The Rad Riparian!

I am always looking for free things to do to get my kids out of the house.  In Arizona, this happens to be the best time of year to get out with the kids.  The wildflowers are in bloom down here bringing out the most amazing colors and wildlife.  We happen to be lucky enough to have a riparian area not too far from the house.

The riparian area near us shares the parking lot with the library.  Right off of the parking lot their is a lake which you can catch and release fish if you are interested in teaching your kids to fish.  On the North East side of the Lake there is an observatory that has kid activities in front of it like uncovering dinosaur bones.  And then their is the Riparian Area itself.  This has a ton of different bird species nesting, visiting, and interacting.  It also has some wildlife in the area as well.  We were lucky enough to see a cotton tail on this visit.

We took the kids here because they love to be outside and our daughter is currently obsessed with ducks, she has about 10 rubber duckies that bath with her each night.  My husband is a bird lover as well and I love to try to grab a picture of the darting little creatures because they are all so beautiful.  This is the perfect area for birds.  If you love the wildflowers, we also saw plenty of them in bloom and the prickle pear cactus is just starting to bloom.  This is one of my favorite blooms for the area.

The terrain is not the most stroller friendly as it is gravel, but I was able to maneuver the double stroller around with just a little extra muscle which made for a great work out.  I also noted many other people with their strollers going through, a jogging stroller is easier, but any stroller can make the trails with a little extra push through the gravel.  The area around the lake itself is paved and their are some area's of sidewalk around the outskirts of the riparian area.  

I highly recommend coming here for either a leisurely stroll around the lake letting the kids stop off at the kids activities to learn and explore or to hunt for a colorful bird or little bunny walking the riparian area and burning off a few extra calories.  It makes for the perfect weekend family outing!  I love going here and we try to get the kids and dogs out whenever we can.