Our Recent Family Fun Friday Adventures

Last summer, I decided to initiate the Barrett Family Fun Fridays as a way to get some bonding time in with the girls, by doing unique activities and growing closer as an immediate family. This summer, our Family Fun Fridays have not been quite as well thought out--nor have they been strictly "family-only" affairs.

But there's nothing wrong with that! In spite of being a little less ambitious and more time-constrained than last summer, our Fridays have turned out pretty well so far. Here's what we did on the last few Fridays:

1. Grocery Shopping!!

Okay, I admit it...we didn't do anything exciting on Friday, June 21st. Nathan had his board game night, and the kids and I (after a long day of grocery shopping and running errands) crashed and watched a bunch of television ourselves. But this day was bookended by our trip to the circus on Thursday night, and a free movie screening early Saturday morning. So a lazy Friday between two big events is just what we needed.

2. Celebratory Trips to a Museum and a Dairy Queen

Okay, this is more like it. This Family Fun Friday (June 28) got started a bit late, since Lorelai and Celeste had their final swimming lesson of the summer that morning. The day was further complicated by the fact that we had another kid along for the ride...our friend Kent Perry, whose parents had to go out of town on an errand. The Perry's are some of our oldest friends in Arizona; I've known Kent ever since he was born! Plus, the girls love him (Aurora even says she's going to marry him someday) and are always happy to have him over. Since it's likely the girls will never have a biological brother, I have comforted them somewhat by telling them that Kent is their "brother from another mother." So for this day, he became an honorary member of the family!

Since the girls completed their swimming lessons on such a high note, I declared that we'd go out to celebrate with ice cream, and a trip to the International Wildlife Museum, one of my girls' favorite places to visit. But since we were all still at the pool, the kids all insisted on swimming for "just a little while longer first." That "little while," of course, turned into a good hour and a half, by which time we had to get some lunch before going anywhere else. On the way to the museum, we stopped for a bite to eat in a Carl's Jr, whose children's play area had no A/C. Ugh...sooo hot!

Luckily, things went swimmingly once we finally got to the museum:

After we'd had all the taxidermied animals we could handle, we found a nearby Dairy Queen and the kids all got their ice cream. I accidentally forgot to order for Celeste at first; I'm not used to ordering for four kids! Luckily, her ice cream was delivered quickly and all went well.

Despite the busy day, the girls were all prepared to goof off with Kent for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, his parents had to show back up and spoil their fun. But they'd certainly had enough craziness packed into this Friday to last a few days.

3. Visiting Trail Dust Town as a Family

Although this Friday morning (July 5) had been a very quiet one (mostly due to post-Independence Day sluggishness), we ended the day on a lively note, with a trip to Trail Dust Town, a miniature Western village that includes stores, rides, a museum, decorations, performers, stunt shows, and a famous local steak restaurant (Pinnacle Peak). Luckily, Nathan got off work early that day, so we were able to make the evening a family affair.

The Trail Dust Town village is nestled right in the middle of Tucson; it's a quaint mini-theme park that's been around for forever, slowly being swallowed up by modern urban sprawl. It's kind of an Old West version of Denver's Casa Bonita, only not so tacky and gross. It's mostly just corny and a little abandoned (many of the shop-fronts' windows are empty; it may be struggling to find enough business). But it certainly had its charms as well!

The girls in the pokey

Calamity Lorelai

There were several carnival-style rides there; the first thing we did upon arrival was take a mini train ride.

 

The train took us through an old cemetery, a mine, and a pirate cave, as well as around the whole complex. There's a fort near the entrance of Trail Dust Town that also sits along the train tracks, so the girls insisted on staying at the fort to watch the train pass by before doing anything else.

 

Lorelai's not actually sad; she pretending to be a prisoner in the fort's "jail."

There was also a carousel and a Ferris wheel that the girls simply had to ride on.

Kind of tacky, don't you think? Didn't matter; the girls loved it!

Probably the favorite part of the night for our family was the Wild West stunt show, which featured stuntmen overacting badly, mugging for laughs, and occasionally firing off prop guns, "punching" each other, falling down wells, or falling off tall buildings. There was a huge fireball at one point, too. My girls aren't in love with loud noises (Lorelai in particular was pretty scared of the gunfire), but the silly humor of the show kept them interested enough that they really ended up enjoying themselves.

Here's the "facade" in front of which the stuntmen do their show. At one point, one of them falls all the way off the hotel roof; another one swoops down on a rope. Fun stuff.

And did we go to the steak restaurant, after all was said and done? Nope; we were cheapskates that night! Instead, we left Trail Dust Town and went out to a Boston Market nearby (it still satisfied everyone; we aren't huge steak-eaters). However, we were pleasantly surprised by Trail Dust Town; it's pretty affordable overall, and the kids loved it. There was a Museum Of The Horse Soldier that we want to check out next time; in addition, we might even spring for a steak dinner, if we're feeling wealthy enough.

Only a few more Fridays to go until the end of school! Let's see if a trip to Phoenix this Friday (the 12th) will create some fun memories.