I promise I didn’t forget about my blog and my whole five readers (haha), but there is a reason I have been MIA these past couple weeks! We have been super busy especially since we were out of town all last week.
Every year, my husband’s job puts him up in a hotel for a week near one of their headquarters for training. So this year we decided to take the kids with us and make a family vacation out of it. Last year, training was in Kansas City and this year it was in Dallas so we were both glad it was so much closer and not too long of a drive. Joke was on us though since we got stuck in traffic on the way there due to a major accident. What was normally a 5 hour drive turned into a 7+ hour drive and we arrived late Sunday night. Thank goodness we packed snacks and books!
Of course, him being gone at training until 4:30 everyday starting on Monday meant I had to find something to do with the kids so they wouldn’t go crazy being cooped up in a hotel room for hours. I’m sure every mom would agree that trying to keep kids quiet in a hotel is like trying to wrangle a bunch of starving hyenas. I never thought one of my goals as a Mom would be to avoid getting a call from the front desk saying our kids were too loud. Somehow, we managed to avoid all front desk calls but that may also be because I unplugged the phones so my kids wouldn’t call the front desk or anyone else. Shhh, don’t tell anyone. I did plug them back in before we left!
As you probably know, I am fond of cheap or free anything so I am so glad I was able to find things for us to do for free or nearly free! We were actually staying in Arlington, which is basically in between Dallas and Fort Worth so we didn’t have to worry about crazy downtown traffic either. Score! Every morning, we did something fun for a few hours, and then headed back to the hotel after eating lunch. My kids were always exhausted from the morning activities so it worked out perfectly that by the time we got back to the hotel room, they were exhausted and went to sleep for their afternoon nap shortly after.
Sunday evening when we arrived, I googled nearby parks and found a few that had pictures of the playgrounds and excellent reviews. Monday, we visited Cravens Park which was only a few minutes away and had a great playground for toddlers and a huge playground for bigger kids right next to it. It was also covered by these awesome covers that kept it cool and shaded, which was perfect so the slides weren’t so scorching hot from the Texas heat.
Tuesday, I wanted to take the kids to a splash pad to cool off so I found Misenheimer Park that had a covered playground and a splash pad. Unfortunately, when we got there we found out the Splash pad didn’t open until Memorial Day Weekend so we were just a few days early. The kids still had fun playing on the playground though and walking the trails.
FYI, if you want a good sunscreen that doesn’t have a ton of chemicals in it, try THIS. I also bought THIS. Genevieve is a redhead and can easily turn into a lobster so we used this sunscreen every day and didn’t have any problems. I used it too! It contains non-nano zinc which you want instead of the regular nano zinc which most sunscreens contain. From what I understand, the reason you want non-nano zinc is because the particles are too big to enter the bloodstream and no one wants chemicals in their bloodstream! Read more about that HERE. It also doesn’t contain many of the cancer causing ingredients that regular sunscreen has. I did a lot of research before I picked this one and it works for us! It also smells amazing! I don’t know about you but I have always hated the smell of sunscreen, but with this stuff, I just want to put it on since it smells so good!
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Wednesday, I decided to take the kids to the zoo since they love animals. Both Dallas and Fort Worth have zoos that were about an equal distance from where we were staying. After doing some research and asking friends for some recommendations, I decided to take the kids to the Fort Worth Zoo since it was half-price on Wednesdays and was supposed to be less boring than the Dallas Zoo. It was super fun and the kids loved it and I loved it too since I only paid $12 to enter and $5 for parking. That was super cheap compared to what the prices are at the Houston Zoo!
The Fort Worth Zoo was also great since there were all kinds of different paths you could take to see different animals. Most of the paths were shaded and many of the exhibits were in air conditioned buildings which ended up being perfect since it was one of the hottest days of the week. They even have a splash pad inside the zoo that costs a little extra. That sure sounded good at the end of the day but we didn’t end up going since I wasn’t interested in chasing my two toddlers around by myself. After many hours of walking and looking at animals, I was already exhausted and so were the kids. Lazy mom moment. Ha.
Thursday, I decided we were going to stay at the hotel since the baby wasn’t feeling too well. I ended up taking the kids swimming at the hotel pool in the morning and then we watched some TV in the afternoon. Usually, I have the TV on the Food Channel since it is my favorite, but I switched it at one point so the kids could watch the animals on the National Geographic channel. Genevieve told me to switch it back to the cooking show, which I was completely okay with! Hopefully, she learned something and can start cooking for me. Haha, yeah not ready for that yet!
We used our last night in Dallas to go play some games and eat at Dave and Buster’s which was just down the road from the hotel. They had a great meal and game playing combo so we saved some money and the kids (including the hubby) had a ton of fun. Somehow, Genevieve got 250 points on a game which none of the rest of us could even get close to! The kids were able to pick out a few things with the points they won so everyone was happy.
Friday was our last day in Dallas as we had to check out by noon. I did things a little different since I spent most of the morning dragging kids and belongings up and down the elevator a million times to pack the car with our luggage. FYI, it is not easy having your hands full and trying to keep the kids from pressing the alarm call button on the elevator. Whoever designed that button and decided to put it at the perfect level for kids to press was an idiot, but I’m sure they are regretting it now with all the calls they get from toddlers. Haha.
We still ended up going to Bob Cooke Park where the kids played on the playground, chased squirrels, and we walked the trails. After a few hours there, we still had time to kill so I decided to try another park that was on the way back to where I had to pick up my husband from training. We went to Brantley Hinshaw Park, where the splash pad ended up being open! Of course, then I remembered it was Memorial Day weekend now so it was supposed to be open anyway. Mom brain fail haha. Genevieve didn’t really want to play in it without me so we ended up getting our feet wet (including baby Gabbie), eating lunch, and then headed to my husband’s workplace to pick him up and begin the 5+ hour drive home to Houston.
Some friends from Louisiana who we met 10+ years ago through Catholic camp and Catholic school were waiting for us when we got back from our trip. We had a lot of fun catching up and hanging out with them and their super cute two kids the rest of the weekend. We even made it out to the Kemah Boardwalk on Memorial Day before they had to head back home.
I’m sure everyone Mom knows that a vacation isn’t usually a vacation when you have kids. It was definitely a fun week but it was exhausting. Now I have been spending this week recovering and getting us back into our normal routine. I’m sure everyone can agree it’s always nice to be in your own home and in your own comfortable bed after a vacation!
Where are you vacationing this year? Do you have any budget-friendly vacationing tips?
