"Cool"est Ever

I had to dig deep to find acceptable activities in Arizona in the summer.  Basically the activities either need to include water (aka swimming pool or splash pad) or be inside.  But in my vast searching I found a gem.  It is called a Flashlight Tour.  They do them at the Arizona Botanical Gardens during the summer, two evenings a week.  We weren't sure what to expect but we knew that we needed flashlights and so we went.  (Because really, who doesn't love a good flashlight activity?)

 There was a brief orientation when we first arrived and then you were let loose along a designated path in the Gardens where there were informational and activity booths set up.  As always, I was nervous about how the kids would respond.  But the first stop was to see a scorpion under a black light and a tarantula.  The kids thought it was awesome and had a million questions.  SUCCESS!

 There were lots of activities for kids and the whole thing was at your own pace so we didn't have to stay with a group.  Which was so nice.  Above, the kids are making necklaces using toothpicks and ink.  This may not have been their artistic medium of choice.

 There was a snake stop.  You can just tell from the body language that Reese is none too thrilled with that stuffed rattlesnake behind glass.  You can just imagine his excitement about the live snake, outside of the box.  Being the great mother that I am, I encouraged him to touch it (and even touched it myself to show him it was safe....after asking the guide if it was safe... even though I have an overwhelming and irrational fear of snakes.  They are one of the things I make Mack get up in the night and check for when there is no evidence to suggest there is one in our room....just my twisted thought process.)  Reese still didn't want to touch it.  But Jessenia, Mack, and Melanie all did.

 There was this handy little ledge that told you to set your camera on it and self-timer a picture. Brilliant idea! It was dark, but I wanted to try it anyway.  Aren't we a cute bunch?

 The kids made spiders from half a Styrofoam ball and pipe cleaners.  Big hit during the car ride home.  (Until two days later when Jessenia decided to rip all of the legs off of Reese's one at a time while I was driving down the freeway and we had a screaming, crying mess.  The Joys of Motherhood.)

 It was a good thing we had three adults there.

 We could have actually done with one more.  You needed an adult for each kid plus one to run for art supplies.  Not something I would attempt alone.

 We also got to see frogs, toads, and poly wogs.  We learned about various plants and their uses.

 And we got to practice our beaver dam making abilities (not. so. great.).

All in all we had a fun time.  I declared it "The Coolest Thing We Have Done in Phoenix".  The kids had a blast (of course...they were up way past bedtime) and were not grumpy about any of it.  Mack was genius to have us take both strollers so no kids had to walk.  We learned quite a bit along the way and got to see some unexpected things (aka a wild snake by the pond).  It was pretty warm however.  Don't let the nighttime fool you.  It does not cool down in Arizona at night.  But worth it none the less.
The best part for the kids was the tortoise at the end.  They asked the entire way when we were going to see the tortoise and they were not disappointed.  Reese even touched it.
The best part for the adults was Bahama Bucks afterwards.  Because after getting all sweaty pushing toddlers through the Gardens at night, one deserves a snowcone.  Yummy!