Bearizona

Becky and Taylor gave us a pass to Bearizona last year for Christmas.  I heard about it a couple times, but didn't really know what to expect.  I think we were all very pleasantly surprised!!

We figured out a time that everyone in my family could make the trek up to Williams.  We left bright and early and caravanned up.  Upon arriving, they give you a little handset that plugs into your car and plays info over the stereo.  It was the coolest drive through wildlife park!  There are a couple areas that you had to keep your windows up (wolves and bears) but other than that, you drive on designated trails through various sections and see these animals wandering around!  The kids thought it was AWESOME!!  Matt said it was better than the zoo!

Here we go -- picture overload!!!!

Arctic wolves

Black bears!

Bison -- these guys were massive!!

The crazy crew!  They were loving every minute of this adventure!

These bears were SO cute and just walked right up to the car!!  

"Little" brothers are good for toting kids around~~

Aside from the drive through area, they have the Fort Bearizona walk-thru area with smaller animals.  Hayden was a little leery of these otters at first, but they were so playful, popping up out of the water and perching on the ledge!

Baby bears...

Bobcats~

Waiting for the birds of prey show

They had hawks, falcons and owls that would fly back and forth to the posts, 

literally swooping inches from our heads!!!  So cool!

This bird took paper money donations and put them in the jar!

I think Hayden would go live with Becky & Taylor! 

Yes, we sang, "What does the fox say?"

Cody was getting cozy with the goats in the petting zoo

Aaaaaaaand, then they braided the goats goatee.  bwahahahaha!!

We took the tour bus back through the drive-thru area.

Heee-hawwwwww!

This little guy was takin' a bath!

More bears!

These two rascally boys!!

Hayden got cozy on Grandma~

We ate lunch in the picnic area and saw this little guy just going for a climb up the tree!

The whole group!

Like I said, I think it exceeded all our expectations!!  We had such a great time, spending the day with family in the cooler weather!

On the way home, we stopped at the NAU campus.  It's hard to believe that it's been 13 years since I was a student there!  Things have changed a LOT and there has been so much growth and new building going on.  It's such a gorgeous place, filled with nostalgia.  I wanted to show the kids Louie the Lumberjack, Hayden wasn't a fan of the big guy.

I knew I had sent Matt a similar picture while he was on his mission so I made him dig it up.  Almost 14 years ago! (pre digital camera era)

October 2000