White Tanks: Waterfall Trail

It rained last night, so this morning, my family decided to head over to the White Tank Mountains and hike the Waterfall Trail.  We were hoping for the small waterfall at the end of the trail to be active. 

The trail is short and easy.  My 2-year-old walked about half of it on her own this time.

She giggled over being, "left in the dust" by Jarrod and Erica, who are obviously much faster and have more stamina than she does.  When she got tired of walking, there were plenty of sets of arms to carry her.

When we got to the end of the trail, it was bone dry.  Unfortunate for our hopes of seeing a waterfall, but cool because we were able to easily get further back into the crevaces.  Here's what it looks like relatively dry....

The waterfall would normally be immediately to my children's right.  When there's water, it pools in a basin area right behind them, and at the base of the rocks they climbed to get up there.

This picture was taken almost three years ago.  The waterfall isn't visible from this picture.  It's behind the big rock my daughter is leaning on to climb.

Again, this area today was completely dry.  Much easier to hike into than when it's filled with water!

You can see the very tiny waterfall here.  I don't know if it ever gets bigger because we've only seen it dry and like this.

And THAT is the pool of water at the base of the rocks my children were climbing, when the waterfall has been bringing water into the area.  As my son can attest after he slipped off the rocks he was climbing on, it is COLD.

We really like this hike because it's an easy one for the whole family.



Arizona State Fair - On The Cheap

Admittedly, I am not a big fan of the fair.  I don't love the crowds.  I don't like roller coasters and other rides that stretch the laws of gravity.  Not only that, but I don't like handing over $5 for tickets that will allow one person to go on one ride one time.  I don't like fair food, and I don't like paying fair food prices.  For a cheapskate like me, the fair is no bargain!

HOWEVER, my children beg to go every year.  This year I gave in because, somehow the sun, stars and moon aligned just right so that the cheapskate in me managed to be somewhat appeased.  We went on a "school day" with the Girl Scout Troop, which means the kids were free and my ticket was only $5.  As a bonus, parking was also free.  The "Body Worlds" exhibit was free and the Butterfly Pavillion was free, too.  All in all, how could a cheapskate like me pass that up?

I didn't.  The cheapskate in me played some hardball with my kids before I agreed to go, though.  They could read and fill out their "Read to Ride" papers to earn three free rides each, and any rides beyond those that they wanted to do would come out of their own pockets.  And, there would be.no.fair.food.  We packed our own lunches and I brought along a jug of water.  Finally, since I had to work in the afternoon, we couldn't stay all day and into the evening.

We started off in the Butterfly Pavillion, which was cool.  Everyone was given Q-tips to dip in butterfly food.  We had to watch our feet to make sure we didn't step on any butterflies on the ground.

We went into one of the agricultural arenas next.  The solar system exhibit and presentation was there.  Since I was following my animal-loving two-year-old around while she insisted that the sheep and goats "EAT!", I didn't hear any of that presentation from the folks at the Challenger Space Center.  My kids came away with free tickets for various events there, though.

We went into the "Body Worlds" exhibit, too.  I left my youngest with a friend in Tot Town, where they played on foam mats, rode on Plasma cars, and the like.  I took my 12-year-old son, my 9-year-old daughter and her friend into the exhibit.  (There was no photography allowed inside, so I don't have any pictures).  My son wanted to read every plaque next to every item.  The girls moved through a lot faster.  Mid-way through, my daughter's friend, a little grossed out, pointed out that she hadn't seen ANY female bodies yet.  Just a few feet further, we came across our first, um, segment of a female body, which left both of the girls completely grossed out that the folks who had put that part of the exhibit together left some hair in the body.  My son and I both left with a feeling of profound awe over the complexities of the human body.

With four starving children in tow, we unpacked our lunches next.  Since it wasn't very crowded, we were able to eat at some shaded tables.

Following lunch, the kids were OFF for the rides!

My littlest wasn't about to be left out of the fun, so I had to pony up $5 to get some ride tickets for her (for the cheapskates who count, I'm now up to $10).  Fortunately, she was tall enough for the kiddie rides!



She rode on two by herself and conned her brother into hopping onto the kiddie tea cups with her.

By that point, we were all HOT (did I mention it was HOT out?!) and thirsty.  Our water in the jug was running out.  The big kids went into a fun house, and I bought two lemonades.  (For the cheapskates counting, that added another $6 to my tally).  After that, we headed out.  My youngest was asleep in her stroller before we reached the car.

So, I spent $16, not counting gas, at the Arizona State Fair.  I had fun.  Do I love the fair?  No, I still don't love the fair, but I love that my kids had a blast.

Halle Heart Center

Today's field trip was yet another that had been on my list of places to visit for the past few years.  I'd heard about it and wondered for a good long while whether the field trip would be worth taking or not...because, let's face it.  Thinking about a children's museum dedicated to the heart doesn't exactly sound, well, um, very exciting.  However, I kept hearing rave reviews from other people who had been to the Halle Heart Center.  I finally put it on the calendar for Just Field Trips.  My big kids thought it was soooo cool!

The museum was bright, open and colorful.  It was divided into specialized areas.  While we were there, there were several other tours for children going on.  The museum staff moved everyone along efficiently.  There is a guide assigned to each tour.  The guide spends a few minutes at every station explaining what that station is about and providing additional information related to the topic.

That red tunnel above is a replica of an artery.  There is a mechanism for closing the artery off, the way plaque does.  The kids get golf-ball sized balls and they get to try to shoot them through the artery without the artery closing off. 

In this area, the docent talked about cigarette smoking and what it does to your heart and lungs, too.  My son was appalled to hear that there is cyanide and other nasty chemicals in cigarettes!  One of the hands-on activities in this section is a demo of what it's like to give someone CPR...

We moved into a room that was set up like a giant live-stage theater.  This was their "911" room.  The kids learned about the signs of a heart attack and a stroke.

After that, we went into the "Healthy Kitchen" for a talk about nutrition and heart-healthy foods...

Then we went to another theater for a short movie about how proper nutrition fuels your body, and how an unhealthy diet makes it pitter out.

Our next area was all about exercise and working that heart! 

After all of the exercise, the kids lined up to have a giant stethoscope pick up their heartbeat.  If you notice the balls in the tube, their heartbeat is supposed to make those move.

Keeping going, our next stop was right in front of a life-sized replica of a whale's (forgive me, I cannot remember which one, blue, I think - but I was chasing after my 2-year-old!) heart.

We finished up in "The Marketplace", where the kids were tasked to "buy" food from the pyramid and make it as nutritious and complete as they possibly could at the "check-out".

We were there just over two hours.  The toddlers and preschoolers had a hard time with the length of the tour, and while none of them were disruptive, they weren't able to focus, either.  In my opinion, this field trip is best for 3rd - 8th grades.

AZ Commemorative Wing Air Force Museum

Today's field trip was to the Arizona Wing of the Commemoratve Air Force in Mesa.  It's been on my list of places to visit since I moved to Arizona in 2006, and I finally did it!  I'm glad I waited.  My big kids are now almost 13 and almost 10 and they got a lot more out of it than they would have five years ago.

The awe actually began in the car on the drive in.  An Apache helicopter flew in right overhead and landed at Falcon Field (which, incidentally, began as a training field for British pilots during World War One).  It continued when we pulled into the parking lot of the museum and the kids saw the outside exhibits.

We were met inside by a retired Air Force vet who now volunteers his time at the museum, for a guided tour.  The amount of information that man holds is incredible.  He was able to tell us about all of the airplanes, about the history of the airplanes...and he was even able to answer the questions that my son and his friend had about the calibur of the weaponry aboard each aircraft!

Some of the things that I found interesting....

1. The swastikas on the side of the airplace denoted how many enemy airplanes the pilot of this plane was able to shoot down.

2. The number of bombs on this jacket denote the number of successful bombing missions this pilot has been on....

3. I thought the eagle on the wall was cool....

We got to go outside to look at some of the planes docked outside.

We were able to witness one of the B-17 bombers that had been in, I believe, Texas for a while, return back home.  The bomber gave the kids a buzz fly-by.

We got to see the restoration hangar, where they are working on several helicopters and other aircraft.  We finished the tour with some time on our own to explore the many other exhibits that were there.  My kids and my friend's kids struck up a conversation with another museum volunteer who was an infantryman in the Army.  He served in the Pacific.  I'm pretty sure my kids could've spent hours listening to his stories!  My friend's daughter thought it was really cool when she was able to make a connection between the exhibit on women pilots and one of the books she had recently read called "Almost An Astronaut". 

This was an incredible field trip tour.  I highly, highly recommend it for anyone interested in the military or in military history.  It's best for older children, teens and adults.