Tree House Museum (Warning, Picture Overload)

We met up with some friends while in Northern Utah and hit up The Tree House Museum.

Here's way to many pictures of that visit.

Of COURSE there was a fire engine. 

And of COURSE The Boy had to drive it. 

Since he did

So did she.

And since my camera is old and stupid, it over-exposed even on automatic adjust.

Plus, I need to learn to take pictures.

Teaching him the proper way to bull ride was a trick. He didn't want to use the left hand to hang on, but he figured out the underhanded grip pretty quick.

Milking this cow was my favorite part. When stripped, the udder actually expresses liquid into the pail. VERY cool! Sam got wet, but I think that's because his daddy squirted him.

Here's the Prettiest Rodeo Princess EVER.

And here's her brother.

Here's the Little Momma. For some reason, all my pictures of her are over exposed. Do you think it could because she's SO white?

Here's my Scientist Son. 

He had a great time looking at slides and didn't really want to leave this station.

Which was OK, because it was right next to the baby area...

Which little miss, LOVED.

The Boy thought he'd try out the baby station, since The Baby liked it so much. 

But I can't tell if he's feeding or suffocating the doll.

Can you?

I have to say, I was a little irked at this display. I kept thinking, "yes, let's show that putting the babies in little sterile plastic boxes away from their momma's scent and heartbeat is A-OK!" 

Truly, it made me mad.

Moving On...

The Boy, with a monkey on his back.

The Hubs thought this was VERY funny.

Little Red. 

My camera died, despite two-day old batteries, so I had to switch to the cell phone camera.

More Fire Engine pictures, because we had to come back and play here.

The Hubs art project. 

He's so talented.

(Notice it's a winking imoticon.)

All the kids together. 

See that other baby next to The Baby?

She's only two months older.

Just say'n.

You made it!

THE END.

Hall of Flame

Took the kiddos to meet friends at The Hall Of Flame the world's LARGEST Firefighting museum.

It was AWESOME. Well, the boy loved it. Baby was along for the ride.

 Behold...the pictures.

A little play area had horses just the right size for three-year-olds to climb. :)

The baby stayed right where you see her almost the entire time we were in the play area. She LOVED these horsies!

You can kind of see some other kids in the background. It took a lot of coaxing to get S to give up the steering wheel, even for a moment. He adored pretending to drive this 1951 fire engine, the only real fire engine on which the kids were allowed to play. 

(this is stock footage from the website)

So is this "parades only" hose carriage. I thought it was pretty, so I'm including it. 

Back to the children:

here's my Little Chief driving a miniature. He sure does love driving! Maybe he is my kid, after all...

If you annoyed by the poor quality of images, please tell the Dear Husband that I need a better camera...and lessons. :)

Some other cool things at this museum I didn't get pictures of are: a pole the kids can slide down, a model house showing fire dangers, a play house with fire dangers, helmets from around the world, over 2k patches, two old dispatch stations, and a place to hear real live fire calls happening in REAL TIME. So cool! 

Thanks D and kids, for an AWESOME morning. The best part? Both kids fell asleep on the ride home. Blessed day!

Children's Museum of Phoenix

Can I just say, I wish I was 4 again? Not just because someone else pays the bills, fixes the food and bathes me. Oh No! It's because of THIS:
(I kifed the photo from the museum's website. Hopefully they don't mind.)

The Children's Museum of Phoenix, housed in what used to be The Monroe School. This place is all about interactive fun for kids from age one to about 10. And the best part? It's FREE the first Friday of every month. Which is good, because otherwise it's $9 a person, even kids as young as one. So for my whole family it's $36. No Thank You. The only drawbacks to going on First Fridays are the crowds and the fact that it doesn't start until 6pm.
Here are some pics of my kids enjoying the exhibits.

The noodle forest was a big hit with kids and parents alike. SUPER FUN!

I don't think I ever got a picture of V's face, because the kid was having so much fun, she never wanted to look at me!

Notice I also had a hard time getting S's face. At least we know they had a good time!

The interactive kitchen was a big hit, as was the gravity room (that's what I call it). You could make your own tube track for the balls to travel, using gravity. Super fun! The DH had more fun than the kids with some parts, I think. :) Way worth the drive, especially because it was free. LOVE LOVE LOVE free stuff!