You're taking the kids to Palm Springs!?

When we first came decided to take a trip to Palm Springs, a few people asked us, "Is Palm Springs really family friendly?" We were so looking forward to warmth and sunshine we had not given it a lot of thought. My answer was, "Well, there is a pool in the back yard, and they can pick a favorite toy to bring, plus a plethora of  books, so I think we will be good." Plus, it is only a three hour flight away!

Surprisingly, over the past few trips, we have seen more and more families on the flights down. It actually is a great family vacation get away! Like I said ,a pool is a must in the desert and it amuses the kids most of a day - really! We have also discovered fun places, and beautiful reserves and parks which surround the Coachella Valley.

 The Living Desert  - a cool zoo with a variety of animals not to mention a HUGE outdoor model train. Chris and Max cannot get enough of it! Plus at Christmas time Santa is there and you can sit on his lap, OUTDOORS!, all very nice and warm. Max & Amyah love the bag of animal crackers Santa passes out to the kids.

Outdoor Model Train

Desert inspired play ground

Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert is a cool place for kids to explore and create. A perfect activity for a cooler day, or a break from the heat.

Palm Springs Air Museum

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is an amazing tram which circles 360 degrees as it moves up the mountain. Another bonus is that it is only about plus 24 at the top -a nice refreshing break from the heat! There are nice trails to hike, from an easy level to more challenging, overnight hikes.

Last summer, we went to a movie theatre for the VERY FIRST TIME as a family, to see "Brave". Checking out a flick in the middle of a hot afternoon was a welcome treat! This summer we saw those adorable girlies and minions in, "Despicable Me 2"

Knott's Soak City  is an absolute blast! There are fun slides, a wave pool, plus a lazy river, all to help you "beat the heat" and have fun. It is a great day outing. The only thing is that is there not a lot of places with shade. If the day is really hot, it can be overwhelming. Also, there is absolutely NO outside food let in, what so ever. They do a thorough search of your bags. I know from personal experience it is thorough because I really, really, really thought I had some granola mix well hidden in my bag! There are places to buy overpriced and "so so" food. However, we are "that family", enjoying our homemade lunch out in the parking lot, eating it quickly because it is hot - no shade there either! We just bring towels, lots of water bottles and sunscreen. Another time, we plan on actually buying a season's pass and go about 3 times over the course of 2 weeks, for only about 3 hours at a time. We think this would be money saving, and you would not feel like you have to spend a whole day just to make your ticket pay.

Kahuna's Beach House! This is a 4-story interactive Family Fun House with water slides, hose jets, water curtains, a 1,000 gallon dropping bucket, and more!!

Chris cooling off under "the bucket"

Kim and the kids coming down "The Surf Rider"

Coolin' off and relaxing in the wave pool.

This gem of an area, Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve, is actually pretty cool. It is a group of rather imposing palm trees, in the middle of the desert, along a fault line. An oasis, if you will. Yet another outing that can be a great for cooling off.

 The palms are massive and there is a trail around and through them. You can also do a hike up over looking them, as we did here.

We then take a trail back to the oasis. I do not enjoy this trail at all, if I am honest. If you have a phobia of snakes such as I, a HUGE phobia, then you don't see much other then the ground in front of you. It is also annoying with your family coming up behind you swishing long pieces of grass at your legs. No! I don't like this part much at all.

Once while staying in La Quinta, we discovered a lovely local library. It was the hot spot to be if you were a kid and staying in the area. They had story time, craft time, free movies on Friday, not to mention cool presentations. We saw a quirky lady that actually climbed in to a huge balloon, plus some reptiles from "The Living Desert" made an appearance one afternoon. Since then we always seek out the local library while traveling as usually they offer great programs for kids.

Markets, are always a neat place to find unique treasures from your travels. They often have local ethnic food to try out, plus a great variety of produce from surrounding farms. Here is the Tamlae festival in Indio. The kids enjoyed the play area plus we all tasted tamales for the first time.

A tamale is a corn based dough, which is steamed or boiled in a leaf wrapper. The wrapping is discarded before eating. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables.

 There is a huge market in Palm Springs, on the campus of "College of the Desert".  It has everything from produce, to garden gnomes and glittery flip flops to handyman tools!

There are always many parks, with unique playgrounds that have water sprays parks along with them, for FREE! I also find it neat that playgrounds here, sometimes have coverings due to the heat, so that there is shade for the kids.Usually there are tennis courts which Chris enjoys too.

So, YES! Palm Springs is a great family destination. We have had great holidays here and hopefully will continue to do so.

Kids will have fun, where ever, when ever. Here is what happens when you don't closely supervise an almost 5 year old, in a sporting good store!  Oh, and also what they can get up to, in a hardware store too.

We also spend quiet time each day, practicing music, and working on educational things. Some days it is a science experiment or simply workbooks. There is for sure reading everyday, me to them and them to me. We adore books and I am so thrilled by their love of books. Amyah is quite serious about it all. Max, well, while he willingly does it, he is our "class clown". :)

AND, there is always time to get creative! Check out the cool, Crayola paint sets. They felt quite professional with their palettes. :)

We're back...

at the cabin!

Coming out in August brings a lot of change but still warm weather, and most importantly, a slightly warmer lake!

 This is the water level now.... (Amyah is standing on the same rock in each photo.)

This was it in July!

We spent so much of the trip making plans for the cabin, and weighing out the pros and cons to taking it on, we missed the turn off and ended up in Lake Louise! Had a good laugh and then bemoaned how we added a half hour on to an already long trip!

This time we arrived with a dishwasher to install! We also learned that pop, being shook for about 8 hours in a tub, in the back of a trailer, will cause at least one of them to explode! The dishwasher took up most of the back of our vehicle so thus the trailer!

Chris and Max were in charge of the dishwasher installation. And, they did a great job! Wohoo! More time for sun and fun!

 And, Max was Chris's right hand man when it came to making an anchor for the boat bouy. Max even brought out his own little work gloves. :) Here is Max rolling down, one of about 6 cement blocks, from the top of the property down to the beach! What a trooper!

We managed to get up on water skis with lots of helpful hints from our friends who visited us. The kids continued to enjoy the tow-ables.

Spending time with friends at the lake is the best.

Max loved celebrating his 5th birthday at the lake this summer.

There are TONS of remote beaches to explore and picnic on. Here are two we visited this time. One is across the lake where we had a picnic lunch. The other one is actually made of saw dust for once upon a time there was a saw mill situated here, on the lake's edge. It was a gooey mess which the kids LOVED, me not so much.

As there should be the sign way in the back is saying NO FIRES on saw dust beach!!! Crazy people!

Up to their knees in gooey saw dust!

Our kids have been quite the keen hikers. 

This time out we hiked up the Plaid Lake trail to a ridge. After an hour or so of hiking we reached an incredible view of Crawford Bay and Kootenay lake. Much fun was had throwing rocks over the edge and watching to see how far they would go! We are an easily amused family. :)

Soon had to strip down as it was heating up!

Gathering rocks to throw off the ridge.

This is how it is done kids!

It was quite difficult to take photos at the same time as constantly saying, "make sure you don't get too close!"

We all enjoyed our time at Kootenay Lake. Here are some parting shots of some more fun.

From Pine Trees to Palm Trees

After about 5 days back home, to spruce up the yard and take care of life there, plus trying not to have ALL our blood taken by mosquitoes, we find ourselves in Palm Springs, California.

YAY!

Oh, how we do love this place. Probably the thing we like most is that the sun will be out, and in full force, about 99% of the time. (Not to mention there is a HUGE Target with their HUGE carts just down the road. Everything does seem to be bigger in the good ol' USA.)

This trip, we flew in on the tail end of forest fires, burning in the mountains to the west of Palm Springs. There was also the chance of thunderstorms, so it was cloudy as we landed. There really has not been rain since we arrived yesterday but a decrease in temperatures and winds has helped the brave firemen and women get a handle on the blaze. Today we saw blue sky and things are starting to clear out.  The bizarre thing to me is that it is still warm out, around plus 30  degrees Celsius!

This was actually taken at 6 P.M. a couple days after the weather cleared!

Well, enough talk of weather! You would think I was from Canada or something! :)

Here are a couple photos of the LOVELY backyard, and where we spend a lot of our day.  To stay in a house, is the way to go -  the only way we travel anymore with kids. I have to admit too, I like having a washer so we don't have to pack much. In this heat, the clothes dry in no time at all, laying out in the sun!

To have a pool is even better. And, come to think of it,  I would assume it is harder to get a house without a pool of some sort. It is a God send when you are visiting, let alone vacationing here in the summer. Temperatures can reach up in to the mid forties!!!! YIKES!!!

 

This being our fourth trip here, I have started to have a bit of a plan for our arrival. After picking up the rental car, we have a quick bite to eat.   P.F. Changs' chicken lettuce wraps and dumplings are what we devour! Then we get to the house, unpack, and check out what is there. While my family is frantically tearing apart my well packed suitcases, looking for swimsuits, I make a grocery list. I also unpack while they horse around in the pool, buring off the weariness of travel. I like to feel settled as soon as possible, so I totally unpack everything first.

Then I  take the rental care for a test drive, around the block, to Albertsons, and pick up groceries. We also head to Costco to get some items as well. It is a very large (of course), and a great place to be on a hot day. They also sell Churros which we all love, especially the kids! Amyah and Max were so good with our shopping, Chris gave them the money to go and get one each, ordering and paying on their own.

And, we are now off to relax and soak up the rays. :)