Arizona Easter Fun

We went to stay with Matt's sister and her family in Gilbert, AZ for Easter weekend and had a great time! We did fun things non-stop the whole weekend! The boys had a blast with their cousins and loved having a huge, fun backyard to play in.

Phoenix Zoo
Friday we went to the Phoenix Zoo. It was such a nice zoo, and we had a great time. It was huge, had lots of cool animal displays, and tons of fun kid areas.

It was beautiful there, too...full of big trees and so much greenery that you didn't even realize you were in the desert. The even had a "jungle" that we walked through to see some of the animals.


In the farm section--Zac driving the tractor


Zac and Kyle had so much fun together!


Brushing the goats in the petting area




Kayden loved seeing all the animals and making their sounds. His favorite by far were the birds, though, and not just the birds in the cages. He loved all the birds flying around and the ducks in the ponds. Any time he saw a bird, he'd start quacking and saying "bird, bird!" (or duck if it was a duck). He got excited about EVERY SINGLE ONE!



One of the coolest exhibits was the monkey village. You walk into a huge gated area, and as you walk along the path, cute little monkeys are peeking out at you from the trees and swinging/climbing right above you. There are no fences between you and them, and the monkeys were close enough to reach out and touch. It was cool to be that close and watch them play around. I guess it's the only exhibit like that in the country (or so they say).

My other favorite part was the Savanna--a huge hilly area with giraffes, gazelle, big-horned cattle, ostriches, and other animals just roaming around and grazing on the hillside. It reminded me of a scene from Jurassic Park, only with animals instead of dinosaurs. :)


The zoo was so big that you could ride a tram for a tour if you got tired of walking. We walked most of the way, but took the tram for a little while just for fun.



Mesa Temple Pageant
Friday night we went to the Mesa Temple to see the Easter Temple Pageant, Jesus the Christ
It was a great production and was fun to go early and picnic and walk around the temple grounds. Afterward we got the most delicious shaved ice at Bahama Bucks. Yum!

with Lori (Matt's sister) and her four oldest kids


Makutu's Island
Saturday morning we woke up to rain, but luckily Lori had a Plan B for the day. We got to see Ashley play her basketball game, then we headed to Makutu's Island (a 20,000 sq foot indoor playground). It was awesome inside! It was full of huge tree houses, caves, tunnels and play areas with all sorts of huge slides and climbing areas. It was a climbing, sliding, crawling, playing paradise for the kids (and adults, too). Kayden loved the baby area and went on the little slides over and over. We'd never seen anywhere like it before...it was so much fun!



Egg Hunt in the Dark
Saturday night we got to participate in their neighborhood "Egg Hunt in the Dark." All the kids had glowsticks and flashlights and hunted for eggs in the park in the dark. It was such a fun idea! Luckily the rain cleared up so we could still do it.

Before the egg hunt


Easter day we had lots of fun and ate tons of yummy food. Thanks for a great trip Lori, Dave, and kids!