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.