6/15/18- Summer Activities Revisited

Wow, what a great kick off to summer time; our trip to southern California was pretty sweet!  We only brought home 5 sets of Lego (or systems as I've learned) from Legoland, which is pretty good for 2 engineers and a toddler. Although the trip out there certainly had some low points, Jack was a bit under the weather, once there we had a good time.  We hung out with friends, rode roller coasters, cars and boats, built so many Lego systems, and of course enjoyed the 70 degree weather! Man was it nice out there, and it's kind of a let down to come back to 107 degrees!

So what are we going to do on the weekends now that it's 107 out?  Luckily, Phoenix has many great options for indoor play and a couple of outdoor options.  Below is our list of planned summer activities and places we're going to visit locally to kill sometime in this heat. I think many of the places we plan to visit this summer are in most towns and cities, but let me know if you have some suggestions for fun summer activities. I'm always interested in recommendations and trying new things!  Hope everyone has a fun, safe and playful summer!

1. Lego Discovery Center- Jack is older now and way into Lego, so I'm confident he'll enjoy the Discovery Center now vs. when he was an itty bitty toddler.  Also, we bought annual passes to Legoland, which includes the Lego Discovery Centers, so might as well capitalize on that. 
2. Local Libraries- The libraries in our area have great children's spaces, like the Tempe Library and the Scottsdale Civic Center.  It's "free" (thank you to everyone who pays city taxes!) to go there too, so might as well take advantage of that. 
3. Movie Theater- Incredible 2, I can't wait to see it! And both Harkins, AMC and Pollack Theaters do a summer movie pass for kids  Seems like a cool thing to do; literally, is there any indoor place cooler than a movie theater?
4. AZ Science Center- We have a membership, and again, best to use it before we lose it.  Jack really likes the ping pong ball exhibit and outdoor water play area.  I think in general a museum pass somewhere is a must for the summer in a hot climate area. It's probably the same for a cold climate area in the winter. 
5. Indoor Trampoline Park- For the past couple of years these indoor trampoline parks, indoor bounce house places and indoor play parks have been popping up all over the Valley of the Sun.  Some of them are only $5 for an hour or two for toddler, so pretty reasonable. 
6. Chick-fil-A/McDonald's- Ice cream cones/shakes combined with an indoor play park... sold. 
7. Splash Pads- The City of Mesa and Tempe have some large splash pads that are pretty fun for the adults.  And kids too. 
8. Swimming Pool and Water Parks- We're blessed with a swimming pool in our backyard (so is half of Phoenix; it's a thing here), but I am looking forward to taking Jack to the indoor wave pool at Kiwanis.  They do movie nights, which should be fun.  Also, there's some decent outdoor water parks here (the water park at Legoland was really cool, for the record). I fear though that he'll want to ride a water slide that he's not tall enough for, and I remember how much that sucks.  Just happened to me at Legoland. 😉
9. Butterfly World- This place has been on my list forever.  We're going to make it this summer!  I also have lofty goals of volunteering more and writing more this, so hopefully I'm not all talk about finally going here.
10. Bookstores and The Mall- We go to these places anytime of the year, (FYI B+N has a great summer reading program; kids get a free book at the end), but the air conditioning will be extra appreciated this summer.  We'll also have to see if we can leave the mall and bookstores without books and toys (I'm side eyeing myself right now as I doubt that).  

Abracadabra! It's summer!