Day 66 - Visiting Great Grandpa & Great Aunts

After spending a week camping with the Vaughn's, we want to see even more family! We called up Grandma's dad and sisters to see if we could join them for church while we're in town.

Two other families ended up joining us all and we have a great time attending church together, then having a picnic at the park. My kids are so lucky to have such great Great Aunts and a great Great Grandpa.

Veterans Memorial Park in West Jordan, Utah is pretty cool. There are multiple playgrounds and ball fields. We were there in the late afternoon and the east side of the park was the shadiest so we picnicked there. It also had the coolest playground. In addition to the typical slides and jungle gym playground, there was a huge wooden playground. It was an old west theme with giant forts the kids could run and climb in and then slide down. The wooden playground was also fenced so it was a bit easier to keep track of kids.

Day 58 - Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program

I love to read. My kids are learning to love to read, but usually enjoy being read to more. That's fine with me, though. A love for books has to start somewhere.

There are some great summer reading programs out there. Barnes & Noble's program is super simple. You pick up a reading log from the store (or print one here), read 8 books, fill it out, and return it for a free book (from a limited selection). The reading log sort of implies that the program is for elementary school aged children but it doesn't specify any age restrictions in the terms. It also doesn't specify the type of length of books the kids have to read. We've been listening to Percy Jackson on our road trips, so they all have some pretty long ones on there, but I did let them add quick books they've read that are way below their reading levels. 

Here are some tips from an earlier post about getting kids to read this summer.

Day 57 - Minecraft Birthday Party

Kid Two is turning 7 on Sunday and requested a Minecraft party. I'd prefer a swim party. I mean, we are in Arizona and Grandma lives just down the street and has a great pool. But alas, he had his heart set on Minecraft. 

Since I know nothing about Minecraft, it was Pinterest to the rescue. That, and asking Kid One & Two questions about the games they've really only been playing a week or two.

Decorations

I kept it simple. Black and green streamers and balloons, black table cloth, green plates, and traditional birthday banners.

Craft

I modified a creeper shirt idea I found here. 

Supplies:

-Green Shirt

-Cardboard

-Spray Paint

I bought green shirts from Dollar Tree for each of the boys. (A quick tip about Dollar Tree shirts; watch out for holes.) I cut a stencil of a Creeper face out of a piece of cardboard. When the boys came for the party, they chose a shirt (there were a few different shades of green), laid it on the grass, placed the stencil over it, and sprayed it with flat black spray paint ($1 at Walmart). They then out the shirt in the back of a chair to dry. The spray paint dries very quickly. We made Kid Two's shirt the day before and washed it to check the results. The excess spray from the paint washed off leaving a clear creeper face.

Games

I wanted to play water games so we could be outside. From what I understand about Minecraft, you can do pretty much anything and tie it back to the game

Dynamite Toss-We did a water balloon toss but said the water balloons were dynamite since that is in the game.

Fill the Creeper Trap Relay: I guess, in Minecraft, Creepers can be trapped in water. We used bowls and played a game I found here. Basically, you have two teams. The team members stand in a single file line. The first person scoops up some water from a bucket (or in our case, a kiddie pool) they then bring the bowl over their head and dump it behind their back. The next person in line has to catch the water in their bowl, then pass it in the same manner to the next person in line. The last person in line dumps whatever water got to them into a bucket at the end. Whichever team has more water in their bucket at the end wins.

Mining Gems: I found mining games like this one here, but thought I would change it up to make it a little more messy and fun. Instead of mining through dirt, I had them use their hands to search for white stones through shaving cream. Each plate of shaving cream concealed 10 stones. The first boy to find all 10 stones won the game.

Cake

I used 2 square pans to bake chocolate cake. Make sure to oil and flour the pans well so the cake is easily removed. I then made a double layered cake with green frosting, but I didn't cover the bottom. The green frosting on the top and the brown cake on the bottom apparently looks like a Grass Block from the game. We did spell out his name with chocolate chips on the top, which didn't look too great.

Party Favors

We made up little bags with thank you cards we found here, chocolate rocks (which look like real rocks), smarties, and suckers. We gave them to the boys as they left. I love taking care of thank you cards right away.

So his party was very lightly Minecraft themed, but enough that he enjoyed it. Do you do theme parties for your kids?

Day 56 - Swirl It Frozen Yogurt

There are so many self serve frozen yogurt places these days. We were going to try a new one, but Swirl It was closer.

We love our Gilbert Swirl-it. They have fun games and toys, good flavors, and good coupons. You can read my full review here: http://www.trekaroo.com/restaurants/swirl-it-frozen-yogurt-gilbert-arizona

Almost all frozen yogurt places have coupons. Swirl-it has coupons in most mailers. We usually have one pinned up on our whiteboard. If you have a favorite yogurt place, check for coupons and the keep them somewhere like your car. If you don't, shop around for the best deal. There are groupons, living social deals, printable coupons, text coupons, you name it.

Day 50 - Swimming at JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort

My family was invited to enjoy the pools at JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort for the afternoon.

The pool area here covers 4 acres and includes 4 pools, a waterslide, a splash pad, and 2 hot tubs. Of course, no one was using the hot tubs on this hot Phoenix afternoon, but it was nice to know they were there. The landscaping was beautiful. The lazy river was relaxing. The kids loved the waterslide. We had a great afternoon. You can read my full review here.

JW Desert Ridge has a great Fling & Swing promotion going on right now with package rates starting at $149. It includes a $50 resort credit, free golf, free kids meals, access to the Family Escape Center, and 20% off at the spa. The promotion runs through September 7th.

Day 55 - Summer Reading Program Rewards

Summer is the library's time to shine. Reading programs with activities and prizes for all ages. Today we cashed in on all those minutes we listened to Percy Jackson 3 & 4 on our road trips.

Our library doesn't have tons of prizes, but the kids all got coupons for free kids meals at Chipotle. I got a BOGO coupon from the adult reading program. Super cheap dinner for the family tonight. Other prizes for the kids included bubbles, a rubber ducky, and a random flinging toy. We all earned a free book that we get to choose and order online.

What is your library's summer reading program like?

Day 54 - Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A

Another restaurant holiday today, and we get to dress up for this one! Love an excuse to put on a costume.

4 kids meals, 2 regular meals, and a salad...all FREE! Fun, free, delicious lunch and happy calves, er, I mean kids.

Many people are scared to go to free days at restaurants because they don't want to deal with the the crowds. My trick to avoiding crowds is going a little early. We went to Chick-Fil-A at 11AM. We didn't wait any longer than usual to place our order and I think our food was ready quicker than normal. There were plenty of tables available, too. When we left at noon, the line for food was getting longer but it wasn't extremely long. The lobby area was full but the line wasn't out the door. I heard from people who went at different times of day that, although there were lots of people, service was quick and it wasn't too crazy. If you didn't get out to Chick-Fil-A this year for cow appreciation day, try it next year and you won't want to miss it again.

Check out my list of favorite free food days here: http://vaughnfamilysummerfun.blogspot.com/2015/07/day-51-celebrating-7-eleven-day-with.html

Day 53 - Feed My Starving Children

Monday night we have Family Home Evening. We usually have a short lesson about a scripture story or gospel principle, followed by an activity. We get an opportunity to teach our children of Gods love and get to spend time as a family. Tonight, we excluded the younger ones to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children.

Feed My Starving Children is a great organization that sends food to hungry children in poor countries. They operate through donations and volunteers. 90% of donations are used to buy supplies for Manna Rice Packs; a combination of vitamins, vegetables, soy, and rice. Each box of assembled packs feeds a child for 7 months. Volunteers are young as 5-years-old can help assemble these packs by scooping ingredients into bags. Older volunteers can help weigh, seal, and box the packs. If you are allergic to soy or need to sit, you can help label. There is a job for everyone. We are lucky enough to have a permanent packing facility near our home, but there are mobile packing sites as well. Check their website for more information.

Service Opportunities for Kids

It is hard to find places that let kids volunteer, but there are some opportunities out there. Here are some resources and ideas:

• Feed My Starving Children-kids as young as 5 can volunteer (with an adult)
• JustServe.org-Service opportunities in your community. You can search by age range.
• Volunteermatch.org - You can search by age range AND interests
• Make-a-Wish - our school has a donation drive for them every year and through that, we found out about a service opportunity to help fulfill a wish by building a playground. The kids weren't too helpful, but they could carry pieces and hold things for people. If you email or call, I'm sure they could find a wish your family could help fulfill for a child in your community.
• Drives and Donations-this is the easiest for kids but I feel like this is what they always get stuck with. Have them raise money through a bake sale or lemonade stand to donate to a cause (we do a door-to-door bake sale in our neighborhood for Make-A-Wish) or go door-to-door (with parents of course) collecting food or goods to donate.
• Visit a retirement home-my kids are kind of shy, so we don't do this, but I should. Old people love to see children and have someone to talk to.
• Random Acts of Kindness - make a list (or find one online) and start crossing them off. Do at least one a day.
• Pick up trash-go to a park, a parking lot,  the beach. There is trash everywhere.
• Make Fleece blankets and scarves to donate-fleece scarves and blankets are super easy and always in need.

Day 52 - Family Game Night

Grandma and Cousin joined us for dinner tonight and stayed for some game time.

I posted previously about how we like to play games with the older kids after the little ones go to bed. Well, tonight we tried letting them join in. Well...Kid Five sat in her high chair eating blueberries but she was at the table with us. We tried to include Kid Four, but he kept pulling the pieces off the board. We eventually just let him play with the pieces and played Cranium without pieces going around the board.

Day 51 - Celebrating 7-Eleven Day with Free Slurpees

We love freebies and slurpees. July 11th is a fun day to enjoy both of these things.

Stores love making their own holidays and we love for them to do it because they always give us free stuff. 

Some of my favorite Food Holidays

National Pancake Day: In February IHOP celebrates this day by giving customers free short stacks.

Joes BBQ Customer Appericiation Day: Early in May, Joe's appreciates its customers with free food.

National Donut Day: The first Friday in June stop into Krispy Kreme for a free donut.

July 11th: 7-Eleven Day. Free small slurpees. 

Cow Appreciation Day: One day in July, Chick-Fil-A celebrates Cow Appreciation Day by giving its customers a free meal if they dress like a cow.

Talk like a Pirate Day: Another free Krispy Kreme donut if you talk like a pirate.

Joes Farm Grill Customer Appreciation Day: Early in November, Joes other restaurant appreciates its customers with free food.

Snow Day: In December, Bahama Bucks hosts a Snow Day with free snow cones.

Day 49 - Bass Pro Shop's Family Summer Camp

My kids are getting used to half-hour drives. Why is everything half and hour away?

Bass Pro Shops does a fun free event for the month of July. Every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday they have Family Summer Camp. During this free event families can do a craft, participate in workshops, and practice shooting and casting. 

Workshops

During the "camp" there 20 minute classes offered every hour about different outdoor sports. The one we attended today was about archery. It was pretty boring. We couldn't hear anything because the class was right by the stream/waterfall. 20 minutes was also a very long time for my kids to sit and watch a PowerPoint with no interaction. They do get a lanyard and a pin showing they completed the course for each workshop they attend, but one was all we could do.

Craft

Every week there is a different craft offered. These are the types of crafts you'd buy through Oriental Trading Company. Today was a turkey footprint magnet that the kids colored with permanent markers. They were pretty cool and the kids enjoyed coloring them.

Camp Activities 

The big attraction was the BB gun range. Any age could par tipster and there was an employee to help them. My 3-year-old was really excited to try it. While the parents waited in line for BB shooting, the kids went around to the other activities; electronic shooting range, casting practice, and an "archery range" which was actually just a suction dart and target. 

Other Attractions

Bass Pro is just a fun place in general. There are taxidermied animals everywhere. It's like a taxidermy zoo with lots of bears, lions, mountain goats, you name it. There is also a huge fish tank with huge fish that the kids love to sit and watch for a long time. I don't know if this is true for all Bass Pro Shops, but ours has a little carousel kids can ride for free. My kids ride it over and over. And another fun freebies here: fudge samples. There is a little shop with a huge variety of fudge. My daughter and her cousin had at least 6 samples each. Delicious.

Day 48 - Halle Heart Museum

Backstory: We were going to check out the Tempe Historical Museum and their family friendly summertime events. BUT we drove all the way up there to find a sign on the door saying they were having power issues and the museum was closed for the rest of the day. So now we're up in Tempe with nothing to do. I had a groupon that I'd let expire for the Halle Heart Museum, so that was plan B.

The Halle Heart Museum is hidden in the corner of the American Heart Associate building. It's a cute little museum and a fun place to spend a hour or so. You can read my review from the first time we went here:http://www.trekaroo.com/activities/halle-heart-museum-tempe-arizona

Children 3 and under are free, 4 and up cost $5.

Discounts:

Halle Heart Museum participates in a free lunch program. If you come his summer between 11AM and 1PM you get free admission and kids 18 and under get a free lunch.

If your library participates in the Culture Pass program, stop by and pick up a pass for 2 free admissions.

Day 47 - I.d.e.a. Museum

The new Once Upon a Time exhibit opened last month at the i.d.e.a. Museum and since Kid One's pogo pass expires today, it was our last day to check it out for free.

Anything I write about this today will be a repeat so I'll refer you to this post and say good night.

http://vaughnfamilysummerfun.blogspot.com/2015/05/day-7-idea-museum.html

Day 46-Disney Store Summer Play Days

We love to play at the San Tan Village in Gilbert, Arizona. They have a puppy store, Build-a-Bear, playground and splash pad, tropical smoothie, and one of our favorite stores, The Disney Store.

Every summer, the Disney Store hosts these fun little free events called "Summer Play Days." All Disney stores are required to offer free activities at least 3 days a week but most have something everyday. Earlier this summer we went to the Disney Store in Temecula, CA for storytime. They read a story about Jake and the Neverland Pirates, had the kids act parts of it out and gave them all gold doubloons with a picture of Cubby on them. Today we participated in the Art of Drawing at San Tan Village. The kids learned to draw Mickey Mouse and Captian America's shield. Each week kids participate, they can earn a new pin for their lanyard. Most of the activities only take about 15-20 minutes, so we usually make the Disney Summer Play Day part of a mall outing instead of our only activity for the day. Activities start in June and go through August. Times and activities vary every week so call ahead to find the schedule.

Day 45 - Missionaries to Dinner & Evening Walk

You may not know this, but Arizona gets hot in the summer. The locals like to escape the heat whenever they can. Fourth of July weekend gets pretty empty at church. At our church we take turns hosting the missionaries for dinner. Since we happened to be in town this week when no one else was, we decided to take a turn.

Having the missionaries over for dinner is great for the family. The kids get to see these young men who gave up a couple years of their life to teach people about Christ. They also always leave us with a message. Today it was about how we can be perfected in Christ.

The weather after the missionaries left was a cool 89 degrees. There was a nice breeze. We had to take advantage and go for an evening walk.

Day 44 - Fourth of July in Safford, AZ

Small towns seem to know how to do partriotic holidays. My sister just moved to Safford, AZ. It seemed like a great time to visit.

There was a pancake breakfast, bike parade for the kids, and a city parade down Main Street. In the afternoon there was a Battle of the Bands and Nickle Picnic at the fair grounds. The breakfast at bike parade at the church were fun. Lots of the kids decorated their bikes and rode around in circles. My kids brought scooters and joined in the fun. The city parade was mostly people in their trucks driving down the rode. A couple cool farm machines were in the parade so that was fun. After the parade we were too hot to hang out at the fairgrounds. We did have a great time hanging out with cousins.

Day 43 - Swimming at Roper Lake

My sister recently moved to Safford, Arizona and we decided to visit for the 4th. Safford is home to Roper Lake State Park. I'd recently seen an article about camping at Roper Lake saying it was a great place. This seemed like a good day to see if that article was true.

The lake was beautiful. The mountains in the background and the greenery around the lake made the whole setting so picturesque. The water was warm. The lake floor was sandy, not rocky. And there wasn't too much gunk floating around in the water. It was a beautiful day. You can read my full review here: http://www.trekaroo.com/activities/roper-lake-state-park-safford-arizona

Day 42 - The Dolly Steamboat on Canyon Lake

I'd seen the Dolly Steamboat on Groupon and thought it would be a great date for Hunby and me. I never thought about taking the kids until it was suggested to me by my friend at Visit Mesa. She hooked us up with passes and today we found ourselves on a scenic nature cruise on Canton Lake.

The cruise was great. The crew was friendy. The narrator was funny and informative. The kids had a good time and so did I. Seeing all the boaters and jet skis out on the water did make want to spend sometime actually in the water. Who wants to take us out on their boat or jet skis 😉? You can read by full review of The Dolly Steamboat here: http://www.trekaroo.com/activities/the-dolly-steamboat-tortilla-flat-arizona

Deals for The Dolly Steamboat

*Entertainment Book or App- print BOGO free coupon if you own a current book (or snag on from a friend with a book)

*Groupon has 2 tickets for $27 at this link: https://www.groupon.com/deals/dolly-steamboat-5?utm_source=GPN&utm_medium=afl&z=skip&utm_campaign=200940&mediaId=201773&sid=gd42QTtu

*AAA members save $3 a ticket

Day 41 - Inside Out at Regal Cinema

We had a fun idea to go with our movie outing today...dressing up! Most of the kids were into it, except Kid Two gave me a hard time. No problem, though. He was Anger.

I think the kids were a lot more into the movie because they were each trying to see how their character acted. Kid Four was so cute as the boy version of Sadness. The costumes were so easy. For Joy, we wanted to spray her hair blue but ran out of blue spray so went with purple and a blur headband. She didn't have a green dress so she borrowed one of Dad's shirts and tied some yarn around the middle. Anger's costume was the easiest: white dress shirts, red tie, khaki shorts. I couldn't find our red bow tie for Fear, so he is wearing a gray one that you can't really see. Since we live in AZ we don't have any sweater vests either but he looked super cute in his suit vest. Sadness wore blue shorts and a white shirt. He had glasses without lens and we sprayed his hair blue...well, a little blue but then it ran out. Kid Five was Disgust. She had a cute green sundress that worked perfectly. I tried to keep a green headband on her just for a picture but she never keeps them on. She actually stayed home with Grandma so we could enjoy the movie.

 Inside Out was a good movie. I wasn't sure what to expect but I really liked it. The theater we watched it in was great, too. The Regal Cinema Gilbert 14 has amazing seats. Kid Four even joined me in my seat for a little and I was still comfortable. They also have reserved seating. You can also save a lot of money if you go to the first showing of the day. Only $5.05 a ticket. I suggest buying your tickets in advance so you can be sure to get the seats you want. You can read my review of the theater here.

Day 40 - Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center

Going to the pool was much easier today with my husband with us.  And also because their were about half as many people there as last time I visited.

Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center is great. You can read my review about it here.

Day 39 - Birthday Partying at Chuck E Cheese's

Happy Birthday, Kid Four! My little blue-eyed thumb sucking boy is three-years-old today. For his party he wanted to play with his cousin who lives three hours away. We'll do that this weekend. Today he had to settle for his second choice, going to the new Chuck E Cheese.

This Chuck E Cheese recently opened in Chandler, AZ. You can read my review of it here.

To have a reserved party at Chuck E Cheese cost $10.99 per child. Each kid gets 40 tokens, 2 slices of pizza, a drink and the birthday kid gets extra goodies and 60 tokens. My kids don't need all that. Did you know you can have a walk-in party at Chuck E Cheese?

How to have a cheap party at Chuck E Cheese

Chuck E Cheese allows you to bring in your own cake for parties. They will even put your cake in the fridge or freezer if you need it. We forgot a lighter for our birthday candles and they had no problem bringing out a lighter for us. Then you just need to get cheap tokens using my tips here. Bring your own balloons and find a good table that isn't reserved and you're all set. Come at a time between lunch and dinner so you don't have to buy food. It is also a little slower at these times. Three-year-olds don't know about the Ticket Blaster or the other random party extras you pay for with a reserved party. Kid Four had a great time playing with his cousins, blowing out his candles, and opening presents.

Day 38 - Fun & Games with the Family

Lots of family time on Sunday. Extra fun this week with an extra aunt and some cousins in town.

The kids have been really into making movies lately. Kid One made a funny movie today called "what to do if" and Kid Two directed a movie based on the shirt he was wearing called "A Dog Ate My Homework." It's fun to watch them come up with ideas and get the younger siblings to participate. 

Games with the whole family can be a challenge. When the little ones are tired, we put them to bed a little early and play games with the 5 and up crowd. They enjoy Cranium and Sorry the most. Today we played Book of Mormon Pictionary. 

For more Sunday ideas check out this post.

Day 37 - Phoenix Art Museum: PhxArtKids Day

 I've never been super into art museums and although the kids love making art, I couldn't see them really getting into walking around looking at paintings. Today the Phoenix Art Museum was having a special PhxArtKids Day. If ever I was going to try an art museum with the kids, I supposed today was the day to do it.

All the kids loved the projects and performances offered for the kids day. The contemporary gallery and kids gallery were also really interesting for me and the kids. Kids One and Two were really well behaved. Kids Three and Four wouldn't stop touching things and running around. It was pretty stressful, especially since a security guard talked to me twice about it. You can read by Phoenix Art Museum review here.

I didn't know how long we were going to last, so of course I didn't want to pay the full $12 for me and $6 for the older 2 kids. Yesterday while we were at the library I picked up a Culture Pass. I talked about them a little in this post. They are pretty awesome. Basically, you "check out" 2 free admissions to museums in the area. The Phoenix Art Museum passes are almost always available. Kids 5 and under are free at the art museum, so I should have only had to pay one child's admission, but the staff member told me not to worry about it and let us all in for free. Awesome.

If you don't care about waiting for a kids day and can't get a culture pass (or have to many people) Phoenix Art Museum offers free admission the first Friday of every month after 6 pm and every Wednesday for 3-9pm.

Day 36 - Relaxing at Home

Waaah? At home? Ok, well, we did drive home from Las Vegas today. And this afternoon we did go to the library to cash in our reading minutes we earned while listening to Percy Jackson books in the car. But the most exciting event if the day was getting back home after 3 weeks.

The boys were excited to get back to their video games. Kid Five loved crawling all over and playing with her toys. Kid One just wanted to play with her friends. Vacations are fun but coming home is the best.

Day 35 - Wilbur D. May Museum

We only had half a day to play before we needed to start toward home today. Kid One remembered liking the Wilbur D. May Museum and requested that's what we do this morning.

This museum is a collection of artifacts from a local Rancher who traveled the world. The coolest part of this place is the huge variety of taxidermied animals. Back in the 1920's, large game hunting was considered a gentleman's sport. May went on safari to Africa and shot a lot of different creatures. Apparently, the locals liked these hunts because they were paid to be guides and the villages also got to keep the meat from the animals. May kept the heads, pelts, and horns and had some neat things made. There were elephant feet trash cans, a card table and chairs made out of antelope horns with lion law ash trays attached at each seat, and lamps that were crafted from giraffe and zebra legs. You can read my full review here.

This was such a random little place to find and not mentioned on any of the major tourist sites. Some of the best attractions are not well publicized. For tips and tricks on finding unique places while on vacation, check out this post from earlier this summer.

Day 34 - Fun Times in Carson City, Nevada

We wanted to try someplace new today. Carson City, Nevada's state capital is only half an hour away from Reno, so we headed south for the day.

There is a children museum in in Carson City, and since they happened to have a 50% off coupon on the Entertainment Book app, we visited The Children's Museum of Northern Nevada. The museum is in the old Civic Auditorium. The building was constructed about 75 years ago and has been a children's museum for about 25 years. Knowing that was pretty cool. The museum itself was a little random, but the kids loved it. You can read my review here.

Since we were so close, I wanted to stop by the Capitol Building. We took our lunch to eat on the grounds. The grounds were very well kept and there was lots of shade. There were a couple other people around eating lunch too. The kids really wanted to check out inside but I was nervous about their craziness. I asked if they could be really quiet and stay right with me. Kid Four even demonstrated his quiet voice. We went inside and a nice gentleman told us to feel free to look around where we wanted. He informed us of a museum on the top floor so we checked that out, too. It was pretty fancy in there. I'm glad I took a chance on the kids. They were very well behaved.

Day 33 - Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Center & Lake Tahoe

We loved Lake Tahoe last time we were here, but we didn't have a full day to enjoy it today. While Daddy was at work we played at The Discovery.

This was our second time at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum. We love using our Arizona Science Center pass to get into all these fun places. This location only covers a family of 4 and charges for everyone over one-year, so we had to pay $10 for one kid. Much better than $50, though.

After Daddy got off work we headed over to Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe. The water was a lot lower than when we came last year. It was still lots of fun. The kids caught crawdads with some new friends almost he whole time we were there.

I always try to find the cheapest way to do everything on vacation. To see my money saving tips go here.

Day 32 - Kimmie Candy Factory Tour & Fleischmann Planetarium

My kids have been asking to go back to Kimmie Candy Factory since we were in Reno last year. Being in Reno this week, Candy Factory was #1 on our to-do list. It only takes about half an hour for the tour, so we added a trip to the planetarium.

I don't know what our kids like more, the behind the scenes look at a candy factory or the factory outlet where they got to choose an "oops" candy to buy. We found this fun candy factory last year while in Reno. I love factory tours so I specifically searched for candy factories near Reno and lucked out with Kimmie Candy. You can read by review about this tour here. To find your own tours, check out my post from earlier this summer.

The Fleischmann Planetarium is located at University of Nevada. They are part of the ASTC passport program that I've been using like crazy this summer. The theater is pretty small and so is the free museum, but there was a planetarium show we hadn't seen yet, and since we got free admission, we watched Attack of the Space Pirates. It had really good graphics and the older kids liked learning about stars.

Day 31 - Driving from Salt Lake City to Reno

Believe it or not, this was a pretty enjoyable 7 1/2 hour drive down I-80. We turned on The audiobook of Percy Jackson 3: Titan's Curse and listened to it almost the whole drive. We had a little over an hour left when the book finished and we turned on a movie.

When we get a long drive where the kids behave like they did today, I feel extremely lucky. Kids Two and Three played well together in the back row. Kid One took care of Kid Five when she needed anything. Kid Four slept a lot. We only needed to stop twice for bathrooms breaks. I like when we listen to books instead of watch movies because the kids get to see all the scenery around us. Today we saw the Great Salt Lake, lots of salt plains, mountains, trains, cows, and a few prisons. 

For some great road trip tips with kids, check out Trekaroo.com's Ultimate Road Trip Guide.

Day 30 - Utah Olympic Park

Last day in Utah and last day for using our Visit Salt Lake Connect Passes. Our main event for the day was Utah Olympic Park in Park City, followed by a late lunch at The Lion House Pantry at Temple Square. We also ended up squeezing in an evening Aerial Tram ride at Snowbird Resort.

Utah Olympic Park has some great ropes courses, zip lines, and slides for people who like high adventure. The Connect Pass let us choose either a guided tour or ropes course, and since only one our 5 children might possibly want to do a ropes course, we chose the tour. It was pretty cool. They took us to the top of the bobsled/louge run and explained all about how the course works. We also got to go to the top of the highest nordic ski jump in the world. Besides the great views, it was amazing to look down the ramp and imagine what those skiers do. There is a free Discovery Zone area where kids can try a mini rope course and rock climbing. Right next to it is a ropes course that children as young as 5-years are allowed to participate in. Adults were doing it as well. We thought about buying tickets for Kid One and Dad to try it out ($15 each) but we were only wearing flip flops and you have to have closed-toe shoes.
Discounts: If you and your kids want to zips, slide, and climb all day long, you can buy a groupon right now for an all-day pass. Look for a groupon discount code for an even better deal.

This was the first time I have ever been to Lion House Pantry when there was not a line out the door. I guess the trick is to go at 2 PM. We had our choice of seats and didn't feel pressured through the line. The food was great. The kids chicken fingers were huge. The Connect Pass paid for $10/adult and $5/kid. Adult meals are $8.99 and kids are $4.99 so it worked out great. The fridge is now loaded with the kids extra chicken fingers which they will get to eat for lunch tomorrow on our drive to Reno. Kid Three was a real trooper today. He was not feeling well but didn't complain about being dragged around. We could tell he was really tired so we didn't stay to explore temple square, but headed back to our hotel.

With Snowbird resort so close to our hotel, I really wanted to try the Aerial Tram (included on our Connect Pass). Kid One is just getting to where she can babysit for a short time. She said she'd rather stay behind with sick Kid Three anyway. Kid Two decided to stay behind as well, so Hubby, Kids Four & Five and I headed over to Snowbird. The tram and Hidden Peak at the top provided incredible views of Little Cottonwood Canyon and the ski runs around the resort. It was a pretty neat experience and I'm glad we got to try it out.

Day 29 - Hogle Zoo & This is the Place Heritage Park

Hubby only had to go into work for half the day, so we got to have him explore with us today. We are on day 2 of our Visit Salt Lake Connect Passes, so today we decided to go to the zoo, then across the street to This is the Place Heritage Park.

We hadn't been to the Hogle Zoo for about 4-years and there have been some major improvements in that time. We loved the additions of Rocky Shores, featuring seals, sea lions, polar bears, and grizzly bears. And the new male lions were Kid One's favorite. She must have snapped a million pictures of those brothers. The African Savanna area is way better than the enclosures where the giraffes and zebras were held previously. Here the giraffes actually have room to roam and the zebras are visible. They also had a "Zoorassic Park" event going on where there were cool animatronic dinosaurs throughout the grounds. Kid Two must have snapped a million pictures of those.

Today was our first time visiting This is the Place Heritage Park. I had low expectations, but I figured at least we could do the train and ride the ponies. Turns out, this was another place I was totally wrong about. I'm so excited to be finding all these great new places. There are pioneer houses from all over Utah that have been relocated here. They are all open to explore. That's the boring part. The cool part is that there are people dressed in period appropriate costumes that act like they are from the 1800's and let you join in to get a taste of what it was like living back then. Kid Three was feeling sick so we didn't get to explore as much as I would have liked, but Kids One & Two had a great time.

Hogle Zoo & This is the Place were both free for us using the Connect Passes given to me by Visit Salt Lake. BUT it's not too hard for you to save money to these places. If you are a member of an AZA-accredited zoo (like Phoenix Zoo), you can receive 50% off admission to Hogle Zoo (and Tracy Aviary). The maps at Hogle Zoo have coupons for $2 off admission to This Is The Place Heritage Park. The Entertainment Book App also has BOGO admission coupons for This Is The Place.