Free Computer Classes at Microsoft Store and the Apple Store

Each summer Apple and Microsoft stores host FREE computer classes for kids.  The classes cover movie making to game coding so there is something for very one. Knowledge and a free t-shirt is always welcome for me! The staff are wonderful as teachers, and my daughter really enjoyed all the classes I signed her up for. These are great ways to get kids thinking about programming.

Aquarium of the Pacific

The Aquarium of the Pacific Tour

http://www.aquariumofpacific.org

I took my children to the aquarium in Long Beach, CA. Five acres of underwater beauty filled with all sorts of fish and underwater flora was a great way to spend an entire evening.

My son's favorite animal are penguins and they have quite a few! My daughter enjoyed all the pools that you could reach in and touch the creatures.

If you have a troop you can arrange a sleepover in the Shark Den! Check the website before you go, right now everyone gets in for $14.95 at 5pm and it closes at 8:30.

AMAZON Fulfillment Center Tour

Today I took my GS Troop to the AMAZON Fulfillment Center in West Phoenix. It was amazing!

For anyone who isn't familiar with the backstory, Jeff Bezos incorporated the company (as Cadabra) on July 5, 1994 and the site went online as Amazon.com in 1995. Bezos changed the name cadabra.com to amazon.com because it sounded too much like cadaver. Additionally, a name beginning with "A" was preferential due to the probability it would occur at the top of any list that was alphabetized. It is the world's largest online retailer and the fact that it started in a garage really is incredible.

This warehouse is 7th generation in design and was but in 2010. It is 28 football fields large and at one point in the tour you are able to look out over the warehouse and you immediately flash back to the last scene in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" with the seemingly endless warehouse of government secrets. In 2014 - cyber Monday - 38.4 million items were ordered via AMAZON. The facility workers and IT personnel use bicycles with large baskets attached to travel thru the facility. The order fulfillment team members walk through the warehouse grabbing products to fill orders and walk an estimated 10 miles a day.

The tour starts with everyone receiving a headset. Some parts of the warehouse are very loud and this is great so you can hear everything the guide is telling you. The tour takes you on two of the three levels of the enormous warehouse. Near the end of the tour you get to meet one of the professional boxer who are able to transform a flat cardboard box into a "regular" box taped and sealed in the blink of an eye (obviously they get a lot of practice). After the demonstration you get to try it yourself. Next, they open up a fake semi-trailer and point to a huge pile of various sized boxes and test your ability to safely fill the trailer as fast and tightly as possible.

Tours are FREE and are open to everyone (but the waiting list is long). My husband was so upset at not being able to attend today that I am setting up another tour just for all my adult friends.

Address is 5050 West Mohave Street, Phoenix AZ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com