Austin. Mom. Blog. » Vacations

San Antonio Zoo

Dianna — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 04:04:11 +0000

Zoos are definitely busy in the summer. I haven’t found one day out of the week to go when they aren’t busy. We visited the San Antonio Zoo on a Thursday. We arrived at 11:00 and the first parking lot was full so we had to park in a second lot. The walk was quite far, but we were about to take a long walk through the zoo, so we didn’t mind. Fortunately the parking is free. The zoo included animals like bears, elephants, tigers, giraffes, monkeys, and the newest exhibit included hippos. The zoo had a really cool kids section. Inside an air conditioned building there was a set-up of fishing poles with magnets to pick up fish. It also included a little playhouse for pretend play and small tunnels like caves the kids could go through. Not too far from the designated children’s area is a petting zoo. The boys got to feed and brush several goats. Any interaction with animals are fun for our boys. It took us three hours to walk the zoo. We were heading to the car, but Collin (my 4 year old) saw some train tracks. We couldn’t pass up the chance to let Collin ride the train. It’s going on two years that he loves trains. Andrew (my 6 year old) at first passed on riding with us, but decided to go at the last minute. It was $3.00 for adults and $2.50 for children. It was worth the money. The train ride was actually pretty long and enjoyable. There were several areas surrounding the zoo we had never seen before. So, the train ride concluded our trip and we all had a great time. When I asked the boys what they liked best Andrew said the hippo at the zoo and Collin said the train ride. Typical!

Andrew in front of Giraffe Exhibit

Boys Pretend to Fish

Petting Zoo

Riding the Train

Fiesta Texas in San Antonio

Dianna — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:19:34 +0000

We finally made our first trip of the summer to Fiesta Texas. By this time last year, we would have been three times already. Time is really getting away from us this summer. Our trip was made on a Wednesday. It was not crowded. We didn’t arrive until twelve so we went directly to the waterpark. That was the best decision to make since we were already sweating at that point. The water really helped keeping us cool. The areas throughout the waterpark included a wave pool, tube rides, a lazy river, slides, and two areas designed especially for kids. The kids’ areas were shallow and had multiple fun objects to play on. It included a small whale to slide through, a huge cowboy hat to stand under and get soaked, a boat to climb, and so much more.

It took hours to finally get the boys to want to go ride roller coasters. We timed it just right. When it was time to ride, it wasn’t so hot. There honestly are a lot of rides the boys can go on. It kept us busy for the rest of the day. There were bumper cars, roller coasters, a Scooby Doo ride to shoot ghosts and goblins, airplanes, diesel trucks, a train that travels the whole park, and swings. At the end of the night there is a firework show, but our family gets way too tired to make it. There is plenty of entertainment at Fiesta Texas and as soon as time allows, we will return.

Wiggles Roller Coaster

Andrew on the Swings

Vacation

Dianna — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 03:36:51 +0000

We have been on vacation and still are on vacation. I have been so exhausted that I usually just fall asleep instead of making time to write. My eyes are closing as I write this. As soon as I recuperate, I can’t wait to share all of our adventures.

Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas

Dianna — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:11:46 +0000

Our family loves Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas. We have been there a total of four times now. Our last visit was this past Thursday and Friday before Easter. The lodge was 75% full. We have been when it’s 100% full and 20% full. We absolutely loved it when it only was 20% full, but even when it’s full capacity the lodge can handle it. We don’t have to wait two hours to ride something. It’s the perfect vacation for our two boys. Andrew is five and Collin is four. Great Wolf Lodge’s main attraction is an indoor waterpark with tube rides, waterslides, a wave pool, and a huge treehouse with water overflowing each way you look. Since I’m a huge water fan myself, I also love it. There are several places you can dine at when you visit. They include Pizza Hut Express, Bear Paw Sweets and Eats (where we enjoyed ice cream), Starbucks, and Loose Moose Cottage (a restaurant). Inside the waterpark is a snack bar where you can buy small pizzas, hamburgers, fries, and miscellaneous snacks. We purchased a hot dog, a chicken burger, and fries. It was actually pretty good. The prices were typical. A hot dog cost us three dollars, the chicken burger was six dollars, and the fries were two dollars. I believe Six Flags prices are much higher. The lodge has so many activities for kids including a cub club with painting, coloring, or decorating items. Some items may have to be purchased. There’s also an arcade, a kids’ spa, and a game called MagiQuest where you have a wand and go through the hotel to conquer challenges. The game can last hours so this last time we didn’t purchase the game, but we will next time. Our boys were disappointed, but since we only stayed one night, time wasn’t in our favor. Our next visit we will stay two nights. When you visit Great Wolf Lodge, you are able to start enjoying the park as early as one o’clock and can stay until it closes the next day at nine. You have to check out of your room by eleven, but can still stay to enjoy the lodge. We always take advantage of staying. We all were truly exhausted after visiting Great Wolf, but we can’t wait to go back. It is truly a kid friendly, family friendly hotel.

Andrew and Collin Loving Great Wolf Lodge

Indoor Waterpark

Spring Break Continues

Dianna — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:06:35 +0000

I am finally getting the chance to finish our spring break vacation details. The last time I wrote, we had finished up with the zoo. We still had a lot of time on our hands for the rest of the day, so we decided to go to Six Flags. Our plan was to go the next day, but we decided to go both days. We arrived at 5:30. It was perfect. There were not any lines for the season pass processing center or hardly any lines for the kids’ rides. We left at 8:30 since we were going to come back the next day. We didn’t want to drag it out too long and have the kids exhausted. Wednesday arrives and we head out to Six Flags again. The time is 11:30 a.m. and we are in stop and go traffic to proceed through the gates of Six Flags. It took us one hour to go through the gates and park our vehicle. During the wait, my husband decided to go in and check out how long the lines were for the rides. It was ridiculous. The rides we rode the day before would now take us an hour to get on. It just wasn’t worth it. We decided not to park and head home. Luckily, we have season passes and could easily come again another time. I am happy we went the night before and got to enjoy the park for a little while. I’m not sure why it wasn’t busy that night, but I honestly believe we will not attempt to go to any theme parks another spring break. The boys were pretty disappointed we didn’t go, so we decided to visit Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. By far, this is our favorite zoo. It’s the perfect size for Andrew and Collin. Andrew is five and Collin is four. It’s not so big where it’s overwhelming. The zoo has a new area that is called Asian Forest. It includes orangutans, tigers, and komodo dragons. It included a play area for the children to climb on or hang from ropes like an orangutan. We have been to the Cameron Park Zoo before, but the Asian Forest hadn’t been opened yet. We finished touring the zoo in two hours and finally headed for home. I love being on vacation, but there’s no place like home.

Cameron Park Zoo

Spring Break is Over

Dianna — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:12:46 +0000

I know it’s been awhile since I have posted anything, but spring break was here and now it’s over. I’m sad to say it’s over. It was so nice to have the boys home all week. We had such a great time. Now I’m looking forward to summer. We had a fun filled packed week. We arrived at Fossil Rim in Glen Rose, Texas at ten a.m. Monday morning. It was starting to get busy, but it wasn’t too bad yet. We enjoyed feeding the animals, but our best part were the giraffes. Out of our sunroof, my husband fed two giraffes out of his hands. Our two sons were smiling ear to ear. It truly was an awesome experience. We toured the property within three hours. The weather outside was windy and cold so being in our vehicle was perfect. Unfortunately the weather kept us from going to our next adventure. We were going to visit Dinosaur Valley State Park, but the weather prevented us from doing so. We proceeded to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the day. We stayed at Embassy Suites and loved it. We went with another family and had conjoining rooms. Andrew and Collin (our two sons) loved it. All the kids ran back and forth and we felt like one big family. The hotel also had an indoor pool, full breakfast, and complimentary drinks from 5:30 to 7:30. We couldn’t ask for anything more. We stayed two nights. Both Andrew and Collin continue to ask when are we going back to the hotel. Fortunately summer is not too far away. Well, Tuesday arrived and we went to the Dallas Zoo. Out of all the zoos we have visited, in my opinion, Dallas Zoo has the best kids area. The boys got to ride a horse for $2 each, pet a pig, pet a rabbit, crawled in a mongoose tunnel, fed birds, and so much more. We could have stayed at least two hours in the kids area. Everyone was getting hungry so we had to cut it short. Our favorite animals to see were the gorillas. They were some fascinating creatures. The zoo had a monorail you were able to ride for $3 each to observe the animals and get information from a tour guide. My youngest son, Collin loved riding the monorail because he thought of it as a train ride. I still have a lot of information to share about our spring break, but for now I will end this post.

Fossil Rim

Children's Zoo at Dallas Zoo

Six Flags Season Pass

Dianna — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:24:54 +0000

Well, we finally decided what we are doing for spring break. We are heading to Dallas, Texas. On our way we will visit Fossil Rim and Dinosaur Valley in Glen Rose, Texas. We have been to Fossil Rim before and we were fascinated by it. The boys were a little young when we went, so I’m hoping this time they will really enjoy it. Dinosaur Valley will be new territory for us. We will then stay in Dallas for two nights and visit Six Flags Over Texas and the Dallas Zoo. For the rest of the week we will take it easy and we might go to the rodeo. Well, I really wanted to inform everyone about the Six Flags season pass we purchased. Usually we purchase it from H-E-B, but when I called guest relations at Six Flags they informed me of an “outer market season pass.” It’s a discounted season pass for people who have to travel more than 100 miles to visit their location. Since we do live more than 100 miles, we got our season pass for $49.99 instead of the rate of $59.99. So, if there is anyone who is looking to purchase a season pass at Six Flags I would first try online at sixflags.com to see if you get a discount. When you choose the option to purchase season passes it will ask for your zip code. If your zip code qualifies for the discount the “outer market season pass” will show up as an option to buy. If it doesn’t show up, you do not qualify. I really thought this was some useful information for anyone wanting to visit Six Flags. For the past two years, we weren’t aware of this discounted season pass and paid normal prices. I’m just glad we know now.

Spring Break Vacation

Dianna — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:24:24 +0000

Well, it’s only four weeks until Spring Break vacation and we still have no plans. Time is going by fast and we need to make some. Believe it or not, I actually had the nerve to call my travel agent to see if we could get on a Disney cruise during spring break. Everything, and I mean everything was booked. I guess when the time is right, we will go on the Disney cruise. We’re looking into going to Houston and purchasing the city pass. It’s a discounted pass that allows you to go to six different attractions. It’s $39 for adults and $29 for kids. The main attractions that interest me are the NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the Children’s Museum. I thought it might be fun and not so far to travel. I would also like to stay one night in Galveston since it’s so close to Houston. These are just some ideas and I will post soon what we have decided and then comment later on our experience. Wish me luck!

Galveston Trip

Dianna — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:49:05 +0000

We went to Galveston on the 20th and 21st. We stayed at the Moody Gardens hotel and loved it. We have stayed at the hotel before so we weren’t surprised on how kid friendly the hotel was. The hotel had a room set up as “Santa’s Workshop” where the kids could do multiple Christmas crafts. We got to enjoy writing a letter to Santa, making gingerbread necklaces, Christmas door hangers, cookie decorating, and playing several board games. The hotel also had a heated pool. We enjoyed the buffet breakfast in the Terrace Restaurant (which did cost) in the morning. It was a little pricey, but for a kid friendly hotel and the walking distance from the hotel to the Moody Gardens resort, it was worth it. We paid approximately $150, which included taxes. We stayed at the hotel because we were aware of the activities it offered for kids. We knew we wanted to enjoy the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens. The lights were really nice and we had plenty walking room through the trail. We weren’t inching our way through like we were at “The Trail of Lights” in Austin last year. Last year it was too crowded for us and instead of looking at lights we were just fighting our way to get through. At the Festival of Lights there is a fee of $5.95 a person, but I believe it was worth it. They had an ice skating rink you could have paid to use, but our boys are too little for that. Also, there was plenty of concession stands you could buy hot dogs, nachos, hot chocolate, kettle corn, drinks, and even smores. We got each of our boys a smore kit and they had sticks where you could roast the marshmallows over a large fire pit. The boys really enjoyed it. The cost was $2 per kit. After the lights we had the option to enjoy the aquarium($5 a person), enjoy the 4D theatre Polar Express film ($5 a person), or go sit on Santa’s lap, but we decided to call it a night. We used to have Moody Gardens season passes a few years ago and enjoyed it back then. I would recommend Moody Gardens to any family looking for a small vacation. The weather was so nice over the weekend that we also got to enjoy the beach both days. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect small mini-vacation.

SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration

Dianna — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:30:11 +0000

We went to Sea World in San Antonio on Friday and had a blast. I’m already in the Christmas spirit and going to Sea World enforced it more. We first went to see the dolphins and fortunately it was feeding time. We paid $5 for four fish. It was worth it. When feeding the dolphins you are able to pet them in the process. The boys’ expressions were priceless. Next we went to the show of “A Sesame Street Christmas.” When the sesame street characters came onstage I got teary eyed. I was overwhelmed on how much our little family was enjoying this. The boys didn’t move once. They were mesmerized. Near the end, my oldest (he’s 5) finally said he was too old for this, but he hung in there. We then headed to a huge play area with sand and rope climbing. My oldest did the rope climbing and my youngest played in the sand. Fortunately both my husband and I were present so we could split up for this. When going to theme parks, I never venture out alone. Next we went by alligator alley where we saw several alligators surrounding a pond. They had a .25 cent machine to feed the fish which we took part in. The boys were aiming for the alligators so they would move, but they had no luck. We then went to the show “Deck the Halls with Clyde & Seamore.” This was a show full of sea lions acting out a skit for Christmas. Once again the boys were mesmerized and didn’t move once. This time my oldest didn’t ask to leave. Sea World had a 4D showing of Polar Express, but unfortunately we didn’t make it in time. We stood in line, but the theater got full before it was our turn. We got to see a 4D showing of Polar Express when we went to Moody Gardens in Galveston and from what I remember it was awesome. On our way out we saw the world-famous Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales and the boys got to pet one. We really had a lot of fun. There was still so much we didn’t get to see because we were short on time so I’m hoping we will make another trip back. If you have a chance to go to Sea World for the Christmas Celebration, I totally recommend it.

Ski Time

Dianna — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:48:20 +0000

I am about to start looking into ski vacations. I am looking for a ski resort that has the ability to ski in and out the front door of your room. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. It will definitely help with my search. The criteria I am looking for is that it needs to be kid-friendly, not a long drive from Austin or long plane ride, and it can accomodate my entire family. This will include 8 adults, 2 teenagers, and 2 boys. I will be searching for the dates during spring break. It is from March 13th through March 21st. We all went to Ruidoso, New Mexico one year and had a great time. We drove and the drive itself was exhausting. It was worth it, but this time I am leaning towards a short plane ride. Any tips? Any great locations? Anything will help.

Disney World vs Disney Cruise

Dianna — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:21:10 +0000

I am looking into a Disney World land vacation or Disney cruise. My boys are five and three so I’m leaning more towards the cruise. I would love any feedback on one versus the other. I am told there are certain height restrictions at Disney World. My sons are definitely under forty-four inches and people say that’s the magic number to ride several rides. This makes me think I should go on the Disney cruise. Is there anyone who could give me more information on this subject? Thanks in advance.