Winter Family Fun in Palm Springs
My family loves to spend time in Palm Springs but most of our visits happen during the summer. This year we decided to take a quick winter trip to check out the Robolights light and art installation. Our stay was made possible by Visit Palm Springs and Acme House Co!
We were in town for less than 24 hours but sometimes just getting out-of-town for a minute, and spending some quality time together, is exactly what everyone needs.
We arrived at our rental home, Boo Boo’s Hideaway, in the late afternoon and the kids were going crazy checking it all out. Getting in to the house was super easy. A few weeks ago when I signed the rental agreement with Acme House Co, they sent me a link to an app to download that would help me with my stay. It included the code to get in the main gate and explained how to get in to the main house. The app also contained information that helped me pack for the trip. It was so useful! Unfortunately, the weather was less than perfect so we didn’t get to use some of the cool outdoor features of the property like the fire pits or the outdoor shower.
See tons of great photos of the home here.
This house was perfect for our family. It was spread out and open which made it super comfortable. Two bedrooms were on one side of the house while a 3rd was on the other side of the house and accessed through the kitchen. There were 2 bathrooms, one with double sinks which makes everything a little easier even if you aren’t sharing the home with another family. There are tons of doors in this home, plus a pool out back, so if you have small children, take extra care. The open kitchen flowed right in to a dining area and living space with a long wall of windowed doors with a pretty view of the pool. 
I loved that they had one wall painted with chalkboard paint so that kids (and adults too!) could write and draw. My kids LOVED this feature! 
We didn’t spend much time at the house before heading off to check out Robolights. If you haven’t heard about it, look it up! It’s this crazy art installation, with about 10 million Christmas lights. It’s built on a property in Palm Springs and it is certainly something to see. 
At first the kids were a little scared as there are some monster type things and Halloween style decorations. But there is also a lot of Christmas thrown in. The artist uses found items to create all kinds of sculptures. The property is 4 acres and it generally takes about 45 minutes to get through it all. We did it way faster because we had a dinner reservation to get to and we didn’t realize how close we were to the restaurant.
With bold, bright colors, Robolights is interesting, weird, and cool. 
By the end, my youngest was super in to it and here is a photo of him trying to get the attention of the artist who often roams the property while people are checking out his art. He wanted to talk art with him. 
We like to try out new restaurants when in Palm Springs so for dinner we went to Draughtsman. All I knew about it was that it had a bit of a beer focus, the menu looked delicious, full of lots of comfort food type dishes and was designed by someone whose other projects I love. On first glance, this isn’t a super kid-friendly restaurant. But the service is amazing and at every step, they suggested menu changes, etc. that would be ideal for the kids. Our kids were the only kids in the restaurant at the time. If you have well-behaved kids this restaurant is a great idea. The food was outstanding and you HAVE to try these Pretzel Bites! I had a delicious truffle burger and the most amazing Short Rib Poutine Fries.
When we got back to the house we did a really quick night swim in the pool. While the water was heated, it was not as hot as bath water which is what it would take for me to be comfortable. Then we played a vintage game I’ve had since I was a kid. We play it every year! The rental house also had some board games to play which I think is such a cool touch! 
After the game, we watched ‘A Christmas Story’ with the kids for the first time. We literally did so much in just a few hours! I was the first one to go to sleep! 
The next morning the kids got up and watched a little TV on the cozy couch as I was getting ready for the day. 
My youngest got in another quick pool session…
Then we swung by the new to Palm Springs Broken Yolk Cafe. This chain is totally family friendly and has a menu full of items that everyone in the family would love. My Monte Cristo was crazy good. 
And you can’t head home without a stop at the Cabazon dinosaurs!
Visit Palm Springs helped to coordinate the use of the rental home via Acme House Co. I’ve stayed in rental houses in Palm Springs before but I’ve never been the one to handle all the details. It was SO easy! From the very start, I was given all the info I would need to plan an amazing trip! The minute I showed my kids the photos of the home, they couldn’t wait to get there! If you have been thinking about renting a home in Palm Springs, in summer or winter, Boo Boo’s Hideaway is a perfect family getaway! You can find all the information about the property here. Reach out to Acme House Co. with any questions! And follow their instagram to check out more of their homes!
And don’t forget to check out Visit Palm Springs to plan your trip!! Robolights runs through the first of the year but don’t forget other all the other fun family things you can do in the desert like ice skating, visiting The Living Desert, the art museum and more!
Need more Palm Springs?
Once your rent a home in Palm Springs, you NEED to hire this private chef!
Best restaurants in Palm Springs (I’ll be adding more about Draughtsman in this post soon!)