Tempe Center for the Arts

Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, Arizona

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Phoenix Zoo Noon Year's Eve on New Year's Eve Day - Fun for the Family

The Phoenix Zoo offers a family event on the morning of New Year's Eve with a toast at noon to celebrate the New Year as Noon Year's Eve.

They brought in snow for everyone to play in and had a separate pile for the little kids under 5, away from the piles for the bigger kids.

They had a Star Wars theme this year (2015) and labeled the area Hoth. There were Storm Troopers and other Star Wars characters walking around and offering photos with them.

The zoo is open all day on New Year's Eve day so after the morning snow fun there is plenty of time to play in the play house area by the carousel, check out the animals and watch one of their 4D movies. 

It was a pretty busy day but was not too crowded that it was uncomfortable. It added to the fun for our kids to have some other kids there to play with. The tent below was set up for a New Year's countdown and toast at Noon and had a board to write your resolutions for 2016.

We stayed until almost sunset and then headed home. 

This is the view from the zoo Starbucks, great spot to get a last treat of the day.

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Riparian Preserve Kids Play Area Gilbert, AZ

We went to the Riparian Preserve this last weekend as a follow up to a field trip our son went on at school. They had a great time walking on these sculptures around the North side of the preserve and enjoying the cool Fall weather.

This is a view of the observatory that is open occasionally on the weekends.

View of the wall the kids walked on in the area.

View of the afternoon sun and the grass area around the play wall.

This was another sculpture wall and was at the top of the hill around the kids' area. Many children were running across it like an obstacle course. It was active art.

Another view of the play wall from a different direction.

View with the observatory.

View from the hill looking down at the path.

As you can see some people also enjoy biking on the paths.

This was not a sponsored post.

How to Make Pokemon Perler Bead Pins for Cosplay and Halloween

This Halloween e needed some Pokeballs and Pokemon to go with our costumes but didn't want to buy a lot of extras so we made some using Perler beads, safety pins and hot glue.

First we made the figures and then we let them cool. We put a line of hot glue on the back of each and then placed the safety pin and added a bit more glue on the spine of the safety pin. We held it straight until the glue started to cool and then let go. They took a few minutes to harden completely and we're ready for our costumes. They showed up really well in the photos and were fast and versatile.

This was not a sponsored post. Check out our affiliate link through Amazon for the best price on Perler beads through Amazon with Prime shipping available. We do get a small comic ion for any purchases made through our link. Thank you!

San Tan Mall outdoor play area

A couple of photos of the kids play area at the San Tan outdoor mall. 

They also have a new splash pad further up the row from this. Build A Bear and the Disney Store are both on this aisle of the mall so beware if your kids like those stores as much as we do. 

There is also a restroom right up the way which is very convenient. This area has lights at night also.

The one issue we had was that there are roads on either side so if your kids tend to run off at all you will want to keep a close eye on them and be right there behind them.

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Ikea Christmas Decorations are up!

We noticed quite a few updates at Ikea Tempe this last week including some new furniture and decor in the snack area downstairs near the frozen yogurt cafe.

This is looking back from the snack area toward the checkout lanes.

Here are some of the Christmas decorations already set up. 

And some of the trees and Christmas tree balls. Many look like glass but are actually the

unbreakable plastic ornaments which is great for a house with kids or pets. 

Looking toward a few more of the hanging decorations. All the shelves in this area have

Christmas and holiday decorations for purchase.

Another view of the lighted Christmas and Holiday decorations. There were more spread

throughout the store mixed in with the other routine household items. 

(This was not a sponsored post.)

Bergie's Coffee Roast House in Downtown Gilbert

If you are looking for a cute, comfortable and friendly coffee house in Downtown Gilbert, Bergie's Coffee Roast House is it.

They make the coffee inside this old little house and there is a little bit of seating inside but my favorite place to sit is outside in their beautiful garden.

You can see my iced latte was so good I didn't have time to take a photo before it was gone. This is also a chocolate chip scone. They have an assortment of different sweet pastries to pair with your coffee.

This is looking from the end of the garden back at the coffee house.

This is looking from the middle of the garden out toward Gilbert Road.

This is looking to the side of the garden where a good BBQ restaurant is located.

This is looking toward the other side of the garden. There are so many cute little touches around the garden like teapots, crafted decor, colorful seating, bird feeders and wind chimes. 

This is a little garden patch right by the front house. Everywhere you look there is something beautiful to look at while you enjoy your treat and a conversation with friends or a quiet moment to reconnect with nature.

This is looking at the front sign which is on Gilbert. 

(This was not a sponsored post.)