We’ve just left Parrot Mountain and now here we are at Wonderworks. Wonderworks calls themselves an “Amusement Park for the Mind” that offers things such as an Inversion Tunnel (My kids freaked out and refused to go thru this.), a Bubble Lab, Optical Illusion Art, a Light and Sound Zone, Disaster Simulators, and tons more! The upside down building is enough to spark your interest alone! But, this week was FREE for homeschoolers & their family so who can pass up that deal when it’s normally $20/adult!?!?!?

Earthquake simulator.

Tornado simulator.

“It’s MY turn for the shooting game!!”

Here, the pulses of light trick your brain into thinking the raindrops are moving upwards…but, in actuality, they’re not!

An air-hockey game that is has no puck or those knob things that you smack them with (What are they called???).  It’s controlled just by the wave of your hand and the shadows of the puck move around like a real air-hockey game. I want one of these for my house!

These two guys have electrodes strapped to their heads and are trying to move a metal ball (Can’t see it in this pic) that is in the middle of the table with their minds. It’s a battle of the brains, only, I think the ended up falling asleep while focusing so hard!!!

The girls got to rock climb.

Look! It’s like that life-size keyboard at FAO Schwartz in the Tom Hanks movie “Big“. Love that movie!!

Thelma was so proud of herself for being able to lay on a bed of nails. I was proud of her too because I tried it and it hurts…alittle…

We had a psychedelic time playing with the light screen.

Now for some psychedelic art.

You are getting sleepy. No, you are getting dizzy!

Field trips are the best!! I know I always looked forward to them when I was in school.

There was so much more to do here and my kids had an absolute blast!

Our family enjoyed a super-fun filled day together exploring, learning and having fun!

-Jane, Homeschool Educator

I’m taking Thelma and Louise on a field trip with their homeschool co-op. Where are we going today? We’re headed to Parrot Mountain and Wonderworks. Because our co-op scheduled a group tour, we were able to get a discount at Parrot Mountain for only $5 per child, one parent is free. Also, Wonderworks was running a week special: Free for Homschoolers! I invite my lovely mom along too because I know she loves birds and gardens and would enjoy a day with her daughter and grandchildren.

For those that don’t know what a co-op is, it is a supplemental “school” day(s) where your kids go to a more traditional school environment with other homeschool students, have classes, eat lunch, and go on field trips together. You can select anywhere from 1-3 additional school days to supplement what you are already teaching at home. Our co-op meets only once a week and I LOVE our co-op because it’s an awesome group of ladies that get together to make learning for our kids fun. 

We’re headed to Parrot Mountain first and the drive is about an hour and half. I let Fanny Mae drive because I want to take pics and write stuff down. My mom doesn’t realize this about herself but she can’t stand those uncomfortable silences. She feels the need to keep the conversation going and has a tendency to talk and talk and talk. Even still, I just smile and let her talk because with me being so busy these days, I want to just enjoy this rare one-on-one time with her.

However, my brain can’t help but talk to itself and as she’s talking, I’m thinking to myself:

1) Man, her lips are going like 100 mph.

2) I wonder if she notices she’s hardly let me say word.

3) Breath mom, breath!

4) Slow your roll Fanny Mae!

PARROT MOUNTAIN

As soon as we pull up to Parrot Mountain, I see these parrots. I thought they were the fake, decorative kind but no, they’re real and they don’t even fly away! 

We stop to take some pictures of the gorgeous, flower-lined stairs and railing.

Just whimsical and beautiful!

I love this pic of my mom and the girls. 

The gorgeous, sweeping stairs.

Oh yes, and Ducky and Monk tag along today as well.

We meet up with the rest of the crew for a tour.

And we met all the birds.

WE GOT UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.

The kids had a fun time seeing the parrots do tricks and hear them speak and sing. I think the most fun they had was being a branch for the birds to perch on. After the show, we walked around because there were more birds to see. It’s like a zoo with only parrots in it. 

I have to admit, it was hard to see these beautiful birds all caged up with hardly any room to fly. When you think of a bird you think of free flying. This seems to inhibit their natural tendencies and seems cruel for us to cage them up just so we can see them up close. I don’t know if they let these birds out every once in a while, I would hope so, but I’d say for the most part they are mostly in these cages. Sad. 

The gardens and landscaping on the premises were really nice. It was a peaceful, scenic walk through nature filled with all kinds of flowers, plants, and trees. 

“Please don’t crap on my head!!”

Here I was duped by this unassuming, diaboical little Mexican dude to come into this large cage full of birds with him holding a cup full of nectar juice. Next thing I know it’s like a scene out of that Afred Hitchcock Movie “The Birds” where they’re all swarming around me, landing all over me, fighting to get a sip of my sweet nectar. Meanwhile, all this little Mexican dude is doing to help me is to keep refilling my nectar cup so that even more birds come. At the same time he’s laughing hysterically at me, he takes out his camera phone and is snapping away taking pictures of me getting swarmed by birds.  I’m sure his friends and family back in Me-hi-co are going to get a great laugh out of this! Muchas gracias amigo!

Love these benches. I wish I had one for my yard. 

We had a really great time learning about parrots, meeting and holding the birds, and walking along the beautiful gardens. Next stop. Wonderworks…

-Jane, Homeschool Mom