Mockingbird on Science

Mocking bird's life cycle:
"First your a baby born, then child, then grown up, then you die, then zombie..."

Mockingbird getting dressed;
"I can't get this infertile shoe on!"

As you can see, science lessons are progressing nicely...

Our Pick Flicks 2011

Movies we've enjoyed as a family this year

Pixar

Incredibles
WALLE
Toy Story
Finding Nemo

Silent

Buster Keaton in The General
Charlie Chaplin in The Kid    (edited by him in the Hotel Utah)
Lurel & Hardy in Way Out West
Harold Lloyd in Safety Last     -Lloyd did his own stunts. Even after loosing a thumb & finger in an accident on set, he went on-wearing a glove.

Foreign

The Fox and the Child
The Red Balloon

Animation

Kiki's Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro

Star Wars.

Musicals

The Music Man
Meet Me in St. Louis
Singing in the Rain
The Sound of Music
The Wizard of Oz

Disney classic

Mary Poppins
That Darn Cat
Pollyanna
The Parent Trap
Swiss Family Robinson
Dr. Dolittle

The Muppets.

American Girl

Samantha
Kit Kitridge

Black & White

Bringing Up Baby
Stagecoach- early John Wayne
Harvey
Forbidden Planet ( based on Shakespeare's Tempest)

Holiday

It's a Wonderful Life
The Grinch (original cartoon)
Mr. Kruger's Christmas
Eloise's Christmas
White Christmas
The Light Before Christmas

TV Series

Rocky & Bullwinkle (now I get it!)
The Cosby Show
Davy & Goliath
Shaun the Sheep
The Muppet Show
Ultra-Man (I still don't get it...)

You Can't Pass Up a State Parks Pass

Utah has set up a great incentive with the Department of Natural Resources. From your library (or sister library, I believe) you can reserve a Parks Pass that gets you in free to any Utah State Park. Coordinate it with a State Park event and you've got a great outing.

But you'll want to call early and find out their policy, and popularity.

(Several other states have similar programs set up.)

ACM. You know--For Kids.

Once my sister & I went to the Discovery Museum with our 4 kids. I know she likes to shop so I said, "You go ahead and peruse the mall--I'll just stay in this Kid Village part with the kids till you get back."

I really should have know better.
Over 2 hours later she came breezing in.
I realized then she had no watch on. (Not that it would have made a difference anyway.)
But just in case you were wondering, kids can be pretty easily entertained there for long durations of time...

Discovery is part of the ACM, and a good deal if you are traveling with children. The Association of Children's Museums is an organization that provides advocacy and research for play directed learning in childhood.

In Utah this only applies to the Discovery Gateway of SLC, and the Treehouse Museum in Ogden.

All of the museums in their database are listed alphabetically, which means you must search state by state for participators. They don't list stipulations, so contact each museum about their policy.

But a multi-state road trip would make your rest stops much more appealing with this tucked in your wallet.

Wazza AZA you say?

We went with my fun-loving friend Cockatoo and her children to the Hogle Zoo.
 Just getting there involved a death-defying U-turn immediatley followed up with the suburban jumping not one, but two curbs. "No extra charge!" Cockatoo called out as Bowery Bird tried to stabilize the speaker in the back her head had knocked out.

We got in with her wonderful membership allowing friends of family to visit.
Of further interest;

The Association of Zoos & Aquariums allows you to get a membership to one and thus visit others with their participators. The purpose of AZA is to create a standard of quality for creatures in captivity so visitors can rest assured they are being properly cared for.

Click "Find Zoo or Aquarium" at the top right and enter your state.

If you are in Utah you have, of course, only 2 options; the Hogle Zoo or the Tracy Aviary. (Living Planet Aquarium is not on the list).
But if you live anywhere else your options are probably going to open up.

Their restrictions aren't easily displayed, but appear few.  I would again, call first to find out.