Air Zoo

While we were in Michigan for the 4th, we decided to go to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo. Luca and I had never been, and Josh hadn't been since they'd done some major renovations. So the three of us, plus Nate, Bryce, Ry and Poppie all went for a couple hours. It is an amazing place! The main part has a whole host of airplanes ranging from super old to current, all with signs explaining their significance. Had we not been there with a two year old, I would have learned a lot! ;)

Off to the side they had like carnival rides that the little boys could ride. And the big boys. And one the pregnant lady could. Well, not according to the sign, but I'm sure it was just for liability reasons. It was a Ferris wheel. Luca rode that one a couple times, a hot air balloon one like the swings at every state fairground, and one airplane one that was like the Dumbo ride at Disney.

He mumbled something about it being harder to get in than the GT40

There were also a bunch of things that he could sit in. The cockpit of a Blue Angels plane, a Fighter plane like from Top Gun, and a helicopter. Luca had fun playing with all the buttons in all of them.

There's a picture of little Josh in this one. He says it smelled the same

In a little room to the side was a Kid Zone, there were little rides like at the mall that you put fifty cents in, some crayons and tracing plates, and a whole bunch of toy flying machines. I think Buzz was even there. Luca enjoyed the rides but didn't pay any attention to the toys or crayons. It was kind of crowded in there and the rides were the only thing he was guaranteed to do by himself--I'm sure that had something to do with it.

I think the best part about that room was the mural on the wall. Most specifically, how they incorporated the fire alarms. Just clever, it was.

The front one is the actual panel. The side ones are... UFO weapons?

Then the back room was mostly space oriented, lots of stuff about astronauts and such. And at this point Luca had the camera. My little photographer in training!

All in all, a super entertaining way to spend an afternoon! And it's nice that it's something we can continue to go back to as Luca gets older. There are more intense simulator rides, and it would be nice to actually have time to learn about the planes!