Williams Tower Water Wall

Houston, TX - The Williams Tower, formerly Transco Tower for you natives, Water Wall has been a popular attraction for decades. Who could possibly count the number of bridal portraits taken at this location or the number of first dates that strolled around the park? This is a fun one to see, but bundle it into a trip to the Galleria Mall.



The kids loved the big open field that they could just run and wrestle and run some more. They enjoyed getting close to the water and feeling the cooling spray. We walked around the Water Wall and the kids were amazed, "Mama, there is water on both sides of the wall."



If you are planning a picnic, test the grass before you sit. The closer you get to the Water Wall the wetter the grass gets. Add some sprinklers and you get a very moist lawn which is great for wrestling boys to land on, but not so much fun on Mama' fancy shorts.

Other amenities? Not much. No bathrooms, no drinking fountains. They do have a few benches to rest on and a number of shade trees.



Don't park at Williams Tower. This makes the walk really short but you have to pay to park. If you visit Macy's at the Galleria, you can park in their parking lot for free and just walk a block over to the Water Wall.



Trip Stats

• Who: Mama, two 10 year old boys and one 5 year old boy
• What: Williams Tower Water Wall, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_Waterwall
• When: Thursday Afternoon
• Where: Galleria Area, 610 and Post Oak.
• Why: Outdoor play
• Cost: Free
• Galleria Mall: http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=805 , this is not my thing, but if you enjoy shopping, this is the place for variety. However, be prepared to pay higher prices. This is an "up scale" mall. They also have ice skating and plenty of places to eat so not all bad.

Houston Firehouse Museum

Houston, TX - The Houston Firehouse Museum, http://houstonfiremuseum.org/index.html , is a historical monument, a look into the history of fire fighting, AND kid friendly. What kid is not awed by the sounds of a fire truck? The museum was a great stop and the kids loved it, but please remember that this museum is inside the original fire station No. 7 built in 1898. This is not a big museum. If you have energetic kids, this will be a quick stop and not a full afternoons excursion.



The museum has several antique fire truck with plaques telling you about the truck and how it worked. Throughout the building there are easy to read signs giving interesting tid-bits about the history of fire fighting and there are artifacts showcasing old equipment and new equipment. All fine and good for Mom and Dad, but what about those kids?



The best part of the museum is the kid friendly part. They have several antique, NO TOUCH, trucks but thankfully, the curators remembered what it is like to be a child and included a truck the kids could crawl on and in. Walk to the back of the museum and you will find a ladder and pole set-up that allows kids to climb up and slide down a fireman's pole onto a padded mat. They even took the cab of a more modern truck and affixed it to a wall so the kids could crawl in and pretend to drive. Cool part about the cab is it has switches that actually turn lights on, and thankfully the curators remembered what is like to be a child and did not include the siren. There are some other fun things like helmets and fireman jackets the kids can try on and a wall with cartoons and areas to color. There is a display that allows kids to feel the weight of the hoses and to tighten them off and on the display. I understood that it was a replica of part of a more modern truck, but I didn't understand what the hoses of different sizes were for. Fighting fires, I suppose.



Anyway, the kids loved it. I loved it. It was a very good stop.

Trip Stats:

• Who: one Mom, two 10 year olds boys and one five year old boy
• What: The Houston Firehouse Museum, http://houstonfiremuseum.org/index.html
• When: Thursday afternoon
• Where: downtown Houston
• Why: indoor play and education
• Cost: $3 per adult and $2 per child over 4 years old
• Parking: You can park on Milam Street for free as long as it is not rush hours. Read the signs carefully.
  

George Bush Park

Houston, TX - George Bush Park is located on the west side of Houston off Hwy 6 and Westheimer. It is a large park on the map, 7,800 acres, but the park part is a very small area. We enjoyed the playground area which has some very nice sitting areas, restrooms, water fountains and shaded pavilions with picnic tables. We did not enjoy that none of the playground is shaded. There are trees around so maybe in the distant future there will be shade.

If you look at the park on-line at http://www.pct3.hctx.net/parks/georgebush.aspx , you will see a nice picture of a wood bridge. Our only guess is it must be along the Hike and Bike path which on a 100+ degree day we opted not to explore. There appears to be a very long hike and bike path. We didn't see it so no idea how nice or how challenging.

We did see the Bark Park. The Bark Park is a fenced area where you are allowed to take your dog off leash. It is a pretty good size so dogs can actually get in a full run if they want. They had some shaded seating for owners. My kids said the part they thought the dogs would like the most is the pond. There is a nice little, shallow pond for dogs to jump in and cool off or just have fun. There were only a handful of dogs when we went by on a Wednesday afternoon, but everybody seemed to be getting along just fine.

Overall, we would recommend this park if you are in the are, but I wouldn't make a special trip over there. If you live on the northwest side of Houston like we do, there are several parks closer that are just as much fun, i.e. Bear Creek Park, Matzke Park, Telge Park, Bane Park, etc. BUT if you are in for the Hike and Bike, perhaps George Bush Park is better. If you are in the Hike and Bike category, you may also want to look into Terry Hershey Park which connects to George Bush Park at Memorial Drive and Hwy 6.

To end this, a good park, but not good enough to go out of the way for.

Trip Stats:

• Who: one Mom, two 10 year olds boys and one five year old boy
• What: George Bush Park, http://www.pct3.hctx.net/parks/georgebush.aspx
• When: Wednesday afternoon
• Where: west side of Houston off Hwy 6 and Westheimer Parkway (the first jaunt to the right once you cross Hwy 6 while traveling on Westheimer Road)
• Why: outdoor play
• Cost: Free except for gas

San Jacinto Monument & Texas Battleship

La Porte, TX - Trying to find cheap and fun things to do with your kids throughout the summer is sometimes hard to do. Visiting the San Jacinto Monument & Texas Battleship can be either a cheap or expensive event. Our group had one adult, two ten year old boys and one five year old boy.



On the cheap
Do the Texas Battleship. Kids are free with an adult ticket. On a Monday for one adult and three kids it was $10 to get on board. It took us about an hour to explore all the decks and let the kids spend time sitting in the seats of the big guns and pretending. We took our time and really enjoyed the battleship.



Take a picnic lunch. There are plenty of shade trees and picnic tables. There are decent bathrooms and plenty of space to run and explore.



Drive the battle grounds. You have to pay $1 to enter the park but keep the receipt they tape to your windshield on your windshield, and you do not have to pay again when you go across the road to visit the San Jacinto Monument.



Anyway, Drive the battle grounds. When you pay your $1 at the guardhouse, they will give you a map of the grounds. On the map you will see numbered markers. When you drive around, the markers coincide with boulders that have the same number engraved on them. Between the map and the boulders you will get a brief outline of the battle of San Jacinto and see where Sam Houston was wounded and where Santa Ana surrendered. To us Texans, this is a big deal. I was excited to share it with the 10 year olds. The five year old was just happy to be there.



The San Jacinto Monument, the only cheap things to do is walk the grounds and view the first floor museum which is very small but interesting. They do have nice bathrooms and water fountains. The monument is where things get pricey.



Expensive
The San Jacinto Monument does not have kids free with an adult. Estimate at least $4/person for each activity. You will need tickets to see the 35 minute movie (we did not see it). You will need tickets to see the photographic exhibit of "Developing Houston" (we did not see it). You will need tickets to go to the observation deck and if you go to the observation deck, be prepared with several quarters. It is $0.50 per viewer (binocular). The observation deck was disappointing. It cost us $13 just to get up there and another $1.50 to give each child a turn with the viewers. We were up there maybe 5 minutes and the kids were done. The viewing deck does not go all the way around. It is a small area and gets crowded easily. They did have a short one minute video giving an overview of the battle and surrounding area, but it is almost impossible to hear over the chatter of other visitors. There is one plaque with information about the Houston Ship Channel that was pretty interesting. It was interesting, but not something I would do again.
Trip Stats:

• Who: Mom, two 10 year old boys and one 5 year old boy
• What: San Jacinto Monument and Texas Battleship http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/
• When: on a Monday, day trip (11 am - 3pm)
• Where: La Porte, Texas (about an hours trip from northwest Houston)
• Why: outdoor play and Texas history education
  
• Costs:
• Texas Battleship (on a Monday) $10 for one adult and 3 kids
• San Jacinto Battleship (on a Monday) $13.50 for one adult and 3 kids and another $0.50 / viewer ($1.50 for three kids to have a turn with the binoculars)
• Parking $1
• Optional costs - There is a concession stand by the battleship which we did not look at since we took a picnic. There are gift shops at both the battleship and the monument. I did get suckered into buying some really cute sailor hats for the boys ($13/hat), but the boys really looked cute in their sailor hats.

Beat the Heat, Water Guns

Houston, TX - Living in Texas you know what "Texas Hot" really means. It is hot, and this summer, even for us Texans, it is super hot. According to AccuWeather.com, in just June and the first 10 days of July we have recorded temperatures at 100 and up for 8 days. Do you want to know how many days we have been above 95 degrees? This number includes the 100 temps: 28 days. That's hot.

So what's a mother to do with active, preteen boys in the house? Get out of the house. One day my kids were on the verge of tearing the house down with their rowdiness, so I decided, regardless of the heat, we were going to get out of the house and let them run some energy off. I took a medium size cooler and filled it half way with water, then I dumped all the ice we had in the freezer into the water as well as enough water guns for everybody. We drove to a nearby park with shaded benches and nice fields (Matzke Park at Jones and Grant), and let the kids run, shoot and get wet.

The kids loved the ice water for the guns. Of course, being clever boys, they decided why settle for little squirts from water guns, why not just dunk your head in the water. Then it became a contest to who could hold their breath the longest in the ice water. Eventually, that led to some splashing. The kids drained the cooler of the water and thoroughly soaked themselves. They were happy. I was happy. They had fun and I had fun watching them. Of course, I recommend towels for the ride home.

For a fun cheap way to let your preteens spend some energy all you need is a cooler, some water, some ice and maybe a water gun or two. You might even save money on the water guns by taking some plastic cups or over sized cooking spoons and ladles. Any way you do it, be prepared for wet and dirty with high chances of fun.

Challenger 7 Memorial Park

Webster, TX - If you live in Houston, you are aware of NASA and the shuttle program. If you were living in Houston in 1986, you are aware of the tragedy that befell the Challenger 7 and its crew. The sad news is that all lives were lost. In their memory memorials have been erected in Arlington National Cemetery in, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX and in the Challenger 7 Memorial Park in Webster, TX.


Now for some good news, the Memorial Park is well maintained and offers a number of fun amenities to its visitors and still offers a place to respectfully remember those who bravely boarded the Challenger 7. The park is an easy drive off I-45 (exit #19- FM 528 and turn west, turn left at the second light-NASA Parkway and turn left at the first stop sign and you are in.)


When you first turn in you will see open fields and an administrative/maintenance building to your left. Keep driving. There is a memorial to the right to respectfully remember the Challenger 7. Stop and then keep driving. You will soon see a wooden dock where you can fish. If you keep driving. You will wind around some more, see more open fields and then you will come to a sizable parking lot.


Immediately to your left is five (5), count them 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 COVERED playgrounds. On the left you will also see bathrooms, covered pavilions, picnic tables and a couple of grills. At the far end on the right is a Nature Center and the start of the boardwalk and nature trail. Travel past the parking lot and you come to a loop that u-turns you back towards the Nature Center and the rest of the park. Throughout the loop are a number of picnic tables and at the bottom of the u-turn is a canoe boat launch. It looks like it could be a nice wading area, but there were signs that said the boat launch was closed. It was hot and we were tired so we didn't go that far. We had already spent a lot of time climbing and exploring the playgrounds. Bonus for Mom was the swinging benches. We saw several of them and most were well shaded by trees.


It was very peaceful the Monday afternoon we visited. It is a healthy hour drive from northwest Houston, but a good spot to stop for a picnic on the way too or from Galveston.

Trip Stats:

• Who: Mom, three 10 year old boys and one 5 year old boy
• What: Challenger 7 Memorial Park, http://www.co.harris.tx.us/comm_lee/PChallenger7/
• When: afternoon, on a Monday
• Where: South of Houston headed towards Galveston (about an hours trip from northwest Houston)
• Why: outdoor play
• Costs: FREE

Bayou Wildlife Park

Alvin, TX - We highly recommend Bayou Wildlife Park, http://www.bayouwildlifepark.com/ . This is a wildlife sanctuary that offers tram tours, a mini petting zoo and pony rides (a short, guided ride around a circle).


We had a great time at the Bayou Wildlife Park from the moment we entered the gate. As soon as you turn into the property, you are stopped at a guard house where you pay your admission fees and purchase buckets of feed. The animals know you have just purchased food and they are waiting for you when you cross the cattle guard. The posted 5 miles an hour sign is no joke. With the number of animals we encountered, I would not drive any faster than that. But don't be too quick to throw your food out the window of your car, save it for the tram ride.


We finally reached the parking area and waited about 20 minutes for a tram. In that 20 minutes we took advantage of the bathroom facilities. We enjoyed the petting zoo, feeding a few animals through the fence and taking pictures. When the tram arrived and was ready to reload, they asked us for our numbers which we were given at the gate when we paid our admission fee. The lowest number got to pick where they sit first. The driver guided my boys to the front of the tram where they had kind of a shelf they could sit on criss-cross applesauce. I sat on the bench by the shelf.


Once the tram started the tour we enjoyed approximately 30 minutes of meandering around the 80+ acre park. The driver was fantastic with great information about all the animals. Fun and education, it just doesn't get any better than that. Anyway, as we toured the land and listened to the interesting facts, we were greeted time and time again by wonderful animals. We saw up close and personal lots of deer but we also saw emus, ostriches, a longhorn and camels. From the tram we came close to, but not personal, zebras and water buffalo. We saw from a distance a rhino and wildebeest. Safety tip, don't try to feed the animals from your hand, hold out your bucket but definitely hold your bucket with two hands. One large cattle creature took the bucket right out of the hands of one of our boys. The animals appear very docile. The only aggressive animal we saw was an alligator, who was guarding her nest of eggs, within a fenced enclosure.


I had four boys with me that day and everyone of them said thank you and asked to come back.

Trip Stats:

• Who: Mom, three 10 year old boys and one 5 year old boy
• What: Bayou Wildlife Park, http://www.bayouwildlifepark.com/
• When: late morning, on a Monday
• Where: South of Houston headed towards Galveston (about an hours trip from northwest Houston)
• Why: outdoor education about wildlife and fun
• Costs: $16/adult, $6/child and $8/bucket of feed. Tip on the feed: you really need to go ahead and get a bucket for every person who wants to feed. The animal walk right up to the tram and take a nibble out of every bucket hanging out. We had two buckets for four boys. It was a challenge to share.
• Food & Beverage: There are plenty of picnic tables, but no concession or snack stand. Bring your own food and beverages. There is a very small gift shop that was not open the Monday that we went. We did see a vending machine for drinks, but we had our own so not sure how much or what kind.
• Creature Comforts: The bathrooms are good. But be prepared for heat. There is no air conditioning anywhere. You can wait inside a very large shaded barn area, but unless there is a cross wind, there is no air. The tram has open sides so you can feed the animals. The tram does have a rooftop to shade you from the sun. The tram also travels through a lot of trees so the trip is quite comfortable besides you will be too excited about all the animals to worry about the temperature.

Matzke Park

Cypress (Northwest Houston), TX - Matzke Park at the corner of Jones Road and Grant has been remodeled and is really nice. We live about 15 minutes from this park, so it was a little by accident that we found it while traveling from the Willowbrook area towards our home. Anyway, worth the trip.

The park is literally on the corner. On Jones Road it is located next to the elementary school, Matzke Elementary. On Grant Road it is on a new cross street, but I didn't catch the name of it. The new cross street appears to connect Grant and Mills Road but I am not sure. I didn't drive it. The website says the park has restrooms. I am guessing it is by this new road are the restrooms. It has a walking path from the soccer fields to the playground, but in the Houston heat and with a small child, I chose to park at the elementary next to the playground.

A little about the layout, the park is a good size with soccer fields at one end and the playground at the other. Next to the playground is the butterfly garden, picnic tables and one water fountain. It is a healthy walk for children to take the walking path over to the restrooms on the other side of the soccer fields on the other side of the park. The website says that restrooms are planned for closer to the playground. If that becomes true, then this will be an excellent spot for picnics and play.

The playground is awesome and appears to be accessible for children in wheel chairs. My kids thought the wheel with letters and numbers in braille was cool. They also enjoyed banging on the chimes. The playground had places to climb, slide, bounce and run, and plenty of space for the 5 year old to explore and the 10 year olds to run.

The butterfly garden actually had butterflies. The flowers were beautiful and the kids loved the butterflies. There was plenty of benches and plenty of shade throughout both the garden and the playground area.

We recommend this park for picnics and play.


Trip Stats:

• Who: Mom, two 10 year old boys and one 5 year old boy



• What: outdoor playtime



• When: late morning, weekday



• Where: Matzke Park, http://www.hcp4.net/parks/matzke/index.htm



• Why: exercise and fun



• Costs: FREE

Bowling

Houston, Texas - Mom, home alone all day with two 10 year old boys and a 5 year old boy, could grow some grey hair trying to keep the kids off the furniture, off the walls and nothing broken including the kids. But I have found creating a schedule of activities really helps keep the time moving and the kids under control. We try to plan at least one outside activity every day. Usually it is either a trip to the community pool or to a park. This year we have collected a number of coupons and are trying a few entertainment places: today - bowling.

Bowling has fond memories for me (Mom). I remember my Dad spending Daddy-Daughter time teaching me how to bowl. I remember before I married my husband, bowling with my future spouse and actually being able to beat him at something (yes, we are a little competitive. keeps things spicy.). So when my friend offered me a coupon to take the boys bowling, I thought this will be fun.

The first game was fun, but the second game was not. We went ahead and got bumpers on the lane. The 10 year olds said they would agree to bumpers to help the 5 year old, but they really didn't need the bumpers. Hmmmm. The 10 year olds loved the bumpers. They didn't worry so much about technique as they did about throwing the ball as hard as they could. They scored pretty good the first game. The second game was a lower score mostly because the boys discovered you could bank the ball off both bumpers . It became more of a game of who could hit the bumpers the most times like a pinball machine and less about hitting the pins.

The 5 year old did the "Granny" bowl placing the ball on the floor between his legs and pushing as hard as he could. We were continually amazed that the ball never stopped and actually made it down the lane. We were continually amazed at the number of pins the 5 year old hit. He was very into the game the first round, but the second round he was much more into the soda and popcorn and playing with one of his Match Box cars.

As a Mom I would recommend bowling but plan only one game, not two. At the end of one everybody will be in good spirits, but by the end of two silliness will teeter on the edge of bad behavior and tempers may flare.

Trip Stats:

Who: Mom, two 10 year old boys and one 5 year old boy

What: indoor playtime

When: early morning, weekday
Wednesday at 9:30 am - not a crowd but at 10 am two day cares came in and that really made it crowded. One day care came into the lane next to us and the kids were bad about not waiting their turn to bowl, horsing around in our sitting area (tripping over my kids) and were loud.

Where: AMF Willow Lanes facility, http://www.amf.com/corporate/index.htm

Why: exercise and fun

Costs:

• Parking - FREE
• Shoes - $4.50 / person
• Games - We had a value pak coupon for $0.99/game up to 10 games which made two games for 4 people only $9.00. I think the original cost with no coupon is $4.25 / per person / game.
• Snacks and Drinks - We got a pitcher of Sprite which was enough for one game, not two. Pitchers were $7.00 so we only got one. We also got a small popcorn for $3.00. The snack bar also sells pizza, but we decided to go home for lunch.
• Extras - They have a few video games: a couple of driving games, a punching bag game, a crane game, etc.

Houston Children's Museum

Houston, Texas (Museum District) - This fun little museum is not so little anymore. We have enjoyed the Children's Museum of Houston for a number of years, and this year was no different.

I don't know if there is a good day to go to beat the crowds. We went on a Monday and the line was out the door. It was crowded, but the kids still had a great time. For Me it was a little crazy trying to keep eyes on my 4 kids and apparently not all parents are teaching their kids to share, take turns and don't take a toy out of another child's hands.

The good stuff, the museum has been completely remodeled. Some of the old time favorites are still there just moved around a bit. Unfortunately, the bubble exhibit and the duck fountain are gone (had boats and ducks you watch float down a raised channel), but the new super sized, mega fun Flow Works outside is a good substitute. My kids loved the new flow works. There was a cool exhibit that showed how waves flow (did not keep their attention long, but I loved it). There were a number of stations to watch the water move and plenty of opportunity to get wet. One section my boys enjoyed was building little dams and structures and then opening the flood gates to see if the structures would survive. They made one structure that seemed to do well, but I guess it is more fun to watch them fall since the boys knocked it over when the water didn't.

Inside there are just a ton of things to do. At admissions we received a pass for the new Power Play and Kid-tropolis. I suppose they are trying to monitor how many people go in. We couldn't enter until the time that was stamped on the pass, but once we were in, we could stay as long as we wanted. The climbing structure in Kid-tropolis was very cool. The 10 year olds did it once and were ready to move on; the 5 year old would have stayed in a very long time. Unfortunately, some bigger kids climbed over him and pushed him and that was the end of that.

Power Play stations, they had some cool interactive stations, but several were too complicated for my 5 year old. He enjoyed the bottom level obstacle course and the scoot board track.

Kid-topolis is a very cool concept. The 10 year olds got jobs, earned pay checks, made deposits and spent money. The 5 year old, of course, did not grasp any of that and just played. The grocery store is half the size of the old one and was too crowded for us, but the 5 year old did go in and play for a little bit. They have a downsized police car and ambulance for the kids to crawl in which the 5 year old loved. It appeared there was a lot of good information about how a city works, but I was chasing the 5 year old and the 10 year olds, well, they are 10.

As Mom, my favorite part was the Invention Station which we almost missed. You have to take an elevator downstairs to it and the elevator is in a hallway off the main exhibit floor. Anyway, we found it and loved it. I enjoyed making paper rockets and shooting them in the cage. The 10 year olds loved making Lego cars and testing them on the ramps. The 5 year old enjoyed the rockets, the Lego cars and the sound exhibit.

The Cyberchase exhibit looked really cool but did not interest any of the kids. There was too much reading for the 5 year old and he was off in a shot. The 10 year olds went in and tried to participate in the exhibit, but again, too much reading and they were done in just a couple of minutes.

Overall it was a good trip. For something, extra special, we recommend the Children's Museum of Houston.

Trip Stats:

Who: Mom, three 10 year old boys and one 5 year old boy
What: indoor/outdoor playtime
When: weekday (all day)

• We arrived shortly after it opened at 10:15 am and did not leave until 4:00 pm. The boys wanted to stay longer, but Mom (me) said we had to scoot to beat prime time Houston traffic which we barely did using the HOV lane.

Where: Houston Children's Museum, http://www.cmhouston.org/
Why: education, exercise and fun

Costs:

• Parking - $7
• Admission - $7/person but we had a two for one coupon from the Entertainment Book.
• Lunch for this family of five was $35.00. The Children's Museum no longer allows outside food and drinks though I did see people who had stowed away picnics in diaper bags.
• Snacks & Drinks - Then we did have an ice cream break which was $1 / fruit cream bar. We did not indulge in drinks from the vending machines which were $2 each. If you decide to get drinks from the Cafe, you will pay $1.50 - $2.00 / drink which for 5 people adds up quickly. The only water fountain we found was on the bottom floor by the bathrooms.