Because I am so tremendously proud of my own children and all of the other children affiliated with the Sea Cadet Corps, I'm including the "changing of the guard"...
The event concluded with a fireworks display...
If you are looking for cool places to go and fun things to do with your kids (mostly in Arizona and in Washington, although I will include other locations as I visit them), this is the place for you!
Showing posts with label Mesa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mesa. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Celebration of Freedom
The annual Celebration of Freedom was on June 29, 2013 in Mesa, Arizona. I went to drop off my oldest two children, who were participating in the honor guard for the Fallen Heroes Memorial alongside other members of the Veteran's Pride Battalion of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps. After I left them with the officer in charge, I decided to scope out the event.
Because I am so tremendously proud of my own children and all of the other children affiliated with the Sea Cadet Corps, I'm including the "changing of the guard"...
The event concluded with a fireworks display...
Because I am so tremendously proud of my own children and all of the other children affiliated with the Sea Cadet Corps, I'm including the "changing of the guard"...
The event concluded with a fireworks display...
Monday, June 17, 2013
Phoenix Light Rail and Museum of Natural History
My youngest daughter has this thing about buses. She loves them. She always wants to "take the bus". So, when we decided to head to the Museum of Natural History with a group of friends, we opted to take the light rail from the park and ride near Bethany Home all the way to the museum in Mesa. One toddler didn't share my Jillian's love of buses, but all of the other kids loved the light rail. I loved not having to drive the 50 minutes out to Mesa and back.
This gigantic dinosaur greeted us when we entered the museum.
There's a place to build puzzles....
You can watch a giant storm sweep through a created landscape at regular intervals. The kids loved that.
There are tunnels and an indoor jail to explore. My kids could have spent hours playing here.
The outdoor area where kids can pan for gold was also quite popular. It was another place that my kids could have happily spent well over an hour playing.
Back inside, the kids found this "green screen". They could act as silly as they wanted to against a green backdrop and it would show up on a black and white screen for their friends' amusement. I'd have to say that this was the hit of the museum for my crew.
There's a place to build puzzles....
You can watch a giant storm sweep through a created landscape at regular intervals. The kids loved that.
There are tunnels and an indoor jail to explore. My kids could have spent hours playing here.
The outdoor area where kids can pan for gold was also quite popular. It was another place that my kids could have happily spent well over an hour playing.
Back inside, the kids found this "green screen". They could act as silly as they wanted to against a green backdrop and it would show up on a black and white screen for their friends' amusement. I'd have to say that this was the hit of the museum for my crew.
All in all, the kids (spanning in age from 14 all the way down to 1) had a terrific time at this museum. I would highly recommend it for a fun outing.
Monday, October 10, 2011
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!
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.
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.
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