Railroad Park in Scottsdale, AZ

Because I'm in the Phoenix area to visit family, and because there are little people in my family, we decided to take a morning trip to the Railroad Park in Scottsdale.

The park includes a playground, picnic areas, an old-time carousel and a miniature train that toots around it all.

The park was packed with families, which made sense given the holiday weekend. After all, we were there with our family, too.

It's free to get in and play on the slides or eat at the picnic pavilions.

Carousel rides cost a buck for big people, but are free for anyone under three. A ride on the miniature train costs $2 and is again free for those under three.

We were impressed that the train ride was longer than five minutes, and felt like we got a kinda of sneak behind the scene on this day: park employees were out in full force setting up a Christmas light display.

Looks like this might be a fun spot to bring young ones and get everyone in the holiday spirit ... but we'll be back home in Minnesota by then.