The Glendale Police Museum

Today's field trip was to the Glendale Police Museum.  It is housed in the Glendale Public Safety Building.  We were met by Dan, the delightful curator of the museum.  He is a 25-year veteran of the Glendale Police Force, having served undercover, on patrol and in the DARE program during his working years.  He has amassed an interesting array of Glendale police memorabilia and displayed it well.

Dan led our small group from display to display, and shared his memories and what he just happened to know about each cluster of items.  We began with the wall of chiefs.  After that, there were displays covering SWAT, bomb disposal units, K-9 units, women in the department, the motorcycle, uniforms, shields and badges, the Memory Wall (in 100 years, only two officers have been killed in the line of duty), police lights, technology, and a few others.  Dan regaled me and my children (currently 12 and 9) with his tales and information.  My kids peppered him with questions.

We ended up spending 90 minutes there - 30 beyond what we were scheduled for, because we were so interested in what we were learning about!  This is a free museum display.  Docent-led "tours" (like the one we had) need to be arranged ahead of time, but you can just go in and browse on your own.

Hunger 101

Today's field trip was a presentation called Hunger 101 and a tour of St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix.  I've dropped off food donations at the warehouse before, so I really wasn't sure what to expect.  Along with several other homeschooling families, my 12 and 9-year-olds and I learned about hunger in the Valley and about how St Mary's helps.

The first thing we learned is that there are three different kinds of people that St Mary's helps: 4, 5 and 7.  One in every four children in the Valley is hungry.  One in every five adults, and one in every seven senior citizens.  That's absolutely disgraceful.  I was shocked. 

Nonetheless, I won't cover the highlights of the presentation that Mr. Chet gave the group, in case you want to schedule a tour yourself.  I will, however, say that Hunger 101 is their educational program for children.  When I asked about age restrictions, I was told that it was St Mary's policy not to have kids younger than 5 attend.  I'd take that further and say that it's best for upper elementary through high school age.  There's a lot of talk, and a good amount of walking on the tour.

We went through the entire warehouse.  It's huge.  And hot during the summer.  No air conditionning.  The sheer volume of square feet and the amount of food that goes in and out of the building is amazing.  The number of volunteer hours logged by volunteers is staggering....and yet, still more needs to be done.

The most interesting part of the warehouse tour for me was when we rounded the corner and left the community supported section of the food bank and went to the government funded section.  Different rules and regulations, and yet another example of government waste and inefficiency.  The community supported portion of St Mary's does everything about feeding the community better, cheaper and more efficiently than the government funded portion.

Finally, a plug for one of their fundraisers...My son and I each won these stuffed turkey characters,  The tag attached to them says, "Buy-A-Bird Feed A Family".  They'd make perfect gifts for friends and family who don't really need anything. 

Yuma Creative Playground

After my friend, our kids and I finished up at the Yuma Territorial Prison, we took the advice of some locals and went to the Creative Playground.  Apparently, the people of Yuma banded together and built this incredible playground themselves - folks donated supplies, time and labor.  Their efforts were not wasted!  You should've heard the delight and awe in our children's voices when we pulled the van into the parking lot there and they saw the playground (which, is pictured as my blog photo).  Words will simply do this playground an injustice.

Each of those photos shows a different view of the playground.  The centerpiece is an enormous castle-like structure with tunnels, stairs, cubbies, slides, and platforms.  Think McDonald's Playland on steroids.

There is a designated "Tot Lot" for the little guys.  Sand, baby swings, adaptive recreation swings, smaller playground equipment, bouncy toys, an airplane and a train for imaginative play, even a cut-out photo opportunity (which you can see part of on the left hand side of the second photo)!

None of our kids (ages 12, 12, 9 and 2) wanted to leave, but alas, the sun was going down and we had a long drive ahead of us.

Yuma Territorial Prison

Just for kicks, my friend and I decided to load up our kids and make the drive from Phoenix to Yuma to go to the Yuma Territorial Prison.  That state park has been on my list of places to visit since I moved to Arizona in March of 2006, and I only finally managed to make it in December of 2010!  The drive was tolerable with my friend; the kids entertained themselves.

The Yuma Territorial Prison did not disappoint!  It was a pretty darn cool field trip to take.  Even my 2-year-old had fun in the prison yard.  I would've gotten much more out of the short video and all of the photos and memorabilia in the museum if I wasn't chasing after her, though. 

At the entrance to the yard, is a plaque that lists the offenses of the folks who were imprisoned there.  It was pretty interesting.  Naturally, there were some murderers, thieves and rapists...someone was imprisoned for seduction with the promise of marriage, though!

Above, the kids are in the prison cellblock.  Several of the cells were open for park guests to explore.  The kids all got a big kick out of going inside and shutting the door!  This place definitely sparked their imaginations, and they would've played here longer if the museum wasn't closing so soon after we made it there.

We were also able to explore "the dark cell", which was the punishment area for inmates who were misbehaving.  It was pretty bleak, and definitely dark.  My 2-year-old tripped on the do-hickey in the center to which guards chained the inmates, because it was so dark.  We didn't stay in there long!  They say the longest an inmate spent in there was 120 days!  I could hardly stand a minute.

We also walked up to the top of the guard tower, and were treated to a beautiful view of surrounding Yuma!

Our three oldest kids (12, 12 and 9) all thoroughly enjoyed this field trip.  My 2-year-old, while she didn't get much out of the informational or historical aspects of the prison, enjoyed being with the older kids and playing in the yard.  This would be a great field trip for adults to do on their own as well.

PBS Station

Earlier last week, we traveled to downtown Phoenix for a tour of our local PBS Station.  It is run through ASU.  The field trip itself was free, and over in about an hour.  I would recommend it for someone with teenagers and older children.  The station wasn't busy when we went.  We got to see several studio rooms and the areas where people are working behind-the-scenes when they are taping or airing a live show.  The big studio room was pretty impressive.

It would've been neat to be able to do some more hands-on things and have the actual people who work there show the kids how the equipment works.  Years ago, we had visited a local broadcasting station and the camera guy turned the camera on the kids!  This tour, however, really was more "tell" than "show".

Cave Creek Recreation Area, Sweetwater Entrance

I took my kids and met my friend with her kids at a park I'd never heard of before: the Cave Creek Recreation Area, Sweetwater Entrance.  This particular park has a bunch of small caves and tunnels.

When we pulled up and my kids saw the mounds/caves, they said "cool! This is perfect for playing wolves!"  As it turns out, they were also explorers, mountaineers and spies. 

This is a big park, with a big wash right behind it.  I noticed some teenagers skateboarding down there.  There was also someone playing with a big RC car.  The parking lot and the bathrooms are very close (there are no doors in the women's bathrooms and no soap, either).  Plenty of picnic tables.

The playground equipment itself is all right.  I've been to parks with a more impressive array of things on the playground.  Honestly, here my kids spent more time on the mounds and in the caves.  However, this park also has two sets of swings for both babies and big kids.