Field Tripping - Phoenix Children's Museum

I'm a total field trip junkie.

If I could go to all the places and just let that count as school, I totally would.  And now we have an entire state full of things we haven't done yet and I'm all kinds of excited.  We are only one week into school, but our calendar is already looking crazy full with field trips.

First up, the Phoenix Children's Museum.

We've been here before, but not since Gabe was two.  Taking a two year old to the children's museum is a totally different experience than taking a 4 year old.  He was able to do everything himself which made my job a whole lot easier.  Josie and Gabe spent 5 hours running like wild beasts through the museum.  We did it all.

At the end I asked what their favorites were.  

Josie - "All of it.  But the Pizza Kitchen the most."
Gabe - "I WUHVED the Noddle Forrest!" (noodles hanging from the ceiling that you run through.  He actually cried going through them, so this answer was a bit unexpected.)

Now, please enjoy these pictures. 

Mostly of the back of my kid's heads because who has time to stop for a photo op?

Lord, y'all.  My kids are a mess.  Josie is in a major "I love pink" stage and 

can we all just agree that Gabe's mismatched shoes and incorrectly 

buttoned shirt just perfect our image?

Sorry Phoenix, we are what we are. 

 

 

with the amount of time we spent at the mini sink in the bathroom, I was sure this was 

Gabe's favorite part!

Noah's Ark Conservatory

Two weeks ago, our state was hit with a freak ice storm that left us all cowered in front of the fire trying to stay warm.

But in true Georgia fashion, the next week temps soared from 30 to 70.

I don't mind a few days in front of a fire with my living room bright from all the white snow and ice outside, but I like 70 better.  I think the cold made the warm feel so much better.  Something like no rainbows without rain, right?

Thursday was our warmest day of the week so we ditched the lesson plans and called some friends for a field trip.

We live about 15 minutes from Noah's Ark Conservatory.

It's a really cool place that resembles a small zoo.  They take in abandoned and abused animals and are open to the public to visit for free (donations appreciated though).  They have chickens, rabbits, and deer just roaming around.  In the enclosed areas there are wolves, birds, monkeys, and a ton of other animals.  Theres even an area where a lion, tiger, and bear live together!  They moved in together as babies and are now best buddies!

We had a perfect day.  Great weather, good company, and we didn't lose a single one of the 14 children we had with us!

Week In Review

We've been having a lot of fun these past couple of weeks.

I was looking through the pictures on my phone and had so many that I wanted to share, I decided to just bombard you with one insanely picture heavy post.  Hope you like our faces, cause you're about to see a lot of them!

After spending a month or so embracing my inner homebody, the extrovert in me wanted a turn.  

First up, Legoland in Atlanta.

We got an awesome deal on tickets with our local homeschool group.

We spent a good chunk of the day there and the kids had a ton of fun.  They got to ride a couple of rides, play on a huge climbing structure, watch a 4d movie, and attend a workshop.  The workshop was actually pretty educational.  They learned about velocity and how to build a car that would win a race on the ramps.  I was impressed.

In effort to be totally honest, I think the regular price for tickets is crazy expensive for what you get (about $20 a person).  I would have felt like I wasted a lot of money had we paid full price.  I felt like the rate we paid ($8 each) was very reasonable for what we got.  I have friends that swear it's the greatest place ever so that's obviously just my opinion.

Anyways, here's a peek at the fun we had!

Proud that I survived that open play area with three small children?  You bet.

This week my baby turned seven.

We had 5 of her little buddies come spend the night.  Everyone stayed up too late and got up too early so we were sleepy.  

But no rest for the weary, we had circus tickets so as soon as the last little girl walked out the door, we hopped in the car and hit the road.  

The circus was amazing.  

Then we hit up Josie's favorites, Uncle Julio's and Yogli Mogli to wrap up the birthday fun!

38.9 seconds after leaving the yogurt shop:

For part of Josie's birthday gift, Andrew is building her a window seat for her room.

It's resulted in a lot of evenings in the garage with both kids helping.  I love, love, love watching Andrew father these kids.  They are pretty dang lucky to have each other.

And another field trip:

We went back to Spivey Hall for another music education program.  

This one was on African drums and was SO much fun!  The performers were from West Africa and did an excellent job teaching the kids about the drums, how they are made, and what sounds they can make.  There was dancing and singing and lots of drumming.  This was my favorite trip of the year.

Andrew's Waffle Houses aren't in the best area so we don't go visit him at work anymore.  

But the concert was right by the store he was at so we took a chance and had lunch with him.  I love seeing him at work.  I forget how busy and crazy his job is so I think it's good for me to go in and get that reminder every once in awhile.  The kid's had fun and lunch was yummy.

Happy to report we had an incident free lunch!

Then, early Wednesday morning, frozen water began to fall from the sky and us Southerners were hit with Round TWO of Winter Weather.

First time was fun, second time not so much.

Amber and her girls came down and ended up spending the night which was a treat for everyone, but snow and ice mean Andrew has to work nonstop (he slept in his car in the ghetto) and we spend the day in fear of the power going out.  We got lucky and other then a few flickers that made us send up loud, reverent prayers, the power stayed on.

We woke up to fat snow flakes and tree threatening to break under the weight of ice and by nap time it was all gone.  Georgia Winters are very, very odd.

Now our yard is a mud pit.

So I'm corralling the midgets inside, which is excellent news for the Lalaloopsies.  The collection is expanding.

Roam School - The Rock Ranch

Yesterday we met up with a few friends for a great field trip.

The Rock Ranch is owned by Truett Cathy (founder of Chick-fil-a for anyone who doesn't live in the South).  They do a ton of fun activities there, but in November they host "Pilgrims To Pioneers."

Pilgrims To Pioneers is set up in stations.  The kids rotate between them and hear a mini lesson at each one.  They got to grind corn, hear about the first Thanksgiving, tour a one room pioneer house, see a covered wagon and hear about what it was like to travel that way, visit an indian teepee, and go on a hayride.

It was set up really well.  There were quite a few schools there and it never felt crowded.  They also kept the talks quick but gave out great information.  I was really impressed.

After a chilly weekend and rain all day Sunday, we were pretty sure we'd have to cancel the trip.  We were way wrong.  It was 75 and sunny the whole day.  So gorgeous out, even if none of us were dressed for such a warm day!

The hit of the day was Tiny Town.  

A whole street lined with kid sized play houses made up like a town.  There was a school, a church, a courthouse and jail, and lots of little shops.  The kids loved it.   

We rounded out the trip on the giant inflatable pillow!  So fun!

It was a great field trip!