Sea Life Arizona.

While visiting Arizona last weekend, my children and I, along with my parents, were able to visit Arizona Sea Life Aquarium.  After a prior week spent watching Finding Nemo multiple times, the kids were ecstatic to go on an under water adventure. We were greeted by the kindest front desk associate and given some tools for our adventure. I instantly was impressed with the uniqueness of the aquarium and how before we went through the front doors I knew this was going to be a hands on and educational experience. (That's an instant 5 star rating in my mom book!) Each kid received a dive book with over 8 different activities to complete while we walked through the aquarium.  If you complete the dive book tasks throughout your tour of the aquarium, you receive a gold medal at the end when you leave.  My kids were pretty jazzed at the included souvenir they both picked up before we headed home. 

They also got a pair of goggles! 

How cute are these? 

The perfect touch to make us feel like we were really on an adventure.

I loved that throughout the entire aquarium there were informational boards introducing the part of the aquarium you were about to enter. Too often aquariums feel like long hallways of ceiling to floor fish. Sea Life does an outstanding job making the whole experience fun and educational with posters and standing signs filled with tons of information about the Sea and the creatures that live in it. 

Hunter LOVED the tasks Sea Life has set up at the end of each area of the aquarium and stamping his dive book was his favorite part! 

Anything hands on is always a big hit with my kids so it was no surprise that they both wanted to pet the starfish.

These little creatures were beautiful and it was fun to get our hands wet while we learned more about starfish.

I think this was little Hayden's favorite part. She's a brave girl and just went right for it.

 We got to see a TON of awesome Sea Life!! 

Towards the end of our adventure we were able to catch a Shark Feeding in the large water tank. 

It was so neat to watch the person in the water feeding the shark. 

One really special creature we loved getting to see was Cora the green sea turtle. 

We were able to learn a little about Cora before our visit which made seeing her swimming in the tank even more special.

Cora was hit by a boat and found off the coast of Florida with a spinal fracture. The Georgia Sea Turtle Rescue stepped in to aid Cora's recovery. 

Although her spine has fully healed, a weight has strategically been placed on her shell to compensate for the permanent air bubble that developed under her shell.

Cora seems very happy in her new home in the Tropical Bay of Rays at Sea Life Arizona! 

You can follow Cora's journey on Sea Life Arizona's Facebook page! 

We absolutely loved our day at Sea Life Arizona Aquarium.

We were so impressed with all of the tanks of sea life, hands on activities and fun facts we learned on our Under Water Adventure.

If you're in Arizona this is a MUST DO with your kids! 

Be sure to follow Sea Life Arizona on  Facebook  or check out their website for upcoming events and ticket information!  Sea Life Arizona Aquarium 

This post was sponsored by Sea Life Arizona Aquarium. Thanks for having us! 

Target Tuesday.

We are so excited to be bringing you our first post in our new feature, Target Tuesday. You'll see this feature pop up a couple of times a month and we'll be sharing with you our current favorite Target finds. Targets in Utah are incredibly popular amongst the young mormon mommy population and with only a couple of Targets (and I literally believe there are only TWO) in Utah county, the good stuff goes fast. My favorite Super Target specifically, is usually wiped of all size 7 women's shoes, Medium sized women's clothes and somehow, the exact 2T girls and 5T boys size kids clothes that we need.  (Dad doesn't always share the same love for Target that the rest of us do)  When we get lucky, and get to Target first thing on a Tuesday morning however, sometimes we score AWESOME finds that we just can't help but share. 
This weeks feature will be focused on Target's Christmas Clearance Sale.

Target starts at 50% off their Holiday section the day after Christmas and after some time it goes to 75% off and then 90% off, if they have enough product left over. Last Tuesday, we scored BIG TIME when we shopped around Target's Holiday section with everything marked down 75%. We are suckers for a bargain so we were elated when we actually found product, more than just our usual wrapping paper and tissue paper, at such discounted prices.

Our first great find were ornaments. Kevin and I have been married 5 years this year and we have never bought new ornaments for our tree. Our first Christmas together we spent $4.75 at the local thrift store for a box of silver bulbs so our tree wouldn't be so naked. Over the years we have slowly added a few "yearly" ornaments from family and for the kids and so our tree has looked a little homely.  We couldn't believe the deal we got on two big boxes of ornaments during Target's Christmas Clearance sale.  For $9 we got two big boxes totalling over 90 bulbs in some incredible colors.  I cannot wait to see these beauties on my tree this year. 

Next we were able to find a strand of Christmas lights.  Our tree is pre-lit so we've never seen a need to buy string lights but after some searching on Pinterest, we figured we could put some lights up in the kids rooms windows to make more of the house more Christmas-y. They are also perfect for decorations or backdrops when hosting parties. Normally $8 a box, we were able to grab a couple of Warm White LED Icicle Lights for $1.98 per box.

This year we found some adorable kids tableware.

We picked up 3 kids place sets including place mats, plates and cups!  How adorable are these sweet holiday settings?

Our kids LOVE divider plates and cups with straws so we were thrilled to find what fits our needs.
Finally, since it's almost mandatory at these holiday clearance sales, we picked up wrapping paper and a few Christmas bags. 

We loved that this wrapping paper was not as holiday specific which will allow us to use it for birthdays also.
This weeks Target Tuesday features over $60 saved. Who doesn't love to save money when spending money?!!
You can always check with your local Target during the Holidays to get a feel for what they may or may not have left over after Christmas.  Waiting until 90% definitely lowers your selection, other than wrapping paper and tissue paper, so be sure to think of items you may want to buy when deciding what discount to wait for.
We hope you enjoyed this post of Target Tuesday. We'll be bringing you tons of posts about Target's clothes, cleaning supplies, toys, movies, holiday products and our favorite, The Dollar Section, so be sure to follow by email so you can be notified of our next Target Tuesday post.  (Follow By Email in Right Side column) 
Happy Targeting!