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...

Glendale, AZ Watermelon Festival

I took my kids and two of my oldest daughter's friends to the Watermelon Festival in historic Glendale this weekend.  The farmer's market area was nearly microscopic.  There was a small corner of inflatables, which all cost extra money.  There were some artists displaying wares.  And...there were the watermelon games.  $1 per game or all seven games for $5.  The hands-free watermelon eating contest was definitely the highlight, and made the trip there worthwhile....

One of the antique shops also had a fun, free, watermelon-themed craft for the kids to do...

Peach Picking at Schnepf Farms

With visions of successfully canning fresh peaches and making peach jam in my mind, I headed out to Schnepf Farms with my kids, my friend, and three of her kids to pick organic peaches right off the trees.  The peaches smelled incredible.  The kids had a blast.

As one of the larger farms in the Valley, Schnepf Farms has a lot of amenities and hosts many events throughout the year.  Since we went during the week, most of the extras were closed.  I was disappointed not to be able to enjoy the peach sampling tent, but I didn't care that we were missing the amusement park-style rides.  There's a large play area on site that all of the kids, ranging in age from 4 to 14, thoroughly enjoyed.  Because Schnepf has a restaurant and a store on site, they do not allow outside food.

We each ended up taking about 20 pounds of peaches home.  Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to successfully skin and pit the peaches in order to can them, and fresh, ripe peaches do not have a very long shelf life.  If you are going to go out picking, either limit the number of pounds you pick or be sure you are going to be able to get them canned or frozen promptly.

Holiday Lights At McCormick Railroad Park

I wasn't sure what to expect when we went to Holiday Lights at McCormick Railroad Park, except that the parking lot wasn't very big so I wanted to be there early!  Our decision to go was somewhat last minute, as I tried to decide between that and something at Desert Ridge.  I have to say, though, that this will be a tradition my family continues every Christmas.  It was that fun.

We showed up, got a great parking spot, went to buy or train tickets, and having overheard someone say to someone else that they should get in line right then for the train rides beginning at 6PM, we followed suit.

We got in line pretty early, but we still had to wait for the fourth train before we boarded.  I turned around to look at the line behind us...

So, we boarded the train and we were off.  The ride lasts about 20 minutes.  The first 5-7 minutes go through the main part of the park, which, by the way, is a super fun place for kids of all ages to play.  The last 2/3 of the ride is where all of the light displays are.  All I can say is wow.  Whomever put that together did a really good job.  My kids were absolutely delighted!

They even had fake snow coming down off the end of one of the tunnels.  Words are simply inadequate to express how happy that made my kids!  (Those small white dots right by my daughter's hands are the snowflakes).

After we got off the train, we went to the museum train to visit Santa.  There was about a 30 minute wait and it did get hot in the train with so many people.

Following our visit with Santa, we let my littlest do some meet-and-greets with the costumed characters the park had walking amongst the crowd, take some photos in the cut-outs, and enjoy a carousel ride.

We concluded our visit in the model train museum.  My eldest would've happily stayed in there for hours if I'd let him.  He was completely captivated by all of the details in the model trains.  One of the big tracks was under construction.  One of the guys, who was working on what would eventually be a mountain, said that he was there 5-6 days a week and they expected that track and scenery to be done in about two years.

This truly was a wonderful family evening.  Next year, we will go on a day that my husband has off so we can enjoy it as a whole family.  On our way out, we looked and noticed that the line for the train had stretched all the way to the parking lot...

Poinsettia Festival at Gardener's World

It's the time of year, for those of us who do a photo card for our Christmas cards, to get that photograph taken.  When I heard about the Poinsettia Festival at Gardener's World, I thought that would be the perfect place!  So, we went with a friend and her daughter, who were thinking the same thing...although I believe she's going to use a beautiful photo she took of her daughter in a tree there, rather than one with the poinsettas....ANYWAY...

In the parking lot are the usual festival things - a few booths with wares for sale and some fair style food.  This is what we saw when we walked into the poinsettia retail tent...

I thought the retail tent was where the nicest photo opps were, unless you wanted to pony up for a professional photo out in the greenhouse.

We took a free tractor ride out to the greenhouse...

This is not even half of the greenhouse....

The amateur photo staging area in the greenhouse wasn't anywhere near as nice as the professional one, but the price was certainly right in amateur zone....

I did end up getting a photo of my three children for our Christmas cards that I was happy with.  For that alone, the trip was worth it.  We were only there for about an hour.  I don't know if they do more on Saturdays and Sundays (we went on a Friday).  It seems to me that they could've done a lot more to make it a real educational and entertaining festival...

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.