Luke and I went on a week-long kid-free vacation to Mexico over my birthday in January, which was GLORIOUS, but it was due time for a family vacation with the girls. We had a Delta companion ticket to burn and found a great deal through Costco on a resort + rental car. We ended up staying at the same resort, The Westin Kierland, as our babymoon back in 2017 when I was pregnant with Zoe, so it holds a special place in my heart. I will preface this post to say this vacation was nowhere near as relaxing as our babymoon 🙂

The Westin Kierland is only about a 20-minute drive from the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport and is in a very convenient part of Scottsdale, as it’s across from the Kierland Commons which has a ton of shopping and dining options. It’s also only 10 minutes away from a Target if you need to stock up on any essentials after you land (thanking the gods for drive-up!).

Our first couple days we spent at the pool mostly. They have 2 pools – one for adults-only, which we sadly did not get to step foot in on this trip and another larger pool with a zero depth entry which is great for the little ones. The real star of the show was the lazy river and waterslide – my daughter probably went down the waterslide at least 100 times during our week there.

Aside from the pools, the Westin has a ton of other kid-friendly perks!

• An on-site scavenger hunt: Zoe loves a good scavenger hunt and this one was LEGIT. It takes you all over the resort grounds, so it’s a good one to do early in your stay to familiarize yourself with the resort. Once you complete the hunt, you can turn in your card to the front desk for a run reward (I won’t ruin the surprise so you’ll need to find out for yourself!).
• An activity area complete with a jungle gym, basketball court, ping pong, giant chess and a NIGHTLY S’MORES BAR!
• A convenience store & coffee shop on-site if your kids (or you) get a case of the hangries.
• Live music: They only had this on our last night, but the girls had a blast dancing to the music in the lobby.
• Sunset bagpiper: This is a unique and fun tradition specific to the Westin Kierland. A bagpiper plays a nightly show around sundown on their patio overlooking the golf course.
• Not for kids, but there is an on-site spa (The Agave Spa) that offers a nice respite for you mom’s and dad’s. If you book any spa services, you also get access to their spa amenities (sauna, hot tubs, showers, etc.).

Here are some dining recommendations for places we went to:

• Snooze A.M. Eatery: Great breakfast options and very kid-friendly! Located in the Kierland Commons area so you can walk off your Chilaquiles with some shopping.
• The Mission: Also located in Kierland Commons, although their original location is in Old Town Scottsdale and equally as cool. Very cool vibes and awesome food. Highly recommend the tableside guac. Not-so kid friendly, but they were very accommodating. I usually get nervous when we walk into a restaurant that already has wine glasses set out on the tables 🙂
• True Food Kitchen: Located in Scottsdale Quarter, which is another shopping area across from Kierland Commons. Great food and drink, very kid friendly and wonderful service! They have a large patio and open air seating.
• Nellie Cashman’s Monday Club Cafe: This was the restaurant located in the Westin. It overlooks the golf course and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. We did a breakfast and a dinner here. Overall, good food, but very expensive. We only ate there for the convenience factor, but would probably advise elsewhere if you can.

We wanted this trip to be pretty low-key and mostly by the pool, but we did do one day-trip to Goldfield Ghost Town. Luke and I visited this when we were on our babymoon and thought it would be a fun full circle moment. We had fun walking through the town and did the tour down into the mine. It was a little scary for our 3 year old, but it’s not a terribly long tour. The girls loved the train ride and seeing all the cactuses and Superstition Mountain in the background. The highlight of the day was the Old Time photos the girls did. When in Rome, right?

After the ghost town, we had to make a stop at In & Out since we don’t have those in Minnesota.

In the future – we’d probably try to book a suite or villa, as the girls went to bed so early (we were 2 hours behind our normal time), so either we went to bed too or we would sit out on our tiny balcony. This was definitely not a relaxing vacation since we had the kids, but we prepared ourselves going into it. Overall they were rockstars (especially with the time change) and it was the first time I was on a plane ride with them where I wasn’t constantly handing out snacks & activities while profusely sweating. I even got to watch a WHOLE movie on the plane ride home!

Comment below if you have any recommendations for domestic destinations with kids for a trip next year!