I’d be remiss if I didn’t share a few details on our recent spring break trip to Arizona. It’s practically tradition now and the entire family looks forward to it. Personally, I get so tired of the grey skies and cold, gloomy weather in the Midwest that by March/early April I need some sun! Since we have been to Arizona quite a few times and seen many of the sites around Maricopa and Phoenix, we tried a few new things that I wanted to share.
Due to our spring breaks falling on different weeks, we split the difference and flew out late Wednesday night. We stayed a week and came home the following Wednesday.
Thursday-Sunday
Since we arrived late at night, Thursday we took it easy spending the afternoon by the pool. That evening we met some friends that were in Arizona visiting for dinner. The kids love to go to Rustler’s Roost every year. They have a slide in the restaurant, cotton candy for dessert, live music, and a guy that does balloon animals that goes around to the tables. Sometimes they even have an appetizer with fried rattlesnake. Unfortunately it wasn’t available when we went this year so we had the cactus fries instead. The kids really enjoyed themselves and the view from the restaurant as the sun is setting is absolutely stunning!
Hole in the Rock (Papago Park)
Friday and Saturday we also spent easy days with afternoons at the pool. One morning we went on a hike to Hole in the Rock. This is a fascinating geologic formation that offers a beautiful view. This hike is fairly short and easy so the kids had no issues hiking it.
Sunday was Easter and the kids woke up to eggs hidden around the house with some Easter goodies the Easter bunny had left for them. That morning we went to the church my in-laws attend. It was a beautiful service! Claire was excited since she had just gone through first communion. She got her second communion from her grandma who was helping out. It was an unusually chilly and rainy day. After church the girls helped out grandma embroider their names on their swim jackets. We enjoyed a lovely Easter dinner, too.
Monday- Arizona Science Center
The second half of our vacation was a bit chilly and rainy so I let each of the girls pick an activity we haven’t done before. Claire chose the Arizona Science Center for her day. It was perfect because the kids were missing a day of school anyway. This way they might getting some learning in!
The Arizona Science Center opens at 10:30 and we arrived right around 11am. You could easily spend the entire day there until closing at 4pm. There were some things we had to rush the girls through because we were all getting hungry! Admission includes access to 3 levels of many different hands-on exhibits and 1 documentary of your choice in the theater.
Although the Arizona Science Center is definitely geared towards a young crowd, we all enjoyed it and took turns trying out some of the exhibits and hands-on attractions. Claire chose a documentary on the Artic and it was fascinating with beautiful videography. The kids especially liked the OceanXperience where you complete a mission to gather data on sea life.
Tuesday-Butterfly Wonderland
For her day, Avie chose to visit the Butterfly Wonderland. This is a butterfly conservatory where you can get up close with butterflies and even see reptiles, fish, and insects in another part of the building. Avie was so hopeful one of the butterflies would give her a ‘kiss’ by landing on her.
This day we were fortunate to meet up with Jodie and her husband Rob. They went to the Butterfly Wonderland with us and then out to lunch. If you ever have the chance to visit Butterfly Wonderland, I recommend it. Everyone is very knowledgeable. We learned how the butterfly chrysalis are shipped, inspected, and how they hatch them. They have a display case where you can see the butterfly chrysalis and hatching butterflies and moths up close. It’s amazing! And there are so many butterflies in the observation room. Even the plant varieties are fun to see. We all had butterflies land on us. It was fun and educational.
And that wraps up the highlights of our recent spring break trip to Arizona. There are so many fun things to do in and around the Phoenix and Scottsdale area! Check out my previous spring break recaps from last year when we went to the Grand Canyon and 2019.
