Arizona Science Center

Black Friday shopping happened without the participation of anyone in the Schrag family. Actually that's not quite true.  Ben and I went to CVS Pharmacy and bought the boys new coloring pencils and markers on Friday morning. They'd done so much coloring that it was time for new supplies.

Friday afternoon, after the Huskers won their football game, we took off on the Light Rail to the Arizona Science Center.

The Light Rail is not the fastest form of public transportation, but we still had a good time.

The science center was completely geared toward children, but the adults had a pretty good time too.  First stop was the water area!

It was a very cool water area, in an outdoor space, which made for wacko lighting.  We had a hard time getting the boys to move past this part of the museum.

We saw a lot of stuff....one area was all about the body. We learned step-by-step (with visual & sound effects) what happens to the food we eat - from mouth to toilet!

There was an entire big room about the earth - water, air, forces of nature (inside joke: the Milk Maiden was a force of nature, right Sara and Sue??)

Ben, Levi, Andy and Lia took part in the Forces of Nature Experience. There were TV's mounted around the area showing a short movie that cycled through the different forces of nature. For Forest Fires heat lamps turned on.

For thunderstorms the floor shook with the loud cracks of thunder, lightening flashed and rain fell. Tornadoes brought a ton of wind; hurricanes: wind and rain; earthquakes: shaking floor. It was a really impressive show that gave a pretty legit sensory experience.

Tug-of-war with dad. I had to step in and help the boys win. :-)

I wonder if anyone knows how many Legos they used to create this car. There were several other Lego structures/creations on display for kids to crawl on as well as some amazing ships, rockets, trucks, etc. I think the boys were impressed and I know they had a great time!

That wraps our trip to Arizona. We had a great time spending time with family and seeing new sites. Thanks Sara and Josh for hosting us. We know it's no small task to welcome six people into your house, especially when two of them are loud and constantly moving. :-)

Hole-in-the-Rock

 Friday morning Sue, Sara, Lia and I took the boys to Hole-in-the-Rock in Papago Park. It's a huge park and the hike up to the hole was a nice short hike - although Levi didn't make it on his own power.

Once we all got up to the actual hole we had great views of the city and surrounding area - great except for the sand dust that fuzzed up the view. Noah was adventurous enough to go out with Sara for extra rock climbing.  If you look at the picture above, find the hole, then look to the left - they climbed over to the lump of rocks sticking out to the left (or jutting out into the blue sky background). Anyways, it was a long ways for his legs to take him and he was pretty proud of himself in the end.

Levi, on the other hand, climbed around on the ledges and crevices that surrounded the hole.  At one point, he freaked out and started crying because he thought he was going to slide off a ledge.  He was completely safe the entire time but from his perspective he was facing certain death.  Thankfully, I was able to slip my shoes off (since I was wearing flip-flops and had no traction) and make a heroic save just before disaster struck. Ha! That kid is just about as wimpy as me!

Climbing Rocks & Feasting

I have to admit, while we drove out to Out of Africa on Wednesday morning I was surprised to find out that Phoenix is surrounded by mountains. I felt kind of dumb for knowing that prior to arriving. So, on Thursday morning when we took the boys to a park I didn't give it a thought that there would be rocks there to climb.  Clearly I'm a prairie person. Regardless of poor shoe choices we climbed some rocks anyways!

Grandpa and Noah climbed a tall rock!

Ok, ok, ok....it wasn't actually that tall. But it gave a decent view of the city and Noah felt pretty good about climbing so high.

Looking down on the park - gives a sense of the dessert, right?

Our Thanksgiving meal wasn't scheduled until dinner time on Thursday so we had all afternoon to fill with two energetic boys.  Painting their toenails and fingernails filled up a bit of that time.

Good job Aunt Sara!

We did lots and lots of coloring. Levi even left a turkey or two taped up on the wall in Sara and Josh's house.

Finally it was time to get our Thanksgiving feast cooking. The Schrag family doesn't do turkey for Thanksgiving - this year we did kabobs - LOTS of kabobs!

Andy and Lia arrived and provided extra entertainment for the boys.

And then finally all the work was complete and it was time to eat! Fatty Potatoes, stuffing, fruit salad, kabobs and pie!

The food was DE-licious and it was great to sit outside on the patio to enjoy our Thanksgiving meal.

Out of Africa

Wednesday we spent the day here:

We had a great time on the Safari, feeding the giraffes carrots by hand. Some people took advantage of the option to let the giraffe take the carrot from their mouth, which resulted in a sticky giraffe kiss. None of the Schrag's took advantage of that option (gross!).

We got an up-close look at some zebras. I'd never been so close to one before and was pretty mesmerized by the pattern and texture of their stripes.

I didn't know the black fur was a different height and texture than the white fur.

Levi was not so sure about the safari bus that didn't have windows. He made sure to follow the instructions about not sticking his elbows or hands outside the bus when we were near the zebras or ostriches.

This is a terrible photo of the Watusi cow, but since we see these guys on a farm right outside Goessel it was also fun to learn a bit more about them. For instance, their horns serve as an air conditioner for the animal. Right near it's head the horns look pinkish and that's because blood flows there and heat escapes out the end of their horns providing a way for the animal to cool down in the hot sun.  Pretty cool, huh?

Lunch was a picnic out in the parking lot (no food allowed in the park). The boys had fancy seats and a table while the adults had to stand. They thought it was pretty cool even though the photo doesn't show it.

It was cool when we got to the park in the morning, but in the afternoon it was in the 80's - just a bit warmer than we're used to on the day before Thanksgiving.

So then we walked around the rest of the park. Here are some of the wolves with some of their caretakers. Yes, those are wolves and yes those ladies are simply sitting there petting them and visiting about their Thanksgiving plans.

The Bengal Tiger was beautiful.

The hyenas were very, very interesting. Much bigger than I thought they'd be, kind of gross looking, yet their faces had some endearing qualities.

We watched the Tiger Splash show.

Watched some tigers and bears hang out in the sun.

Ventured into the reptile building - not my favorite, but amazing none-the-less.

And then during the snake show we got to learn about this Reticulated Python.

And after giving it some serious thought, Noah decided to touch it. It was fascinating to watch him work up his courage to actually touch the snake. I'm not a fan of snakes and didn't venture in the ring to touch the python myself but I was proud of Noah for going for it.

Ben took Levi in and he touched the snake briefly and then was ready to get out of there.

The weather was perfect for walking around and exploring the park. It was great to follow the roads and just see what was around the next corner.

These black cheetahs had to work for their snacks.

Mama lion hanging out.

And we saw a bunch fat prairie dogs.

It took us over an hour to drive to the park, but it was totally worth it. What a great way to spend the day together - and learn a lot about animals!