Kalamazoo Air Zoo

When we bought the annual family pass for the Field Museum, we noticed that our pass would also get us in for FREE to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.  We had chosen a hotel (with a pool!) that was located just a few miles from the Air Zoo and we stayed there both the night before going to the Field Museum and again after. It made our drive to the Field Museum shorter and was so convenient to leave there and head to the Air Zoo.  

The Air Zoo was incredible!  It was much smaller than the Field Museum, obviously, and there were so many interactive exhibits for the kids.  Also, I loved how there were several retired military gentlemen that were volunteering and helping.  

I was fascinated by this wedding dress.  The woman that was married in it had it made from the parachute that he husband used when he ejected from a plane before their wedding.  

They had real amusement part rides inside like their hot air balloon ride:

There were several displays about astronauts and landing on the moon, but inside the museum and outside near the gift shop.

I am certain, without a doubt, that everyone's FAVORITE part of the Air Zoo was the simulation center.  The girls rode together, the boys rode together and then Steve even talked me into participating.  Steve did all of the steering, while I just tried not to throw up inside.

A display of circuits:

Again, the size of these crafts amaze me.

There was a section of the Air Zoo dedicated to when the United States first landed on the moon.  It showed what a typical living room would have been designed like and even had a rotary-dial phone on an end table.  My kids had no idea what it was so I made Jimmy try to use it and snapped a picture.  My, how times have changed!  

The kids were allowed to wander around freely and occasionally they would call out to me to take a picture of them with one of the exhibits.

A futuristic robot:

More amusement park rides:

The boys always partnered up and so did the girls:

Jimmy had a real blast that morning!

The last part of our tour included traveling over to another building where they are restoring several crafts.  This particular one had stairs and the kids took turns (along with Steve) going up into it.

Once we were back on the road (and heading for lunch), all of us talked about what a great time we had there.  It was raining that morning so it was the perfect outing and piqued all of our interests without being too overwhelming.  I would totally recommend visiting here.