Saturday, October 20, 2012

Challenger Space Center


We had planned to go to Sedona this weekend, but we woke up and had a slow breakfast, and when I looked online, I discovered that the leaves were not changing as much as I had hoped they would be, so we decided to wait a couple weekends.  We went through our list of stuff to do while still in AZ, and decided upon the Space Center.  

The drive was only about an hour.  We ended up getting there close to 1pm.  The museum closed at 4.  We started our adventure with their liquid nitrogen demonstration.  It was really cool.  The kids really enjoyed it!  Afterwards, we went on a tour of the facilities.  We learned about all kinds of astronauts and attempts to go into space.  We got to see the tire of a space shuttle after it had been used up (apparently they can only be used twice).  The kids got to see a small collection of meteorites and even got to hold one (and they were surprisingly more heavy than we expected). It was an interesting museum.  I thought it was a bit overpriced for what was there, but other than that, we had a good time.


 J building while waiting for the Liquid Nitrogen demo
E listening to some music :)  Haha

J's finished project

Blowing up balloons to stuff in the cooler of liquid nitrogen 

Holding a chunk of meteorite 

Posing as an astronaut - haha!  E didn't want to do it. 

Em and the gyroscope

E and M playing with all the buttons and switches

Monday, October 15, 2012

Arizona State Fair - Weezer Show

When I heard Weezer would be at the Arizona State Fair, I knew I had to be there!  The last time Weezer was coming to AZ, their tour bus got in a wreck and they had to cancel the show.

Our family had never been to the state fair.  We got a sitter for the younger two and took Em and J to their first concert ever.  Em was really excited, J was more excited about the rides than he was to go to the show.

We got there about an hour before the doors opened.  Em and J did the read and ride program.  You read three books and write a summary of about 25 words about each one, then you turn it in at the guest services booth and they gave us these awesome ride tickets worth three rides, any three rides, regardless of ticket amount.  We figure it saved us about $30, well worth doing.  It was enough rides that it made the fair fun for the kids.  We did not buy any tickets.  We did two rides before the show and one afterward.  The only thing we wanted to do, but didn't, was the zip line.  It looked SO fun!  


E and J decided to do the Sky Flyer as their first ride.


Sky Flyer in action

Posing and being goofy!

The Cyclone was what they chose as their second ride - it was a spin ride like teacups but elevated in the air

J really wanted to go on one of these haunted house/zombie rides, but E could not be convinced

Waiting for the concert to begin, and E making her =W=

Rivers rocking it

 
Pat and Scott (who looked super buffed up- someone has been hitting the gym)

J watching the show . . . his very first concert

I love this green guitar Rivers has!  Pretty!

My fam at the end of the show

E and J overlooking the rides at the fair

J really liked Behemoth Bug Land (it was really cool).  This is the mosquito

Ladybug and Locust

Black Widow

Awesome and disturbing . . . because everything tastes better dipped in chocolate

Their third ride, Crazy Coaster -- roller coaster that spins like teacups while you go

We wandered through the Agriculture Building and the Arts &Crafts Building

Cutest BIG bunny

Such a pretty chocolate brown color -- this totally makes me want a bunny!

Brand new baby chicks :-)

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Disneyland - October 11, 2012

Day 3 - We woke up to a rainy morning.  I knew it would rain today because the it was expected to, and I actually was looking forward to it keeping some people away from the parks *fingers crossed right*

We went to Fantasyland first thing in the morning to finish up the rides we had not done yet, and when we got there, we discovered Alice and Teacups were both shut down because they had to be mopped up after the rain before we could ride them.  We ran into Mr. Rabbit and the Mad Hatter.  The Mad Hatter tied M and E's harnesses together so if they got lost, at least they would be together and then commented to Mr. Rabbit that they should do that with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!  Haha!  After getting a picture with them, we headed over and went on Dumbo and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and when we finished those, Alice was open and by the time we finished Alice, Teacups were open!  Perfect!

Meeting Mad Hatter and Mr. Rabbit

E and J in line at Mr. Toads Wild Ride

M being in charge of making us fly at Dumbo

Teacups

Littles having so much fun spinning their mommy

After Fantasyland, the babies were getting kind of grouchy, and hungry, so we went to Pizza Port and had some lunch.  M had a meltdown as we were trying to get lunch, it was probably the most stressful time of the trip, but an awesome lady working at Pizza Port, carried my tray to the table and helped us out.  I was so appreciative.  After we finished, we took the Disneyland RR across to the Haunted Mansion (to cheer me up) and then rode it back to Tomorrowland because J wanted to see Jedi training.  We got there really close to the start of the show, so they did not get chosen.  Em still did all the stuff with an imagination light saber and at the end, a Disney worker gave her an R2D2 hat for doing all the moves and trying so hard even though she was not chosen.  It was pretty cool!  She was excited!!!

Haunted Mansion Holiday

Jack & Zero

Riding the Disneyland RR

Meeting Minnie Mouse

Me and the fab 4 in front of the waterfall at California Adventure

It's Tough to be a Bug - Love those bug glasses

After dinner at Tortilla Jo's with their awesome balloon creations (E had princess Leia, J got a penguin hat)

E got a shark hat