Family Fun!

We wrapped up our family trip with a good, old fashioned evening at the local family fun center. We started off with a round of mini-golf.

After a successful round of golf: holes-in-one had by all, we took a turn at bumper boats! This was a new experience for the kids (including the biggest one). 

The evening's big finale was the kids' turn on the mini-karts! They were both very excited that they got to drive by themselves and had so much fun that they rode twice. Darren & I smiled and laughed as the kids drove around the track. They raced each other and even tried to outmaneuver each other...sometimes running into the walls and giggling the whole time. It was a blast! 

Phoenix Children's Museum

The Climber

We spent our last full-day in Phoenix at the Children's Museum! The kids had a blast right from the start, climbing through the enormous play structure. The day we went they were premiering their new outdoor play area, so there were also special activities the kids participated in for prizes upon completion. The museum has three floors filled with lots of areas for exploration. The kids learned about their sense of hearing, did some art, explored textures and motion, built forts and did lots of other fun stuff. Both kids had a great time! 

Castle-painting in the art room

Riding through the "car wash"

Building a fort

Exploring the cactus maze

Exploring motion

Haus Murphy's, Glendale

Our last stop in Glendale was one of our favorite restaurants: Haus Murphy's. This German restaurant was a special treat for us as a cash-strapped couple. We ordered our favorite: the bauernplatten, a huge plate filled with all our favorite German foods, which was more than enough for two... and four (though I swear that when we were 'kids,' we finished it off more than once!). I wish I would have gotten a picture of it, but I was too busy stuffing my face! Haus Murphy's was a delicious end to our visit to downtown Glendale!

Cerreta Candy Co, Glendale

Our walk down memory lane took us straight to Cerreta Candy Company in downtown Glendale. We didn't arrive in time for a tour, but we were able to watch the tour video and try out some super-delicious candy right off the line! Cerreta's is a family-owned chocolate company that actually has ties back to Ohio... we learned that in the video! After the video and a peek at the factory floor, we let the kids pick out chocolates to take home. Yum! 

Thunderbird, A Return

Perhaps the most meaningful stop on our trip was our visit to Thunderbird. I don't think I can adequately express how much our time here meant to us. It is captured in our amber memories as magical, full of hope & opportunity. A time of youth and friendship, which bolstered us for the lives we have now. Bringing our children to campus and talking with them about what this time in our lives meant was truly special. As with many returns, it felt as if we were coming home. A place familiar and known, but also somehow different, now filled with the bright faces of others on the path that we once took. It is a beautiful campus, and we spent our time showing the kids the places that we liked best. 

We let the kids try oranges straight from a tree!

We let the kids cool off at the Jacuzzi fountain and took photos that resembled the same photos Darren & I took before he graduated nearly 10 years ago. 

The library where Darren spent thousands of hours... and I spent a few hundred, too!

Thunderbird's philosophies are philosophies that we are raising our children to understand.

This photo is similar to a photo Darren & I took in the same spot the spring he graduated.