Last fall we got a season pass to the Phoenix Zoo which has been a lifesaver. Sometimes we go just to see Michael the Monkey or just to pet the stingrays. Seriously, our visits range from 4 hours to just 20 minutes. Either way, she loves every second of it. Some of her favorite exhibits are the zebras, the orangutans, the stingrays, the flamingos and the giraffes.
Her other favorite place is the park. Kim Smith (Kim Hansen to all you Pleasanton folks) introduced us to Tumbleweed park (you know you are in Arizona when. . .huh?!). Despite the name, it seriously is one of the best parks we have gone to. All the play structures are designed to look like barns and they have animals painted all over. They even have a little town with a fire engine, a school bus, and mini roads for kids to ride their bikes or scooters around. Mckaley calls it the barn park and we go there a lot.
The other park she likes is Freestone park. On the weekends they have a carousel, a train ride, and some other small rides designed for preschoolers. The actual park with slides isn't that great, but the rides and the lake with all the ducks makes it worth it. 


