The Last Week...

My baby boy starts school next Tuesday! So, I wanted to do what I could to make the most of our last week together before life as we all know it changes forever. *sigh*

So, I thought getting Culture Passes would be the way to go. Fun family entertainment/education for FREE!

So, on Monday Morning, the kids and I headed over to the Desert Sage Library to try to get some passes. The best word I've heard to describe that library is "hardcore". That is the truth. There is always a large crowd of people waiting to get in, and then as soon as the doors open, there is a mad dash to the stand that holds the passes. It is seriously a race! Well, with three kids in tow, it's pretty hard to be speedy, so we did not get one of the more sought after passes. Instead, we had to take what we could get, which in our case turned out to be the Phoenix Zoo.

Now, ordinarily, I would probably be pretty excited to take my kids to the zoo. It's fun, right? Well, we live in Phoenix, and this week we happen to have an Excessive Heat Advisory. Yikes. So, I decided that we'd still try to make the most of it. We tried to get there early - 8:30 is actually pretty early for us. I took lots of water bottles, in a little cooler to try to keep them cold.
The first hour or so that we were there wasn't too bad. We watched the monkeys for quite a while - that was lots of fun. We saw elephants and giraffes and birds...
They had a "Wild About Animals" show at 9:30, but only showed 4 animals, all of them were desert dwellers.
That's when it started to get HOT. We found the splash park and got wet. I should have planned ahead and brought suits and towels, but I figured with the heat, it really didn't matter. A few minutes in the sun we'd be dry anyway. Plus, being wet made it a little more bearable.
Then we made our way over to the petting zoo. The only animals to pet are goats, but the kids like them. (mostly)
I forgot my camera and didn't think to use my cell phone until this point of the day



We left the petting zoo in a hurry when Sebastian the goat came out of his pen. He is the biggest goat I've ever seen. He was almost as tall as me - on all fours! The kids petted him for a minute - until he turned his head and nipped at Ady. She screamed and we left.
We played on the tractors for a few minutes.

Then we met Daddy for lunch, came home and crashed! Being in the sun is tiring. But it was nice to go to the zoo without having to deal with big crowds!

Today, I thought I would try my luck again. But, I decided to go to the Maryvale Library instead since I've heard it isn't as crazy. That was true. We were able to walk right in (not run) and get a pass for the Arizona Science Center.
We decided to leave right from the library and head over there to use our pass. It was REALLY fun! They have a LEGO exhibit which is really incredible! Castles of all kinds made out of LEGOs. And lots of LEGOs to play and build with. Plus, dress up costumes for knights and princesses! They even had a baby area that Ainzlee was able to play in. All the kids LOVED it and didn't want to leave!
(my cell phone doesn't do very well taking pictures indoors)





I am very glad that we were able to spend this fun time together. I'm a little sad about sending my baby boy off to school next week, but I know that he is ready, and it will be the best thing for all of us.