Its beginning to look alot like Christmas?!?

Ok, on November 2, i was at Kohls and I heard Frosty the snowman and there were shiny ornaments and trees and snowflakes everywhere. I am not feeling it yet!
However, with the holiday season in sight, that means vacation and bored kids! Fear not-- I am on the lookout for stuff to do and a list will be up for holiday fun. In the meantime, you can check out the summer list for some ideas of places as well. Dewberry farm is only open a couple of more weeks, so if you are like me and you bought the groupon.. time is almost up!

Get todays groupon! Stomping Grounds Playland - 6 bucks!

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu3720047

I have talked about stomping grounds before, and today is the day to get a coupon for it! For 6 bucks today you can get admission AND a kids meal.. that is a GREAT deal! Stomping grounds is an indoor play area and cafe. There is a LARGE play area and even a smaller section just for 2 and under. You can sit and drink coffee or eat and enjoy free WIFI while the little ones wear themselves out! Anyway, the deal is only available today, but you can use the groupon anytime! You can buy 2. Use my link and i get a referral bonus! :)
Thanks

New HEALTHY snack my kids LOVE - Win 4 cases FREE!

Let me start by saying my kids hate fruit. I have to hide things in pancakes to get them to eat any fruit other than an occasional bite of banana. However, I have discovered a new snack! I have only been able to find it at walmart so far, and they are 1.00 a pack. The ingredients: Fruit. That's it. They are simply freeze-dried-- that's it. Not baked, or dehydrated. No added sugar or sweetner. Too good to be true?? Nope! They are light and crispy and my kids LOVE them. It also helps that they have Mickey Mouse on them. Brothers All Natural teamed up with the Disney food line and so the packaging is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I am beyond excited. I googled the company to find out more and discovered there is a blog called FAVEDIETS that is holding a contest right now to win 4 cases... go here to enter: http://www.favediets.com/sweeps/Brothers-All-Natural-Fruit-Crisps-Giveaway#

Good Luck!

Dr. Thomas-- GREAT Eye Doctor! Eyes & Optics Pearland

I recently took my 4 year old twins to have their eyes checked for the 1st time. I have only been to pearle vision/TSO type places before, so was a bit hesitant to book an appointment at a "non-chain" place, but it was on my insurance and it was close, so we gave it a shot.
So glad we did-- Dr. Thomas was WONDERFUL! It is a private practice, a super nice and clean office and is located in the same parking lot as Academy/Hobby Lobby/Houston Swim Club.
She was so nice and was great with the twins. Dr. Thomas is very hands-on and did ALL of the testing and exam herself. I know in the past, at places like pearle vision, many times a tech or someone will do the basic eye tests, and then the dr. comes in at the end..not here.
The receptionist was very nice upon arriving. Dr Thomas was super nice and did not rush us at all. In fact, after dilating their eyes, she walked with the boys to look at frames and try them on and then took them back and tested them again to see if there were any changes in their vision. She does have a variety of frames available for kids and adults. We were not able to find any narrow enough for my son, so she said she would call her rep and have them bring the full line for us to try on and get fitted. The receptionist called me about 30 minutes later to schedule a time for us to come back that was convenient for us. She also told me that one of my sons only had a borderline prescription and that while i could get him glasses, she said i could wait a year and recheck to make sure before i spent the money because it could improve-- Most places would have just sold me the glasses to make a profit!
I just was so pleased with the entire experience and thought I would share for anyone who may be in the market for a new eye doctor.
** They also do free exams on infants through a program called InfantSee -- i believe that was the name of it.
Eyes & Optics of Pearland
2802 Business Center Drive, Pearland, TX 77584-2188 (713) 436-6005
Dr. Lisa Thomas
www.eyes-optics.com
Also-- i have the BEST pediatric dentist as well-- Dr. Pamela Clark @ Pearland Pediatric dentistry... i will blog on that later!

Galleria play area - Two Thumbs Up!

We went to the galleria on Sunday Afternoon, so mom could get a much needed hair cut! Dad and grandma opted to entertain the twins while I did this. So... I take back what I said about the galleria not being super kid-friendly. They are trying! They have made some much needed changes, including, the addition of a new indoor playarea. It is located directly in front of Borders Bookstore in the new section of the galleria. The design/material is the same as that of the woodlands mall, and deerbrook mall and memorial city mall, just newer and cleaner! The theme of the play area is Uptown. It is designed to look like the galleria and surrounding streets and buildings. The cushioned floor mat is covered in streets and even a few cars. The play structures are all buildings, including Williams Tower and Nordstroms. There are various tunnels and bridges and things to climb on. It was really cute and completely surrounded and enclosed and had a ton of seating that also had storage cubbies underneath. There is only one entrance/exit and there is a security guard at that entrance. The height limit is 42 inches and under, but there were taller kids in there as well. I am not sure if the 42 inches is enforced if it gets crowded or not. My boys had a good time playing. The galleria also has a disney store, a lego store, an ice rink, a rainforest cafe, a build-a-bear and dylan's candy store to entertain in addition to all the great stores for mom! There is a train ride that kids can ride for a small fee that takes you around the mall-- just like memorial city mall. Also, in the food court area, they have one of those bungee trampoline things that kids love. Just thought i'd post about our new find!

Pirates Bay Water Park - Baytown, TX-- mixed review.

Ok, i was pretty excited that a waterpark was opening up in baytown, even though we moved to pearland and I wouldn't be as close as we would have been...but still! Anyway, I took my 4.5 year old twins last thursday at 4:00 p.m. The reason? After 4:00, admission is halfprice! So, we loaded up, and their ticket price was only 4.00 each, since they are under 48 inches. They are 42 and 43 inches to be exact. Well, upon arriving, it was very clean, and the parking was good. When we got inside, they immediately wanted to ride the big green and blue slides. My kids are not afraid of waterslides or coasters. Anyway, after we waited in line and went up ALL the stairs to the top, I rode down first so i could be waiting at the bottom when they came down. It wasn't fast at all, or scary. The blue was open slide and the green was a tunnel slide. Well, one twin came down fine and wanted to ride again. As I was waiting for the other twin to come down, my mother in law came down-- getting stuck because it was so slow-- and said they wouldn't let the other twin go down! At some point the lifeguard from the bottom motioned to the lifeguard at the top that twin #1 was too small and to not let twin#2 down. So, twin # 2 had to walk all the way BACK down the stairs after watching his brother get to ride down. I was annoyed and asked why. She said they had to be 48 inches. i asked her where the sign was. There isn't one. So i asked her what COULD they ride and she said non of the slides. Seriously?! So we spent the rest of our time of the kiddie area pirate ships with little tunnels and slides and the lazy river. My kids were bored... they can play on the pirate ship style play area in our neighborhood for free. ANYWAY- if your child is 48 inches tall or less than 36 inches they should have a good time.
NOW-- on to my biggest disappointment of the day.. the ER visit we had to take! Since we were forced to play on the kiddie section, we did. My kids were climbing the small steps and coming down a small green tunnel slide off the pirate ship play feature. As i waited at the bottom, i hear my son SCREAM "Mommy!!". I thought he somehow got stuck coming down the slide or something, so i ran to the top. When I got up there, I couldn't BELIEVE my eyes.. he was turned over on his stomach and the water was pushing him down the slide, however, his elbow was wedged/stuck between a small gap between the platform and top of the slide. He was terrified because he was being pushed down by the flow of water, but unable to free his arm and couldn't pull himself back up either. I immediately tried to pull his arm out but could not get it out!! I also thought the way he was turned over, that his arm was dislocated. I screamed for a lifeguard, and when they got up there i told them to shut the water off. She did, which alleviated the water gushing into his face. I was trying to pull him up and free his arm. I finally yanked as hard as i could and pulled it free. He was completely terrified and would not use his arm. I was asked by the staff to bring him into a side room to look at it. I politely told them i would rather that they (the 18 year old lifeguards) not touch his arm. My fear was, that something was dislocated or torn, and I didn't want to cause any further damage. He then asked me to sign a paper saying I was refusing treatment...?. I asked what treatment they were offering? He wasn't sure, but said he could have EMS there is 6 minutes. I politely refused the ambulance. I told him I was going to take him to the ER to have it x-rayed. I asked for Ice, while they filled out an accident report. I think my biggest disappointment was not the fact that a faulty slide structure caused a trip to the ER, but the fact that NO ONE has called me to check on him. It has been a week. We won't be returning to Pirates Bay until my kids are 48 inches, and even then, I will probably just drive a little further and go to Splashway water park near Columbus, TX.

I Love Groupon

Today's groupon is for Gymboree play and music! For those of you with kids under 5, it is 49 bucks for a month of classes with no other registration fees. This also includes unlimited open play classes. I took my boys here when they were little and they loved it. I am sending this from my phone for the first time, so I have no idea what this will look like on here... Groupon is limited, so go now!
Happy grouponning :) www.groupon.com

Splashway Water Park - 2 Thumbs up!

Taking advantage of my DH being off work yesterday, we all piled in the mini-van.. ROADTRIP! After much facebook and web research about Splashway Waterpark in Sheridan, TX... we decided to go for it. From Pearland, we decided to travel beltway 8 to I-10 to make a pit-stop at Toys r Us near Katy Mills, for the much anticipated BOGO 1/2 off all Pokemon toys. After that, we were on our way. It took about 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to the waterpark. However, we went a different way home, that was faster-- i'll tell ya at the end. The park offers free parking and you are allowed to bring in coolers if you like. We decided to take advantage of the 1/2 price after 3:00 pricing and waited with other frugal fans outside the gate until 2:55. You are given a wrist band just like at schlitterbaghn. There is tons of shade, covered seating, an outdoor cafe, and locker rentals available--also half price after 3 pm. My twins are 4 and LOVED it. There is a height requirement of 42 inches, to be able to ride the really big slides, which we barely made, but were thrilled! The lines were not bad, and there are TONS of smaller slides to play on with no wait at all. Check out their website for pictures and pricing specials for each day of the week. I know that Tuesdays are 2 for 1 tickets! Another good idea, is to become a fan on their facebook page and on Fridays they do a trivia question and you can win tickets or season passes that way too. Discount admission was around 10 bucks per person and we were there from 3-6 (closing), which was great for my 4 year olds. We took advantage of the Flamingo Cafe, and snacked on Pizza Rolls (2 for $3) and gatorade and french fries. They had a good amount of options to choose from with decent prices. There are various water play areas with slides, pirate ships, tunnels, shallow water. Free life jackets are also available at the entrance or you can bring in your own vests and floaties and even baby floats are welcome. There is a lazy river and wave pool with inner tubes floating and you can take this to most of the rides. There are 2 large pipe slides and a large open slide. There is another section that has 2 large yellow pipe slides and 2 orange open drop slides. This section has TONS of water slides all around and in it-- we spent much of our time here! After 3 water-slide packed hours, we were on our way back to pearland. This time we went up hwy 90 which took us through East Bernard and eventually to HWY 59, which we took to HWY 6 to 288 to home! It was much faster and cheaper, in my opinion than going bw8 to I10 to hwy 71. Anyway, I recommend this water park! Please check out their pricing and specials on their website and on their facebook. www.splashwaywaterpark.com

Mythbusters: New Theme Park for Houston?

Ok people, I read it with my own eyes.. saw the facebook posts, tweets, and everything. It even had a spread on Chron.com!
Name: Earth Quest Adventures
Location: The north side of New Caney, TX off HWY 59
You can go to their website to read all about the plans for the resort, conference center, water park, theme park and thrill rides. In short, it will be super eco-friendly and appears to have a very Epcot and Jurassic Park Vibe, minus the attacking dinos we hope.
The Creator: Don Lessem.. you can read about him on the website.. I'll give you the best part.." consultant to Steven Spielberg, Disney and Universal films and theme parks..."
I heard this about 5 years ago, but that was around the same time that everyone was saying that North Shore, my old side of town, was getting a starbucks and an old navy, so we all laughed it off. BUT..5 years later.. a starbucks proudly brews coffee at the corner of Black Rock and Wallisville Rd. So, here we are, hoping this actually pans out. It says construction is to start in Summer of 2010, with an opening of 2012 or 2013. So, those of us that spent our summers wearing out our season passes at Astroworld..there is hope for our children yet!
Check out the website
www.earthquestadventures.com

BounceU has a coupon for U!

I was contacted by the owners of BounceU and they are offering $1.00 off admission to any of you PearUp blog readers out there! BounceU is a great way to wear the kids out without having to brave the 100+ heat! They even offer camps and classes on their website, as well as birthday party packages! Check em' out...
Here are the details:
BounceU Houston SW (closest to Pearland):
10601 S. Sam Houston Pkwy West (near 59 S)
BounceU Houston West
14900 Westheimer Rd (near Hwy 6/ West Oaks Mall)
Central Phone: 281-716-JUMP (5867)
Web: BounceUhouston.com

**Special offer for your blog readers: Mention this blog by name and get $1 off admission for any regularly scheduled open bounce (call for details).

Train crazy...

If you have train crazy kids-- don't miss the free things you can do around town! I take my boys to the barnes and noble stores that have train tables in them and we go to the transportation section and get all the train books in the kid section. We have ridden the "fast train"-- the rail downtown, it cost about a dollar or so per ride. Also, you can ride the train at Herman park for about 2.25-- park at the zoo and hop on the train and then you can get off at the park side and play and have a picnic and then hop back on to get back to the zoo side and your car. There is a huge steam locomotive by minute Maid park to look at, and right now kids are free to the astros games and they have a train play area and the train that goes in the outfield when we score! Don't forget about www.hals.org this is the Houston area live steamers, and the 3rd Saturday of each month they offer FREE rides on miniature steam locomotives-- super fun!! There is a run day this Saturday from 9-1-- check out the website. Another free place we go is to the SPCA and look at all the cute animals and there is a train that runs right beside it at various times throughout the day. Lastly-- there is a great park on heights blvd. that is all wooden and huge and there is a train to climb in and pretend to be an engineer. If you are in the heights, wonderwild (www.gowonderwild.com), while not free, is a great indoor play place, and even has a kid powered train they can ride on a track. You pedal it with your hands, so even little ones can enjoy this one! Don't forget across the street from the Pearland Library there is a stationary train caboose-- would be a great place to take some great pics!

Today's Groupon.. Young Chefs Academy

If you aren't subscribed to Groupon you need to be! They have a daily deal each day and it is only available for 24 hours. Today the deal is for the Young CHef's Academy in Katy. 2 classes for 15 bucks! Go to www.groupon.com and click on houston and then give your email address... it's worth it. I did one last month for dream dinners and received 120.00 worth of meals for 50 bucks! No purchase necessary to sign up for groupon alerts.

Kids Eat Free or Cheap List coming soon...

I am working on my list of all the good freebies for kids meals or discounts around town. I hope to have it by next week. If you know of some good ones that you like, email me and I will add them! I want to list it by each day of the week, so we can use it as a reference. Anyway... it will be up soon! Be sure and join my blog so you will receive the updates. Don't forget..the free and cheap list is always at the top.

The summer list is here

Ok.. i finally half-way finished the 2010 Summer Activities List. I added more pearland this year since I live here now. Please email me any other activities you have. I will post updates on here as I hear about upcoming events. Check it out and please pass it on! If you look up at the top, there is a tab "Free and Cheap Summer Activities List 2010". Good night-- playdate at my house in t-minus 8 hours!

Pear Up

So, here i go... a blog. I decided to do my "Annual Free and Cheap Kids Activity List" via blog this year. It just seemed easier than having to deal with all the emails and bouncebacks and fwd's that never get read. Now that I am an official "Pearlander", my activity list is a little biased for us south side folks... BUT, I will still represent my East Side Peeps as well. Remember, I am only 30 minutes away my friends. So, here goes nothing... as soon as i figure out how to actually post my list on here, it will be here anytime you need it. Feel free to pass it on. I will post blogs about places we go and if it is worth the time and money. I will also post cheap deal alerts as I get them from my many sources ;) Enjoy.