What I Did on my Summer Vacation (Part 3)
Now for the fun post - the highlights of the activities we did while in Texas! We split our time among Dallas, Austin, and Houston, though I didn’t know exactly the dates for any particular city or how long we would be in that city. This meant that I made a spreadsheet of lots of different possibilities for each city so depending on the city we were in, the weather, everyone’s mood, and the length of time we had, I could easily pick a place to visit and we could go. To be honest, we mainly spent time with family and friends while in Austin, so I’ll focus this post on some of the most fun activities we found in Dallas and Houston.
Dallas
I grew up here, but the city has changed so much from my childhood that it felt like visiting a new place - with the exception of some restaurants that I insisted my kids try. Here were my top places:
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science - We only had a morning to visit this museum, but I wish I had reserved a whole day for it. Truth be told, if I lived in Dallas I would get a membership here because there is so much to see and interact with. We spent the most time in the Expanding Universe Hall (Space! The Solar System!) and the Engineering and Innovation Hall (Robots!) but we also managed to spend some time making tornados, dancing like dinosaurs, and exploring how evolution helps pick out different traits in the wild.
The Dallas World Aquarium - The aquarium is far from your typical aquarium. For one, most of it is above water. And there are a large number of land-dwelling birds and mammals that are not associated with water life. However, the misnomer didn’t stop us from being blown away by the rainforest entrance complete with waterfall, huge tree canopy, and lots and lots of tropical birds. There are some underwater habitats and a shark tunnel to walk through, though those weren’t nearly as impressive as the rain forest. Bonus: on the kids menu is a fish-shaped pizza. So there’s that…
Medieval Times - Hear ye! Here ye! If you’re not familiar with Medieval Times, it is truly an experience to try. In fact, this was one of the two places I pre-booked for the entire trip because it is so popular, it sells out weeks in advance. This place is part restaurant, part renaissance fair, part jousting tournament, all held within a fake castle complete with moat off Stemmons Freeway. I know how bizarre this sounds, but strangely it works. The last time I went to Medieval Times was my 11th birthday party, but it withstood the test of time and I had a great time as an adult, too. The kids didn’t quite understand the fancy horse steps (there is probably a proper term for this which I don’t know) but they loved the falconry part of the tournament and the jousting of course. We splurged to be part of the Queen’s Court so we could get front row seats and I’m so glad we did.
Half Price Books on Northwest HIghway - One of the downsides of New Zealand is how expensive books are. It was absolutely dreamy to be able to walk into the giant building on Northwest Highway and surround myself with all of the books available. The kids loved picking out reading material to have on hand for the remainder of our trip and I loved the price of everything - I don’t think we had one book over $5.
Great Wolf Lodge - I have to put a huge * next to this one because I couldn’t really stand this place, but if you ask my kids, it was perhaps the biggest highlight of the trip. It’s a cross between a Chuck-E-Cheese (think animatronic animals but with a focus on beavers as opposed to mice) a Wet n’ Wild and a questionable Disney resort. It is all about catering for families, so there are themed rooms if your kids are dying to stay in a cabin or cave themed bunk room, or larger family suites with two full bedrooms and bathrooms. The food is perfect if you’re eight (lots of chicken fingers, fries, and spaghetti) but not so great if you want anything halfway nutritious outside of breakfast, which was a full breakfast buffet with plenty of choices. The kids loved going to the indoor waterpark, but also spent a fair amount of time on the ropes course and would’ve spent a lot of time in the arcade if I had let them. We did just about everything there - including the Build-a-Bear workshop and the magic quest that took the kids all over the hotel with their magic wands. I’d recommend getting the Wolf Pass, but don’t get the full meal package. There are lots of good restaurants in Grapevine to choose from, especially for dinner.
Houston
The Color Factory - This was a shockingly fun experience for the whole family. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect because it isn’t quite like anything I’ve ever been to before: part interactive art installation, part museum, part Instagram studio? We had a ball (pun intended!) playing with all of the different sensory rooms. Each one seemed to get better than the last until we ended up in the world’s largest ball pit. There were cute snacks along the way to keep everyone energized, too. The exhibits change based on the season, so I think its the kind of place you can go back to time and time again.
NASA Johnson Space Center Houston - I think this is a required visit if you’re in Houston and you’ve got school-aged kids. The exhibits inside the main building were the most exciting for the kids. We took the tram tour, but they weren’t terribly excited about driving around the grounds of the space center - especially when the trams got backed up at the Saturn V rocket and we ended up waiting around for about a half hour in a long queue. One tip: get there early if you are interested in participating in the VR experiences. Those tend to be sold out by the end of the day!
The Yule Ball - If you’ve got Harry Potter fans in the house (or are one yourself!) The Yule Ball is an extremely fun experience. Definitely dress up either in Harry Potter wizarding robes or in a ball gown. The kids loved the dances, the food, and especially slightly gaming the system to be one of the names pulled from the Goblet of Fire.
Children’s Museum Houston - This place is HUGE! And has fun activities for kids of all ages. My daughter loved the Kidtropolis area the best and explored all of the different jobs around town and the purchasing power gained by participating in the different activities. My son was all about the Secret Spy Mission and loved going on the museum-wide treasure hunt. The museum is packed on the weekends, so if you’re able to go on a weekday, you may feel a little less claustrophobic. You’ll definitely need a lot of time to explore the whole place.
The Health Museum - The Health Museum is located quite close to the Children’s Museum, but this one is definitely for the older kids. The museum itself is quite small, but inside is the DeBakey Cell Lab which is absolutely magical. After putting on appropriate lab gear like coats, goggles, and gloves, kids can choose from a number of real life experiments with the help of an on-site lab assistant. We ended up learning how to extract DNA and learning about red blood cells. The kids felt like actual scientists and really wanted to bring their extracted DNA back to New Zealand.
It was so much fun to go back to the States, see family, and go shopping for things that simply aren’t available in New Zealand. However, after three weeks I was ready to head home - meaning Auckland. It really hit me on this trip that I really enjoy living here and I’m so glad we made the move.
But it is still nice to visit!
