Austin. Mom. Blog. » train

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

Austin’s Park and Pizza

Dianna — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:30:19 +0000

Recently we visited Austin’s Park and Pizza. I know it as Austin’s Park and Pizza, but its website states Austin’s Park. Either way we had a blast. To celebrate with just our immediate family (the four of us) Andrew decided to go to Austin’s Park. We only visit once a year due to the price. Overall I believe the price isn’t horrible, but when you pay for four it adds up. It’s $22.95 per person and doesn’t include tax. They have specials during the week to get it cheaper, but we always try to look for the coupons with buy one admission, get one free. It makes it a lot more reasonable. Our visit this past week was perfect. We went on a Tuesday from 3 to 8. There were no crowds or lines. We basically shared the whole facility with 20 people. Since we last visited, there were changes. The admission price used to include golf and unlimited video games. This isn’t the case anymore. It did have two good changes. The admission price included a soft drink now. Also, in the gameroom they added a moonwalk jump and a moonwalk double slide. My two sons definitely got use of the moonwalks. Being there five hours, we definitely got to participate in everything. First we ate. The buffet includes pizza, pasta, a salad bar, apples, bananas, and pudding. We definitley do not go to Austin’s Park for the food. This is strictly my opinion, but I believe the food is not good. Next we went on the go-carts. My youngest son Collin finally got to ride in one. On this visit, he was finally tall enough. The smile on both my sons faces were priceless. Both boys aren’t tall enough to ride on their own so their dad and I drove. After the go-carts we went to the bumper boats. My now six year old son was tall enough to drive his own boat and loved squirting water on Collin and I. I think the main goal of the boats are to soak your opponents. We were all smiling afterwards. Video games came next. With all the different games they had to offer, we stayed in this area for at least two hours. We tried laser tag next. We put on all of the gear, but when we went inside the area to start the game the boys were frightened. It was too dark and loud for them. So, the game lasted a total of five minutes. There was still the train to ride on, a rock wall to climb, a playscape to play on, and a ride called Little Shot to go on. So, even though we didn’t play laser tag there was still so much to do. Unfortunately Collin was too short and too light to do the rock wall climbing, but Andrew loved it. The train ride made Collin happy. Collin has been into trains (especially Thomas) for two years now. Finally it was inching 8:00 and I could feel the tiresome in all of us. We absoulutely had a great time and it was a perfect way to celebrate Andrew’s birthday.

The entrance to Austin's Park

The Moonwalk Jump

The Moonwalk Double Slide

Ready to ride the go-carts

Bumper Boats

Laser Tag

Little Shot Ride

Andrew Rock Wall Climbing