Safari Park in Plano, TX

Safari Park is a place to play indoors in Plano for ages 1-10 years old.  I want to show you what all there is to do at this play place, but at the same time let you know what to expect when you are there.  

There are several things for the children to do including miniature golf, riding a train in a circle, riding mechanical animals, playing on play structures, ceramic painting and bear factory.  Most of these activities are most enjoyable for the children under 5.  

We have been here twice, and we have been disappointed both times.  The staff needs customer service and other training.  The staff is not happy to take your child on any of the rides.  They are hard to find in between times of rides for purchasing something from the cafe or for admittance.  Basically, once you get inside, you are on your own... But, you need the staff to do the train, robotic animals, ceramics, and bear factory.  

Special advisement: Children over 10 are not allowed to play or participate in any of the activities.  

This place is, also, over-priced in my opinion.  I will get to that now.  

Price: $9.99-$29.99 depending on which package you want

adults are $1 each

Jump Mania in Plano, TX

Jump Mania is the place to go to get some fun exercise.  There is a space for the smallest of children to the oldest.  This is a great place to meet up for a play date. 

For the young kids, they have a toddler area filled with all kinds of play equipment.  Two small bounce houses, one with a slide, and one with basketball hoops are in this area.  There are, also, play houses, play kitchens, balls, ride on toys and more.  When we went, there were plenty of kids to play with in this area. 

For the kids over 3, there is a separate area.  Four bounce houses with slides, obstacle courses, and lots of places to bounce are in this area.  There is an air hockey game that the kids can play free of charge.  They have a total of 2 hours to play, and my kids were exhausted before the 2 hours was even up.

For the adults, comfortable couches abound.  They are set up in a circle fashion, so that the adults can talk and still keep an eye on their kids. 

Like all bounce house locations, socks must be worn at all times.  If you forget socks, they do have some available for purchase.

Cost:

Child 4 and over: $8

Child 3 and under: $5

Siblings: $7

Build A Bear in Frisco, TX

Build A Bear is a unique store and activity in one location.  Children and adults alike can enjoy this project!  When you first walk into the store, you get to see all of the teddy bears and animals available for you to create.  There are always at least 30 to choose from starting at just $10. 

Once you have chosen your stuffed animal, you can choose a voice or music effect for him/her.  You can even record your own message.  If you are making the stuffed animal for a friend or loved one, this is a great time to tell them how you feel about them.  They have ones that say "I love you" or ones that have a heartbeat just to name a couple of options.

The next stop is to get your animal stuffed.  The employees run the stuffing machine, but you are in charge of how soft or stuffed you want the animal to be.  Give it a good squeeze to double check the hugability.

Now, your animal needs a bath.  The washing station has gentle fur brushes, so that you can make sure your new pet is nice and clean.

Unless you want to take your pet home naked, you will be choosing an outfit or two and maybe some shoes as well.  There are plenty of outfits to choose from: swimsuits, scuba gear, Halloween costumes, cheerleading outfits, police uniforms, baseball uniforms, tuxedos, etc.

Last, you will stop by the computer to register your pet and give him/her a name.  He/She will be packaged into a cardboard carrier and ready for transport to its new home.

Most of these stores are located in malls, but you can check the store locator on their site to find the closest one to you. 

Lights on the Lake in Sherman, TX

Lights on the Lake is a fireworks option for those people in the northern part of the metroplex that can't make it to Addison.  This fireworks show is on July 3, 2012 as well.  There will be kids' activities, a live band, and food.  Gates open at 6:00pm with fireworks starting around 9:30pm. 

Cost:

FREE!

Kaboom Town in Addison, TX

Kaboom Town in Addison takes place on Tuesday night this year.  It starts at 5pm on July 3, 2012 in Addison Circle Park.  You can see the fireworks from anywhere in Addison, though, so you could take in the sights while eating at a restaurant outside even!  One thing that makes this fireworks show unique is that they include an air show. 

Cost:

FREE!

End of the Month Giveaway #2: Ripley's Combo Tickets!

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about Ripley's Believe it or Not, Wax Museum, and the Mirror Maze.  There is one more attraction you will find in this one building that I want to tell you about.  It is called Impossible Laser Race.  The Laser Race is extremely complicated for most people that aren't double-jointed.  Basically, you must try to make it from one end of the room to the other without hitting any lasers.  You are, also, timed, so you are trying to beat the clock, too. 

This month's giveaway is combo tickets to Ripley's!  That means you can get into all 4 attractions free of charge!!  I hope you will have as much fun there as we did.  Now, let's get this giveaway rolling...

Here are the details of what is being given away:

2 Combo tickets for all 4 attractions valued at $29.99 each (for a 59.98 value)!

I have a total of 6 tickets to giveaway, so 3 lucky people will get 2 tickets each!  To enter, comment on a blog post, put some of our posts on your Facebook page or pin them on Pinterest.  Then, leave a comment on this post letting us know what you did.  You can get as many as 5 entries per day until the drawing on July 10th, 2012.  For those dedicated readers who come back daily and make sure to get all 5 entries per day, you bump your odds of winning but you may even win more than one pair of tickets if your name is chosen twice from the raffle.  I know some of you have bigger families, so enter as often as possible. 

Good luck!

Ripley's Enchanted Mirror Maze in Grand Prairie, TX

Are you ready to get lost?  The Mirror Maze in Grand Prairie is just for you!!   With over 2,000 square feet of confusing two-way mirrors, you are bound to get lost a few times.  Plus, if you ever find your way out, you can go back in and try again as many times as you want.

It was fun to see everyone running around trying to find their way out.  We will remember this experience for the rest of our lives.  This was a great family bonding event.  We depended on each other to make it out of there.

Cost:

Adult (age 13 and up)= $16.99*

Child (age 4-12)= $8.99*

Child 3 and under= FREE

*There are 3 other attractions at this location so there are bundling pricing options as well. I posted about 2 of the others already, and you can find them here and here.

**All opinions expressed herein are my own, and I have not received any monetary or other gift for a positive review. We were invited to spend the day at the 4 attractions expenses paid, and we have been given tickets for a giveaway! The tickets will be given away this month, so stay tuned!

The Beach in Fairview, TX

If you can't make it to a real beach this summer, The Beach in Fairview is a good replacement.  Conveniently located right across the street from the city of Allen, Fairview boasts a close to 0% crime rate. 

The Beach is a gigantic sand box.  We always bring our sand toys like shovels, buckets, castle molds, boats, cars, and rakes.  There are plenty of "friends" to play with that bring toys to share.  If you are worried about getting all of your toys back just make sure to label everything you bring.  It turns into a sandbox swap a lot of times. 

The sand is soft and just like beach sand.  After a big rain you even get an ocean look.  The sand is perfect for building sand castles because it sticks together.   

For a break from digging and building, there is a play structure with a slide and a few other things. 

Cost:

FREE!

Michaels Events in Any Town, TX

Summer vacation is here, and that means that Michael's Summer Events will be starting!  For the past two years, Michael's has offered a "passport" to the world during the summer.  They are doing it again this summer. 

What is the passport program?  Well, three times a week, Michael's features a craft event.  Each one of the events pertains to a different country.  The events are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. 

Want to get the most out of the program?  We have attended every single event for the past two years, but we do it a little differently... Every country means that my kids are learning about a new country before the event.  I used A Trip Around the World as well as the other 2 books that come after it (Another Trip and A New Trip).  After my kids learned about the country, they then went to Michael's to do the craft that goes with that country.  We have collected all of the activity sheets and crafts into binders using page protectors and separated by continent and then country.

Some of the countries they are doing this year are the same as ones they did in past years, but the crafts are new.  Check out your local Michael's, and get there early!

Coming up:

June 19: Australia

June 21: Mexico

June 23: Poland

June 26: China

June 28: Madagascar

June 30: Canada

LegoLand Discovery Center in Grapevine, TX

LegoLand is located in Grapevine Mills mall across from Sea Life.  There is a Lego store attached to the attraction as well. 

When we went to visit, the place was packed!  We were told that it was usually like that except during the day when kids are in school.  If you have small kids, it is probably best to plan to go during school hours. 

There is plenty to do at the center.  There are a few rides like Kingdom Quest, Forest Pursuit, and Merlin's Apprentice.  The lines were long.  Had they not been, we could have gone on the rides a few times, instead of just one.

A 4D movie plays every few minutes, and you can watch that several times.  I thought the movies were quite entertaining. 

There is a soft play area with slides and tunnels... And very important, your child must have socks to go inside!!  We arrived without socks, so my kids were turned away.  We were told that socks could be purchased in the Lego store for $1.  If you don't want to miss this, or pay $1 for socks, make sure you are prepared.

Legos are everywhere to play with.  There is a race track where you can build and race a car, a princess palace, a Duplo area, and earthquake tables.  Learn new Lego skills, or improve your current skills. 

Special tip: Sign up for the Lego Club magazine to receive occasional coupons for discounted admission!!

Cost:

Adult (13 and over): $20.57

Child (12 and under): $16.24

Online Adult: $17.48

Online Child: $13.80

After 5PM Adult: $19 (online $14.61)

After 5PM Child: $15 (online $14.61)

Early Entrance Adult and Child: $24.90

Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine, TX

Tucked in a space at Grapevine Mills Mall, you will find Sea Life.  Stop for a visit, and you will be surprised at how much they were able to put into that space.  This aquarium is packed with sea creatures including sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, turtles, seahorses, eels, clown fish, and more!  After our visit they added an octopus.

If you want to learn something while you are there, you have several opportunities.  There are talks and feedings at regular intervals, so make sure to pick up a schedule when you arrive.  You can, also, hold a starfish or hermit crab in the rock pool.  We watched a film about conservation there on the upper level.  For a little extra money, you can take a behind the scenes look at the feeding and care of the animals.

Our favorite part was the 360 degree tunnel.  We stood in there watching the turtle, rays, sharks, and fish swimming for a long time. 

Overall, we had a great time, and I feel like we went away with a little more knowledge.  The staff was completely attentive and ready to teach us what they knew.  We stayed for about 4 hours, and we definitely got our money's worth.   

Cost:

Adults age 13 and up: $20.56

Children age 3 to 12: $16.24

Online Adult age 13 and up: $15.43

Online Child age 3 to 12: $12.18

After 5pm for everyone: $13.53

Behind the Scenes Adult: $5

Behind the Scenes Child: $4

The Village Depot in Allen, TX

There are 5 little buildings for children to explore, and a maze to find their way through!

A real train caboose is open for exploring and can even be rented for parties.

This play area is in the parking lot of The Village on the Allen side (southeast side of US75 and Stacy Road).  Here are some of the fun things inside the gates of this play area:

*Little buildings for the kids to play in including a bank, train depot, etc. 

*A (fake) grass maze to get lost in.

*A caboose with toys inside to play with.

*picnic tables with umbrellas

*park benches

Cost: FREE!

This is the perfect play area to stop when you are out doing errands and need a break.  The kids can get their energy out, and you can sit down.  There are a lot of shops in the area such as Super Target, Dollar Tree, Best Buy, etc.  Restaurants are all over this area including Uncle Julio's.

For more information about the Village Depot, visit the web-site here: web-site