't get to explore as much as I would have liked, but Kids One & Two had a great time.

Hogle Zoo & This is the Place were both free for us using the Connect Passes given to me by Visit Salt Lake. BUT it's not too hard for you to save money to these places. If you are a member of an AZA-accredited zoo (like Phoenix Zoo), you can receive 50% off admission to Hogle Zoo (and Tracy Aviary). The maps at Hogle Zoo have coupons for $2 off admission to This Is The Place Heritage Park. The Entertainment Book App also has BOGO admission coupons for This Is The Place.

Day 28 - Tracy Aviary & The Leonardo

Today was supposed to be the hottest day of our week here in Salt Lake City, with temps reaching around 100 degrees. We had an outdoor activity planned for the morning and decided to keep things air conditioned for the afternoon.

Tracy Aviary is part of Liberty Park, which is Utah's much smaller equivalent of Central Park. The aviary is fairly small but pretty cool you can see a lot of rare birds close up. And the High Flyer show is a lot of fun, despite the fact that you are sitting in direct sunlight. To read my full review go here.

Today was our first time experiencing The Leonardo. I had been skeptical about going here in the past because they don't charge for ages 5 & younger. It sounded like maybe it would be more educational and less fun. Boy was I wrong. This plan was lots of fun. It's part science, part art, part combo. My kids are artists and scientists (as I think all kids are) so they thought a The Leonardo was fabulous. To read my full review go here.

The Leonardo is also part of the ASTC passport program. In case you haven't been keeping track, that's all the museums at Thanksgiving Point, Clark Planetseium Dome show, Discovery Gateway, and The Leonardo that I have received free admission at, thanks to my Arizona Science Center pass. 

Now I know you're wondering if I paid for the Tracy Aviary. Of course not. Unfortunately, you have to take up travel writing to get my discount. Since I write for Trekaroo, Visit Salt Lake hooked my family up with 3-day Connect Passes. These passes allow you to visit 13 venues, one-time-each, within a certain time period that you purchase. You can have the pass be active for 1,2, or 3 days, OR one year. The days of use have to be consecutive, which is why I didn't start using the Connect Pass until today. The Connect Pass also includes admission to all of the above mentioned ASTC passport participants, except you can only visit the Museum of Ancient Life and The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point AND you als get free admission to an IMAX 3D educational film at Clark Planetarium.

Day 27 - Clark Planetarium & Discovery Gateway in SLC, Utah

It's very convenient when two great attractions for families are located across the street from each other. It also makes for a full day.

Clark Planetarium and Discovery Gateway Children's Museum are both part of the wonderful ASTC passport program I've mentioned before. Because we are members of the Arizona Science Center we got free admission to Discovery Gateway and free tickets to a show at Clark Planetarium. Love it.

We started our day at Discovery Gateway, took a break at the mall food court (McDonalds) for lunch, headed over to Clark Planetarium for the 12:30 show we wanted to see, explored the free exhibits there, then walked across the street back to Discovery Gateway for a few more hours of fun.

You can read my reviews of Discovery Gateway Children's Museum and Clark Planetarium by following the links or heading to my passport on Trekaroo.com.

Life Flight Exhibit at Discovery Gateway

Day 26 - Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, UT

If you've never been to Thanksgiving Point in Utah, you are missing some great museums. Today we experienced dinosaurs, farm-life, gardens, and adventure.

The Museum of Ancient Life has always been one of our favorite dinosaur museums. We all love the huge dinosaur skeleton displays and the kids especially enjoy the water table and Dino dig areas. This summer they are doing a cool exhibit of balloon artistry. There was a huge replica of a Greek temple made entirely out of balloons. The creator was on exhibit as well getting the next masterpiece ready of Zeus of a thone. He said it takes him a whole week to make these sculptures. It was amazing.

Farm Country is a little time filler. It is fun, but also small. We like to visit the animals here and the kids like the pony rides. Today, Kid One got to learn a little about male horse anatomy when she saw the horse's nether regions before being petted and then again after. We love to add education to our outings.

The Museum of Natural Curiosity was amazing! I didn't know it existed. I had planned to spend a little time at the end of our day enjoying the splash pad at the Children's Gardens only to find it replaced by the best children's museum ever. It was a little hard to keep track of all the kids, but they were really enjoying themselves. I wish we had known how great this place was so I could have planned more time to spend here.

And how much did I spend to go to all of these museums? NOTHING! 

Thanksgiving Point is a participant in the ASTC passport program. We are members of the Arizona Science Center and so the Thanksgiving Point museums offer us free reciprocal admission. And how much did I pay for the Arizona Science Center family membership? Again, NOTHING. There was a LivingSocial deal for a family membership and I got three people to buy off of my link, making my purchase free. Breakfast was free at the hotel, lunch was PB&J's made from the free hotel breakfast, and our hotel also has free dinner 4 nights a week (although some nights it's more of a snack) so tonight we had free carnitas nachos. I spent $2 total on popcorn and a squished penny souvenir from Farm Country. I love making my own free days.

Day 25 - Rodizio Grill in SLC, Utah

It must be fate when your you happen to be in the city of your husband's favorite restaurant on his birthday. And double lucky when you get a birthday BOGO coupon.

Rodizio Grill is a Brazilian restaurant. They have all you can eat meats brought around by servers who slice off a hunk right onto your plate. To read my full review of Rodizio Grill go here.

When we are on the road, we eat out quite a bit. Usually when we travel, it's with Daddy for work, so he does have a food budget. The problem is, with 5 kids you can blow through that budget pretty quickly. And if I don't spend it all on food, I can use some of the money for cool activities.

Saving Money on Vacation Meals

Stay at hotels with free breakfast. Besides the money you save going out, it's much easier to just walk down to the lobby than get the family ready and drive to a restaurant.
Make free breakfast into free lunch. Many times, I grab bread, peanut butter, and jelly from the hotel breakfast to make a picnic lunch.
Find a local Free Summer Food location. The free summer food program is federal. There may be a location right near your vacation destination.
Cook in your hotel room. We usually stay in rooms with a full kitchen, but if we at least have a microwave, we can get a frozen lasagna and bag of salad mix for an easy dinner. If your room has a fridge, you can also save restaurant leftovers for another meal.
Use coupons. I use my Entertainment Book app to find digital coupons. If your travel coincides with a birthday, make sure you are on the email lists of places you want to eat out at. If your hotel room has a phone book, check out the coupons in there.
Find restaurants where kids eat free. Many of the big chains offer a kids night where kids meals are cheap or free. Check websites, call around, or find an online list someone has made for that city.

Day 24 - Travel Day from CA to UT

Disappointing fact of life: Not all days can be super fun. Today was a good day. We got to go to church with Grammy's family and have a meal with them before we left. We just didn't have any major adventures. But I guess that's good, too. Sunday is the day of rest and we definitely need to rest up for the week I have planned.

Since we left in the afternoon, we only drove about 6 hours today and will finish up the last 5 tomorrow.  Our kids do pretty well with 6 hour drives. We pop in a couple movies or listen to a book (although, they didn't like the one I got from the library, so today was all movies). They bring a few toys and sometimes a pad of paper and a pen. The baby gets the most bored because she can't see the TV. Today I used packing tape to attach my old kindle fire to the headrest of her seat and turned on Little Einsteins when she started to fuss. It really helped her stay happy, but I may be raising TV addicts.

What do you do to keep kids happy on long car rides?

Day 23 - Geocaching on the Murrieta Creek Trail

Last Saturday was National Trails Day. They had a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new trail system here in Temecula called Murrieta Creek Trail. This is a totally paved trail (which is why we didn't do it last week). Today we wanted to use strollers so we decided to have a picnic, then try out a small portion of this trail.

The portion of the trail we walked was in full sun, not super scenic, and pretty full of trash (notice the shopping cart in the background of the picture above) BUT is was full of geocaches. We only walked 0.6 miles on the trail and were able to find 3 geocaches.

Can you see the tiny cache they're holding?

The geocaches we found today were all "micro" caches. They only had room for a small log. And they were tricky to find. We learn more with each geocache search. We are learning that our phone gets up in a pretty vague general area and we should invest in a handheld GPS. We are also learning tricky locations that geocaches could be placed. I thought they were always just up in trees or hidden under rocks. We are also learning the variety of containers that are used for geocaches. These tiny micro caches were all different from each other and totally different from our first cache, which was a huge, homemade black envelope. Kid one is really eager to place our own cache, but I want to see a few more first. Maybe when we get back to AZ...

Day 22 - Fingerprints Children Museum

Hemet, CA is not a tourist destination, but it happened to be part way between my sister's home and my parents'. We met up with cousins today in Hemet for free lunch at the local library and a visit to Fingerprints Youth Museum.

Fingerprints is a fun play area with a lot of pretend play stations. They also host special events. Today we arrived just in time for their Creature Show, which consisted of a coup,e guys sharing their animals and letting the children (and adults if they wanted) hold and pet them. There were over 10 snakes which they allowed the children to pass around. I think all the kids now want a pet snake. To read my full review of Fingerprints Youth Museum go here.

We try to never pay full price. Today, our discount of choice was the group discount (and she let the 2-year-olds in for free as an added bonus). Almost all venues offer a group discount but the terms vary. Always check the website for group discount details. Most groups have to be scheduled in advance. 

How do you find a group?

 The easiest way is to have a regular playgroup that you can go to places with. Another easy choice is to join your local MOMS Club. They have a calendar of events for parents and children to attend every month. I was a member of The MOMS Club of Weber County for about 5 years. Part of the benefit was that we had non-profit status which let us get great group rates. You can also find moms groups on meetup.com or local Facebook groups. If you attend church, you could organize a "field trip" group within your congregation. Or, if you have a big family like my friend AP, your family may qualify for the group discount all on their own.

Day 21 - Blueberry Picking at Temecula Berry Company

We love fresh fruit, and you can't get any fresher than right off the bush. My mom lives just down the road from Temecula Berry Company. Here they have U-pick blueberries and they happened to be in season. We looked at the weather for the week and planned the coolest temperature day to come down to the farm.

We loved our time here today. It wasn't too hot out so we were able to enjoy picking blueberries without getting overheated. The owners were helpful and friendly. On top of picking blueberries, the kids also got to feed chickens and pigs as well as help collect some eggs. The blueberries we picked were delicious and devoured in just a few minutes. To read my full review of Temecula Berry Co., visit Trekaroo.com here.

Last month we went to the Peach Festival at Schnepf Farms. We got a little overzealous in our peach picking and ended up spending about $40 on peaches. They were delicious and we did eat them all  but I did learn a few things about visiting U-Pick farms with kids.

1. Know how much your picking container holds and how much the full container would cost. A peach bag at Schnepf farms hold about 10 lbs of peaches and costs around $22. A small pail at Temecula Berry Co. holds 2 pints and cost $10.
2. Set limits before your kids start picking. We set the limit too high at Schepf so I set them really low for Temecula Berry Co. With the low picking limit, the older kids were very selective and picked really good blueberries. 
3. Supervise the little ones. They tend to get picking happy and grab whatever they see instead of fruit that is ripe.

Have you ever been to a U-Pick farm?

Day 20 - Oceanside: Harbor Beach

No trip to SoCal is complete without a visit to the beach. The closest beach to my parents house (where we are currently visiting) is Oceanside, and since I'm don't like to drive far if I don't have to, that's where we headed.

The weather at the beach today was a chilly 70 degrees and windy. My sisters and I were wrapped in towels to keep warm while the kids ran through the surf and dug in the sand. I love that kids don't worry about things like weather. 

Playing with cousins on the beach

I grew up in Orange County, CA and was surrounded by beautiful beaches. When we were little my mom would take us to the baby beach at Dana Point Harbor. It's great for kids because of the lack of waves. I loved visiting the tide pools at Laguna Beach when I was young and then as an adult with my children. In high school, my favorite beach was San Clemete State Beach because we could watch the surfers and walk down the pier. If we wanted less crowds we'd head down to Pico, but that was less desirable because of the rocks. Crazy how there can be so much diversity in one small stretch of coastline.

For some great SoCal beach recommendations, check out these list on Trekaroo.com:

Southern California Beaches that are Kid-Friendly
Beaches of Los Angeles

Orange County Beaches that are Kid-Friendly

San Diego Beaches that Families Love

What are your favorite Southern California beaches?

Day 19 - Temecula Valley Museum

Many towns have their own historical museums. Often times these are overlooked because they are small and don't have much of an advertising budget. I love to explore these local museums. Sometimes you find a real gem, like the Temecula Valley Museum. This museum is clearly laid out and has a fun area for children to play. Read my full review of the Temecula Valley Museum here.

From my experience, most local history museums are interesting for adults without a lot of hands-on for children. It does seem though that more and more places are trying to be family-friendly. We've been to the Gilbert Historical Museum in Gilbert, AZ and Teton Flood Museum in Rexburg, ID in the past, and although there wasn't much, they did both have special areas for children.

Have you been to your local historical museum?

Day 18 - Margarita Park Splash Pad

Hot day today in Temecula. We decided to take the kids over the the new splash pad.

Margarita Park Splash Pad was pretty cool. They had some fun sprayers and also water tables to splash in. You can read my full review here. We rarely go to splash pads because they are not my favorite. Probably in part because they are also not my kids favorite. But I so have some other reasons.

Splash pads are not my favorite for a few reasons:

1. Parents are left out in the heat (although I always get wet)
2. On busy days, they get really busy
3. Little kids get trampled by bigger kids
4. My friend once told me she saw homeless people bathing in a splash park (sad and also gross because of recycled water)
5. My kids never last as long as they do at a pool

How do you feel about splash pads?

If splash pads are your thing and you live in the Phoneix area, lucky you! I have a list right here for you. Phoenix Splash Pads

Day 17 - Walking and Geocaching

If the weather is nice, we like to enjoy a Sunday evening stroll. There happened to be a geocache hidden in the park right by Grandma's house, so we today we combined our walk with a treasure hunt.

Unfortunately, we did not find the geocache today. It was supposedly an easy one and we searched all over with no luck. We were a little disappointed, but it was fun searching for it. And we did get to enjoy the nice weather this evening.

Earlier this summer there was a geocache hidden by our hike at "A" mountain. It was more rewarding actually finding the hidden treasure. The kids are more into it if they have a gps or phone to hold and follow. I was nervous handing the iPhone over but luckily it didn't get cracked today. I think next time I will bring the otter box case to give it a little more protection.

Have you ever been geocaching and do you have any tips for newbies like us?

Day 16 - Dripping Springs Hiking Trail

In honor of National Trails Day today, we went for a hike on a new trail with extended family in Temecula, CA. To read my tip on hiking with kids go here. I've written a review about Dripping Springs Trail on Trekaroo.com.

We were in town the same time as my sister's family. We really wanted them to join us in this hike, but she didn't have a carrier for her baby. I let her use my Ergo baby carrier and quick improvised a wrap to carry Kid Five in.

How to quickly Make a Baby Wrap (like a Moby Wrap)

1. Find an old, flat sheet
2. Cut 2-12" wide strips, length-wise (so you have 2 pieces that are about 1' by 6'
3. Tie (or sew) together the two pieces at the short ends, so you have on extra long strip. I put the short ends of both pieces together and tied the top corners and the bottom corners so I had two knots and a open space between.

That's it. Quick and easy wrap out of stuff around the house. It was comfortable for me and baby. For instructions on tying a baby wrap check out this website.

Day 15 - Cousin Time at Grandma's House

My kids love their California relatives and are constantly asking to visit. Even with having to make the 5.5 hour drive, they were so excited to go today.

Cousins are so much fun. They are like siblings that you don't fight with. But my kids are the long distance cousins, although thankfully, not too long distant. They only get to play with their cousins every few months. Every time they get together they are instantly friends again. 

How to Stay Close to Long Distance Cousins

• Skype/FaceTime
• Visit Often
• Cousin Christmas Exchange
• Mail Birthday Cards
• Share Clothes (hand-me-downs)
• Write Emails
• Draw and Mail Pictures
• Have a Family Facebook Page

How do your kids keep in touch with their cousins?

Day 14 - Summer Reading Program Kick-Off

The Downtown Chandler Library hosted a superhero party to kick-off this year's summer reading program, Be A Hero. They had games, face painting, crafts, balloon twisters, and a photo booth.

Reading with Kids (and earning minutes for the reading programs)

When we have long road trips, we try to listen to audio books. We try choose ones that have appeal to us and the kids. Last summer we finished the Harry Potter series while traveling. This year, we are starting The Book of Three and if we like it, we'll continue with that series.

Let the kids choose books they are interested in. Kid One decided for some reason she really wants to read the Captain Underpants series. Kid Two, although he is a great reader, still prefers picture books. I'm not picky about what they read. I think if they are reading, that's great.

All the kids, even the older ones, love to be read to. I try to stop what I'm doing when the little ones ask me to read to them in the day. My husband or I also read to the kids every night before bed.

Every morning at breakfast we have scripture study time as a family. All reading counts toward reading minutes, and reading the scriptures also help us start out the day on the right foot.

I also like the have the older kids read to the younger ones. Sometimes I even bribe them by making it their chore for the day. Both the older and younger kids are occupied and both get extra reading time.

Kid One loves getting rewards, so she gets really into the different summer reading programs. This library program officially started on Monday and she has already earned a free book. Luckily there are still prizes to earn to keep her motivated to read.

Day 13 - Commemorative Air Force Museum

My friend at the Mesa tourism office, Visit Mesa, hooked us up with some passes to the Commemorative Air Force Museum in Mesa, AZ.

This museum shows historic planes and teaches some of the navy history of past wars. I found the history of the planes fascinating. My 5 kids (ages 9, 6, 5, 2, and under 1) enjoyed getting a close-up look at the planes, engines, and bombs. This museum is somewhat small and not very interactive for young ones, so we didn't last here for too long (about an hour)... Read my full review on Trekaroo.com here)

 There was a B-17 that actually flew in WWII on display outside that we got to go inside of. We tried to count the number of guns and thought there were 7 but we missed about half because there were actually 13! For $850 you can ride in the gunner seat in the nose of the plane while it flies around Mesa. Anyone wanna spot me a thousand bucks?

These the the planes the kids were most interested in. Mostly the fought over who got to ride next instead of looking at the super cool and historical planes surrounding them. I did force them to take a break and walk around the exhibits with me for a while. I think at least Kids One & Two learned something.

Day 12 - Slickables & Downtown Mesa

I had to run an errand in Downtown Mesa, AZ. I hated to drag the kids all the way down there without a reward, so I found this cute new ice cream sandwich shop called Slickables. You can read all about it here. Turns out, it was just across the street from the i.d.e.a. Museum so we stopped by there for a couple hours as well.

I love the vibe you get when visiting Main Street in any town we visit. I love the little local shops and storefronts, I love the sculptures and festivals. Downtown Mesa is no exception. It is home to many family-friendly venues. They are even hosting "Kidtastic" events every Wednesday in May & June. Here is a list of what I love and what I'd love to try in Downtown Mesa.

Downtown Mesa, AZ for Families

• i.d.e.a. Museum-A children's art museum with fun play areas and crafts for all ages of artists
  
• Arizona Museum of Natural History-The local "dinosaur" museum. Also has Arizona specific history and panning for gold 
  
• Mesa Arts Center-Home to great performances, art, and festivals
• Sculptures-Cool statues that kids can climb on and pose with for fun pictures
  
• Sweet Cakes Cafe-I've heard great things about this bakery
• Farmer's Market-Every Friday, stop by to shop from local farmers and artisans
• Light Rail-Coming soon, we'll be able to hop on the train to Tempe or Phoenix

What do you enjoy doing in Downtown Mesa?