Trip to the Austin Children's Museum

In an effort to do something fun that did not involve being outside in the 100+ degree weather, I took the boys (and Grammy and Grampy...because they make everything more fun!) to the Austin Children's Museum.  We had never been before and both of the boys had a great time.  

When you first walk in, it's a bit overwhelming...there's so much to do and discover...the boys didn't know where to start.  Their first stop was at the "Tube Tunes" station...I could have stayed here the whole time!

 The kids bop the different tubes with a fat sponge which causes the air to vibrate inside and create a sound.  The different tubes were color coded and they had a book to read to play different songs...really cute!

Then, it was on to the wonderful world of physics!  This part was full of activities that involved launching golf balls down tracks to see what would happen...the boys loved it!

On to the construction site...Gavin was cracking us up with his construction hat!  He just couldn't get it to stay put! : )

 "How tall am I, Mom?"  Almost exactly 4 feet tall...which is evidently equivalent to...

...3 and 1/2 hammers!

In the next area, the kids could build their own vehicle and send it down the track.  They could change the incline on the track to see how that affected the cars ride.

One of Gav's favorite spots...he loves trains and this was the biggest train table ever!

 Another one of their favs...we are always stopping at this thing in the mall...Grammy emptied her wallet for the boys to spin the coins down into the abyss.

Last stop...the gift shop.  Gavin ended up with 2 airplanes and Aidan got a couple prizes, too!

A very fun morning...and educational, too!  I'd recommend it to anyone with little ones!

Last Day at Great Wolf Lodge

We started off the last day of our trip in the hotel arcade.  

Skyler won 100 tickets on this wheel of fortune...he was super excited!

Aidan and Gavin pummeling the sharks!

All of the boys got to pick some valuable prizes with their tickets!

Grampy even got in on the action!  Grammy did, too...I just never caught her! : )

Then we went over to Grapevine Mills Mall for one last outing...lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

  You are surrounded by animals and rainforest sounds as you dine.  The kids loved it!

When we got back to the hotel, we spent the rest of the time playing at the water park.  I took my camera this time to try to capture some of their fun...

 Gav would slide over and over again...he loved it!

 The bucket at the top of this pic would fill up with water and dump out every 10 minutes or so.  Standing under this was one of the big kids favorite parts of the water park.

Sage and Aidan getting splashed under the bucket.

Gavin loved all of the fountains.

 Aidan and Skyler waiting for the action in the wave pool.

Before we checked out the next morning, we found some more time for the other big attraction of the hotel...the Magi Quest.  It is a Harry Potter-ish scavenger hunt around the hotel where the kids are Magi and go on several different quests.  Our big boys completed the whole thing...which takes hours to do!  But, they had fun doing it and even beat a dragon along the way!

 Gavin used his wand as a sword most of the time!

 Waiting for our ride.

It was a great trip!  We are very thankful to Grammy and Grampy for another fun time together and for helping to create such special memories for our boys!

Lego Land Discovery Center

The majority of our second day of vacation was spent at the Lego Land Discovery Center in Grapevine Mills Mall.  It was amazing, and fun was had by all ages!  I'll let the pictures do the talking...

This little guy was at the entrance.

This was the entrance into the gift shop...much damage was done in there! : )

The next few pics were taken in the MiniLand section...this was probably most impressive to the adults as they have recreated the downtowns and big attractions of the DFW area.  A cool attraction for the kids here was that parts of it were interactive...they could press buttons to move pieces on the displays.

Downtown Dallas

DFW Airport

Great Wolf Lodge

Cowboy Stadium...kids could move the players on the field.

Gavin is standing in front of the Fort Worth Stockyards.  He was making a cowboy ride a bucking bronco.

Rangers Ballpark

In the center of all the exhibits is a huge playscape.  I couldn't get a picture 

of the whole thing, but here are a couple of the boys in action.

    

One of the favorite parts for the older boys was a section where you can build your own cars and race them.  They spent quite a bit of time working on their vehicles and racing them down the tracks.

We had to take a break for lunch...they were afraid they'd lose some of their car parts so they came to the table with us! : )

The little kid section was really cute, too.  You can't tell from this picture, 

but there's a barn they climb into and then slide down here to get out of it.

 And, there are trees and safari animals surrounding it.

And, big Duplo blocks to build with.  Gavin enjoyed building "towers" and knocking them down.

Aidan and Sage on the Merlin's Apprentice ride.

There are literally legos everywhere...this was a table of buckets that lined the wall.  Every bucket was full of legos for the kids to build with.

            They were even in the water...this "water craft" was made of legos and swam around in the fish tank.

Lego Land was something new for everyone and definitely a highlight of the trip!  I would recommend it for anyone with kids...and if you have girls, there is also a sweet Princess Parlor that none of our boys were interested in!