Golf - ubiquitous throughout the valley, try We Ko Pa for an amazing setting.

Hiking in the city - Camelback Mountain (east and west trails), South Mountain, Squaw Peak, Pinnacle Peak, McDowell Mountain Preserve, Camelback Greenway, Desert Botanical Garden

Fishing - Scottsdale's Camelback Greenway is bejeweled with numerous ponds, lakes and canals in which your kids can fish with said permit, while you sit and read and soak up some sun

Riding - several of the local farms and farriers have horses to rent or ride on the many, many trails. MacDonald's Ranch is the biggest, and the rides there are on their own property and guided if want. See also Cave creek Outfitters and Fort McDowell Adventures

Biking - hotels like the Hyatt Gainey Ranch have bikes for guest use on site and are close to the Camelback Greenway, which stretches some 15 miles down the length of Scottsdale to the Tempe Town Lake in the south. Also numerous bicycle rental stores exist all up and down Scottsdale, and they will deliver the bikes and equipment you specify to your hotel or home, and then pick them back up anywhere you want. You could ride west all day on the Arizona Canal, starting at Indian Bend and Hayden, through the Scottsdale Watefront, stopping for lunch at the La Grande Orange Grocery, and continuing on west to the Biltmore, for instance

Shooting - Rio Salado Sportsman's Club, Scottsdale Gun Club, Ben Avery Shooting Facility. All of them will rent you shotguns at least, and Scottsdale will rent you everything up to a machine gun for a price

Swimming - March is starting to be swimmable, even in an unheated home pool, and the hotels (Hyatt, Westin, etc.) have some nice multi-pool facilities.

Karting - Numerous go-kart and racing spots - Octane Raceway offers Sodi karts with electric engines on an indoor/outdoor course, and of course Bondurant's offers Corvettes and (at one time) Cobras and Vipers

Eating - Vietnamese, Thai, Sushi, Steak, Mexican, Mexi-Cali, Italian, Chicago-style Italian, Western Fusion, Burgers, etc. etc. all at reasonable prices

Shopping - Scottsdale Old Town and its haven of all things Turistika, Fashion Square Mall, Kierland, Scottsdale Quarter, Scottsdale Promenade, etc.

Trains - The Verde Canyon Railroad is a great day out. It's about 75mins N of Scottsdale. Make reservations, ride the train through the high desert and canyons of the Mogollon Rim, see the nesting eagles. http://www.verdecanyonrr.com/. Inside Scottsdale is the McCormick Railroad Park, with $1 rides for the kids and a large indoor miniature train arena

Taliesin West - Frank Lloyd Wright's mecca in the eastern slopes of Scottsdale

Within a two-hour drive you can also hit:

- Payson and Tonto Bridge
- Prescott, Jerome and the Yarnell Hill
- Flagstaff and the Lowell Observatory
- Tuscon, real Sonoran Hot Dogs and the Sonoran Desert Museum
- Picacho Peak

For day trips south, there's Bisbee, Tucson, Kitt Peak, Mount Lemmon, Madera Canyon - one of the world's premier ornithological sites - Kartchner Caverns, Sabino Canyon, and much more.