Country Bumpkins Depart the Farm for the Big City!

This past week, the kids and I drove up to Phoenix for a home school event at the Sea Life Aquarium up there. From the time I downloaded the directions, we laughed because this was at an aquarium in a MALL! The kids already know that driving up to Phoenix makes me grip the steering wheel tightly and worry, as the traffic is intense with weird roads named multiple things and highways with six plus lanes in some places. Wyatt asked how many extra hours I was planning for the drive, and we were all glad to see it was just off I-10, which is a little less crazy. So it wasn't much of a jump when Wyatt began joking about us country people heading for the big city. (Please note, I have driven up there several times lately, now!)

So the kids got to take part in a dissection, it was really well run, and we will continue wit that is our biology work this week, following the tarantula and more as we kick off the science for this year. The displays were pretty and the education was hands on and close up. 

Scheduled feedings, vibrant colors and music and interactive educational stuff made a nice experience.

We wandered the huge mall and enjoyed gelato, and since they had a Rain-forest Cafe, and Bailey had been to one while away on a robotics trip a couple years ago, she wanted to show Wyatt the cool stuff.

Wyatt enjoyed trying on hats, 

we found a red, white and blue fish, (that excitement really only underscored the rednecks in the city theory, huh?)

and since the IKEA store was one exit down the road, we decided that would be a good one to check off the list of things to see once in your life.

They tried out desk chairs,

Bailey checked out the wardrobes to see if she could find her way to Narnia,

Wyatt tried to see what the chicks feel like before hatching,

we tried random snacks they had heard about...

And laughed about how faded the stamps were from the aquarium.

Then we drove on home to do evening feedings and collect the eggs and all the normal things we do every day. We are looking forward to a couple more field trips, hopefully before the end of the month, as we haven't gotten to use the Blue Star museum pass yet!