For November, Real Kid Friendly is giving away a $20 Chick-fil-A gift card.
There are multiple ways to enter:
It’s easy and you can enter as much as you’d like!
We recently went “camping” in the San Antonio area. It was another mini-vacay lasting 3 days. Of those 3 days, 2 involved driving to and from the destination; leaving us one full day to have Total Fun!
This was the plan for our Total Day O’ Fun in San Antonio: AMRE Train Show (Boe’s first train show), Morgan’s Wonderland, an RKF Restaurant, Texas Transportation Museum (train layouts!), Witte Museum (dinosaur bones!), SA Children’s Museum, another RKF restaurant and finally Dinosaur-Quest (more dinosaur bones!).
Yes, it’s a ton to do but I know my son and we are guaranteed an hour at best for most events. What I didn’t know about my son was that he was getting sick. By the morning of our TDOF, he was a little warm and a little coughy. We decided to stick with the plan and see how far we’d get since this entire weekend was for him.
We began with the AMRE Train Show. This is definitely just for train freaks. Boe was enthralled (or in a Tylenol fog – we don’t know which). Model trains everywhere!! We roamed around for about an hour and bought a few train things.
Next was Morgan’s Wonderland. If you’re in SA with kids that are too young or little to ride on the rides at Fiesta Texas and you’re not into caged animals (zoo or Sea World), this is the place to go! Morgan’s Wonderland is perfect for young kids. There are those drivey cars on a track, a train that circles the park (hold on to your kids, though
– our “engineer” was apparently trying to see how many times he could make the route in a day b/c he sped that train around the track at full speed! Or maybe he always wanted to be a real train engineer. Granted, there’s not a ton to see along the way but the weather was perfect so it would have been a nice wind-down time with the cool breeze blowing. Instead, we had to take off our hats and hold on to Boe.), a full-sized carousel, a little town that has a really cool grocery store (this was a big hit with lots of kids especially Boe – he loved sorting all the items) and a weather channel set up with a green screen so kids can see themselves on TV (another huge hit with Boe – we had to make him quit hogging the camera so other kids could get
a turn – and that was the part of Morgan’s W. that he talked about later), fishing (with a biggest catch of the day posted), remote control boats, water cannons, playscapes, and a really cool manipulative water feature. There’s more but I can’t remember it all. Morgan’s playground is designed to be all inclusive. It’s for all kinds of kids and its all wheelchair accessible. It’s clean and the staff is nice. There’s lots of room for running and playing. We really enjoyed it. We’ll go back when Boe’s not so hopped up on Tylenol.
Momak’s was the RKF restaurant that we were planning to eat at. The play area is huge and there is quite a lot of dining outside within view of it. There is a toddler playscape and a bigger kids playscape and a big soccer field area with balls available. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to enjoy any of their food b/c we went at the wrong time (don’t go at noon) so I stood in line (while DH and Boe went to play) for 15 minutes WITHOUT MOVING! Boe and DH came in complaining of being hungry and since there were 5 groups of customers ahead of me, we decided to get some fast food and have a picnic somewhere. Fortunately, our next attraction on the TDOF had picnic tables under the trees so we enjoyed a peaceful picnic lunch.
Which brings us to the Texas Transportation Museum. I found this museum by researching “public train layouts Texas” (yes, some people do that). I was thrilled to find one in San Antonio because I know train layouts are a high-light of Boe’s world and being that we were already planning to be in the area, this would be the icing on the cake. So, even though he was starting to slow down, I knew this would be worth it for him.
These are the things to know about this museum: 1) a real train runs hourly at the ½ hour (11:30, 12:30, etc) so if you’re visiting the museum with the intention of riding the train, you should plan around train times b/c there’s not even 45 minutes of activities at this museum* and waiting around for the train ride could be a challenge depending on the child – it would be for ours). 2) The really cool outdoor layout (The Garden Railroad) that is featured prominently on their site wasn’t in operation and didn’t appear to have been for some time. Boe was bummed about this. I was bummed about this. This was the layout that we wanted to see. We saw more from the images on the site than the actual layout. *If the Garden Railroad is in operation, Thing #1 is void. 
3) There is an indoor layout in operation but this layout is definitely for the model train operators themselves. Not too much thought is put into public viewing. Boe liked it but there is not a lot to it (for it to be a public layout). It’s up against a wall which is a tight squeeze among all the old vehicles packed into the building and there are lots of obstacles to walk around. There was a smaller second layout but there was trash on it which kind of ruins the feel of make-believe. 4) I would suggest NOT visiting on a typical summer day b/c the indoor layouts and the transportation part of the TTM are housed inside of a small metal building whose only source of ventilation is the large overhead door. I was thrilled that we were visiting on a fair-weather day b/c I can only imagine how stifling it gets in there on hot days. 5) There is a nicely shaded picnic area near the parking lot. 6) There are coupons for $$ of admission. Check out SAVE.
I understand that this is a museum and, like most museums, is run by volunteers and funding is always tight for these types of things so not much can be expected. However, there were three able-bodied men sitting in the little ticket office the entire time we were there. I’m thinking, the weather is good – c’mon men, get out there and work on that outdoor layout!
We were finished with everything in the museum about 10 minutes before the next train departure time so we hung out in the little gift shop to wait. There is a real train bell in there that the staff encourages kids to ring so that was fun. The train was fun, too. It was the highlight of our museum visit. Even without the Garden Railroad in operation, the $15 (family rate) would have been worth it (we got in free with our Train Show tickets).
Well, Boe was D-O-N-E after that. Our Total Day O’ Fun lasted until 2:00 pm and he fell asleep on the way back to the cabin.
The Witte Museum, The Children’s Museum, Dinosaur-Quest, and La Hacienda (an RKF restaurant with 2 playscapes!) will have to wait until our next visit to S.A.
We may even try the McNay museum during that trip, as per Waddlee-ah-chaa recommendation.
Boe plays in the dirt every day. He plays in mud at least twice a week. He loves it! He learns so much from having his hands in all that gooey-ness: viscosity, measuring, cleaning, mixing colors, cooking (sometimes he makes pancakes; today he made “pretty sugar”). It’s a great time: he’s engaged and learning. He has water play at least daily (bath time every night and, then, a few times a week outside in the dog’s bathtub) but he learns so much more from mud.
I’ve always been a proponent of kids getting dirty. There was even one child during my teaching career that I had to encourage to get dirty. Her mother was thrilled b/c she had not been able to convince her daughter that dirt was ok.
I like digging in the dirt and I like how it feels so playing in the dirt has been a part of our days since Boe could sit up.
I didn’t really think about this whole thing until I watched a re-run of “Supernanny” (my new favorite show) recently. One episode featured a mother who didn’t let her kids play outside (in this really great backyard) b/c she didn’t want them to get dirty! And another episode featured some little kids who didn’t know how to fingerpaint b/c they were never allowed to get dirty!
I can’t imagine planning to be a parent and not foreseeing and expecting dirt to be a part of that!!
Mud play has changed for Boe over the years (without influence from me). At 18 months, it was a whole body experience and a lot of clean up. Now, he usually contains it (at his own choosing) and clean up is just hands and sometimes legs. This morning, there was no clean up – “pretty sugar” was a neat and tidy (by our standards) playtime. I don’t care either way. I have no problems cleaning him or clothes if he’s having so much fun and learning so much. I know that a lot of people don’t live in the country surrounded by dirt but it just takes a little bin, some water, and some dirt. It’s cheap and easy. I know that cleanup is a pain but isn’t it worth it with all that they learn?
I recently saw a show about a kindergarten up north somewhere that is held outdoors every day. Apparently, it is mostly rainy there so the kids play in dirt and mud every day. That’s my kind of school!
My son is a professional 3-year-old.
He has so much that he has to do each day:
rules to learn
boundaries to test
independence to gain
tantrums to throw – although, those are almost non-existent now. Thank you Jane Hersey and Dr. Feingold!
He has to do all that AND play!
No wonder he needs to nap!
Maybe it’s easier being four.
As we enter a new stage in Boe’s life, we are once again getting a taste of the trying part of parenthood.
He has grown into the argumentative stage. 90% of the comments that we make to him are answered with “No, it’s not.” And 90% of the time, his responses makes no sense.
Many of our conversations go like this:
“The sky is blue.”
“No, it’s not.”
“It’s not? What color is it?”
“It’s blue.”
Oookaaay.
It is bizarre. It’s like automatic. I’m assuming this is another step towards independence. Maybe it’s practice with language. Whatever it is, I’m being verrrry patient with it. When I mentioned it to a friend, her response was “Oh, yeah. And just wait until he gets to the “I know” stage.”
Sounds like fun.
waddleeahchaa has a great post about visiting San Diego without spending a ton of money.
Within San Diego city limits is La Jolla. It is family-friendly with great parks and beaches. There are also lots of restaurants with patio dining so you won’t have to keep those kids too quiet. But the parks are so terrific that you just might want to “get it to go” and picnic at the park.
Check out waddlee-ah-chaa for more great travel tips!
I just learned that my favorite “healthy” cereal – Life – is not so healthy.
It has yellow artificial dye in it!!
Why? It’s brown! I expect wheat/grain cereals to be bland looking. How much blander would it be without yellow 5 and yellow 6 in it?! I am so disappointed!
It also contains BHT which is another ingredient that we steer clear of.
I’ve always assumed it was a good-for-you cereal so I never checked the box. I was pleased to see that they use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup but the dye and BHT are no-go’s for us.
So, I set out to find a HEALTHY substitute. So far, all I’ve tried is Cascadian Farms. It’s good but it’s no substitute. Bummer.
I’m not giving up.
I have found super-tasting, healthy substitutes for Cheetos, Oreos, Jif, Nutter Butter, Nilla Wafers, Animal Crackers, Graham Crackers, Welch’s fruit chews, Teddy Grahams, and lollipops. So, I know I can find a substitute that I like for this.
I’m off to the grocery store…
We’ve recently learned that the core of Boe’s spirited-ness is his diet. Being that he eats mostly whole, organic, or non-food-dye foods, it took us 2 years to realize that his healthy diet was actually the cause of Boe being B.O.E. – our Bundle of Energy was whacked out on some of his foods.
I learned all this from a book entitled, Why Can’t My Child Behave?: Why Can’t She Cope? Why Can’t He Learn?
Boe could not focus, he did not play well with others, every negative reaction was way over the top and explosive, he seemed angry most of his waking hours. It was extremely frustrating for him, his daddy, and me. Towards the end of the “dark time”, I began to feel that he simply could not control his actions when he was angry. He was of the age that he was aware that he wanted to react differently and could express this to me. I began to feel bad for putting him in time-out b/c of this but I had no choice. He had done something wrong and there had to be a consequence.
One reason that it took me 2 years to figure this all out was that my expertise was with 3-yr-olds. I did not know what was normal behavior for a 2 yr old (and we continually received the comments above) so we dealt with it as best we could. When he reached 3 years old and things were not getting better, I knew I had to begin researching.
In addition to my own “gut instinct”, I received some validation from a pediatric ENT who observed mine and Boe’s interactions during an exam. She said, “Something’s not right. His reactions to your parenting are not on target.” I was thrilled! Yes, someone who saw kids every day could see the difference. I let her know that I am a blame-the-parent person and if his behavior was caused by something I was doing, I’d be glad to change it. She said, “No, this is something different” and referred us to a specialist. As it turned out, we were not able to get in to see this specialist before Boe’s upcoming surgery so I continued to research.
That’s when I found and ordered the Hersey book. However, b/c I did not think that his diet could be the problem (since he was eating healthy) and I knew the book was pertaining to poor diet, I set it aside while we dealt with Boe’s upcoming tonsillectomy and adenoid removal.
His behavior improved dramatically during his recovery period. So, we were convinced that sleep deprivation had been the root of his behavioral problems. As the 2-week recovery came to a close and he began eating his regular diet, the bad behaviors returned. I was confused and disappointed b/c I thought we had figured out the problem. One afternoon while we were having snack, I noticed the Hersey book in a pile of stuff and took it out. As I was looking it over, I saw an excerpt on the back cover that stated something to the effect of “my child eats healthy, whole foods, why is this happening?” DING!
I began reading the book immediately! This is what I learned: there are naturally-occurring chemicals in some fruits and vegetables – called salicylates – that can cause all sorts of problems with people who are chemically sensitive. I was feeding Boe four of those fruits daily and topping them off with cinnamon toast (cinnamon is another trigger for some chemically-sensitive people)!
We immediately dropped those fruits and substituted with others. We, also, removed cinnamon from his diet and within two days had a brand new kid! It was amazing!!
The deal with the Feingold plan is that you remove common trigger foods and ingredients (mostly petroleum-based additives) for a certain period of time and then slowly reintroduce those that you want in order to learn which ingredients the person is reactive to and to what extent.
Being that I found substitutes for the fruits that Boe liked and being that his behavior had improved 100%, we saw no need to bring those back into the picture. Why mess with a good thing? 
And I have had no problems finding snacks and treats that are good for us (no artificial dyes or flavors).
We now have a normally behaved 3 year old; who has normal 3 year old reactions to situations including normal 3 yr old tantrums. No longer the Damien Omen kid we had been dealing with. It has been terrific! If I had not found this book, he most certainly would have been diagnosed ADHD or ADD and had tons of problems in school.
Now, I am a skeptic by nature so when his bad behaviors were gone even after 3 weeks of eliminating those trigger foods, I still was willing to chalk it up to coincidence. What if he had matured (in 2 days), what if 3.5 years old was a turning point for him, what if he had decided to behave after 2 years of craziness? My skepticism was answered one month after we began with the plan. We had not seen “the old Boe” during that month and I was thrilled. We were at a playdate and he was sharing snack with a boy whose mother only fed him healthy foods. So when he began chomping away on the kid’s raisins, I thought “Well, let’s just see”. Soon they were munching on a cereal (again, I knew it was healthy b/c of the source so not too worried) and the little boy says, “Do you like my cinnamon cereal?” I tensed. 
Oh, great – 2 trigger foods on an empty stomach. To add to this, I allowed Boe to have typical sunscreen (containing sodium benzoate – another trigger for some) put on b/c I had forgotten ours. On the way home from the playdate, “old Boe” was back – with a vengeance!! I hadn’t seen him for a month and I didn’t miss him one bit!
We have been on the plan for almost seven months. In that time, we have had 2 other occurrences that have confirmed my belief that my son is salicylate sensitive. After the 3rd occurrence, I realized that I have to step up to the plate, grow some cajones, and tell people that my son cannot have certain foods when the situation arises. If they think it’s ridiculous, so what. They aren’t having to deal with a wild, angry kid who can’t control his actions. Until Boe can verbalize what and how he’s feeling when he has these foods, we’ll do what we can to keep them from affecting his behavior.
I know how crappy I feel when I eat Cheetos or how sleepy I get from consuming anything with powdered sugar in it or on it. So I know that what we put in our mouths affects us more than calorically. Our kids are just too young and inexperienced to know this for themselves.
During my 15 years of working with children, I had a handful of kids that were like my son – negatively affected by some of the foods they ate. I just didn’t have this knowledge to give to the parents. I know that one of them became a Ritalin zombie. I’m so glad that I found this book and was able to remove Boe’s trigger foods from his diet. He is a happy, happy kid now.
Thank you – Dr. Feingold and the Feingold Association!!
We are a Feingold Family now.
*It may seem conflicting to own a website that features restaurants and still follow the Feingold plan. But it actually isn’t. Restaurant dining is not banned while on this plan b/c the issue is not necessarily heart-healthy eating (although not ingesting crude oil based ingredients is healthy) or weight loss (removing high fructose from your diet could take off a few pounds), it’s more about avoiding trigger ingredients. The Feingold Association even has a booklet that lists menu items from numerous fast-food restaurants that are well tolerated by chemically sensitive people.
Boe’s new favorite! Move over Classic Cremes. These are our new eat-a-few-more-bites bribe. Like the Classic Cremes by Back To Nature, they have no high fructose and no hydrogenated oils. I like them much more than any other peanut butter cookie I’ve had – even homemade.
We recently returned from a mini-vacay in Grapevine. It was our 2nd time to stay in Grapevine and I had a secret reason for returning – Kountry Donuts. I told most people that our reason for traveling to the area was to visit the Museum of the American Railroad in Dallas (and we did go there – for Boe to see his “most favorite engine in the whole world” – a Challenger!) but kept the real reason for close friends who know the Foodie that I am. Aside from Kountry Donuts (which I will describe later), there are numerous places to eat and numerous things to see in Grapevine.
When Boe grew from an easy-going 1-year-old into the rambunctious Bundle Of Energy that he is today, our vacation accommodations had to be cabins, cottages, or rental homes. Being quiet for longer than 15 minutes doesn’t happen for him. He’s loud and moving when he’s happy and he’s even louder when he’s not. So, in order to not disturb too many guests, we began staying in alternatives to hotels. This can be limiting but I enjoy the hunt for cute little cabins in cool places so it’s fine with me. This was how we decided to try Grapevine. The Vineyards came up in a search for “cabins in Texas” and I liked the floorplans so I thought we’d try “camping” in the city. I must put “camping” in quotes b/c I have no desire to really camp – ya know, tent, sleeping bag, no toilet, or a/c – ever again. I’m sure that I will when Boe gets old enough to know that that is an option but until then, I’ll tell people that we’re going “camping” and get credit as some outdoorsy person.
Onward. The Vineyards campground was more than we expected. It was clean, pretty, well-run, and had numerous kid-friendly aspects (#1 being a lake with swimming area). We liked it so much that we decided to stay there again this year. They have a set of 2 really nice playscapes near the swimming area, a cute camp store (where Boe had his first ice cream sandwich ever!), lots of bike-riding room, and usually some family happening on Friday or Saturday evenings. On Friday nights during the summer months, one of the local resorts puts on a fireworks display that is very impressive. We were able to watch it from our cabin porch. Again, this whole cabin thing that I’ve got going is just not what most people think of when they think of a cabin. Those that we stay in are basically compact houses – a/c, full kitchen, full bath, one or two bedrooms, and, almost always, television. There are plenty of real cabins out there, I just don’t choose to be that uncomfortable on my vacations so I opt for the home-away-from-home (only cleaner) cabins. A friend told me that she stays in hotels w/o kitchens so that she won’t have to cook on vacation. All of our accommodations have had full kitchens and I’ve never felt that I had to cook on them! Those stoves are just an extended countertop to me. Cooking on vacation – whatever.
The Vineyard’s next door neighbor is a marina so while in the swimming area, you can watch all kinds of recreational water craft come and go. DFW Airport is also nearby – close enough to see the planes, far enough not to be bothered by their noise. So, for kids who are into planes, boats, or trains, Grapevine has lots to offer.
Now, the real reason for our mini-vacay destination – FOOD.
Grapevine has one slow-food Real Kid Friendly restaurant (Joe’s Crab Shack) that we fully intended to patronize. The plans changed when we stopped into this little dive Mexican restaurant (El Taco H. – no idea what the “H” stands for or why it’s there) to pick up a quick lunch on Saturday. I had read some good reviews about the tacos at this little strip-mall eatery and being that I rate a Mexican restaurant on its crispy beef tacos and salsa, I thought we’d give it a try. Holy cow! The reviews were right. These were definitely the best crispy tacos I had ever had. The beef was good-tasting, the toppings were refreshing, and the shell?! Well, I think they deep-fried that baby! It was terrific!! We had ordered to-go so I was enjoying all this at the cabin; not at the restaurant where I could easily order 400 more!!! Tad bit bummed but I thought “We’re going that way for Joe’s this evening, so I’ll just order more afterward and have them for dessert.” I know, I know – I’m a sick puppy but we were on vacation and like the holidays, I indulge – I’ll pay later. So, all that afternoon, I’m thinking about the perfectly-fried (I think) shell and those wonderfully prepared sauces – yes, the hot sauces are homemade and phenomenal! Now, you make think, yeah, yeah, one person’s opinion but DH (who doesn’t like Mexican food) had one of the veggie tacos and gave thumbs up – which very hard to get from him.
So that was the plan: Joe’s for dinner then stop in at my now-favorite Mexican food restaurant for “dessert”. It was about 5:00 when I began to feel that we were probably not going to follow thru with that plan. I wasn’t going to be able to wait until after dinner to visit El Taco H. I was beginning to realize that it would be another year before I would have that food again so a bit of panic was setting in. I mentioned to DH my idea of skipping Joe’s and opting for ETH again; knowing full well that my non-Mexican-food-loving man will not like this idea. He says “Sure! I’ll have those veggie tacos again!” I’m telling you this is a testament to their food. He will accommodate my Mexican food cravings maybe every few months but twice in one day? Unheard of! So, now I have 2 secret reasons for visiting Grapevine, Texas.
Now, let’s move on to Secret Reason #1 – Kountry Dounts —– Heavenly!
Fate put Kountry Donuts in our lives last year during our Grapevine visit. We happened upon this unassuming little shack (with 2 drive-up windows on either side and no seating area anywhere around) and it changed my life – kidding (but it did). DH is a huge donut fan and I am the opposite – never crave them, usually don’t have any when he buys them, don’t find much appealing about donuts – so to find myself thinking about these donuts at random times throughout this past year, was really unusual. And to plan a vacation around them – pathetic! But, they are divine. Now, this is just the plain glazed that I’m talking about. Who knows how great the other varieties are! In case you’re wondering, I’ve had Krispy Kremes – don’t know what all the fuss it about.
I’m not sure how a donut can defy description but it does. Besides “Super Yummy”, I can’t tell you just how great they are. “Melt in your mouth” is overused, I think, but they kind of do that. They are sweet but not grossly so (which is why I don’t like donuts usually) and light and on top of the fantastic-ness of their taste, they (the glazed variety) are almost twice the size of other donuts. We compare them to the best pancakes in the whole, wide world which are in Sydney, Australia and somehow taste like ice cream.
The bad part is that we corrupted our son with these donuts. He has lots of sweets in his life but they are better-for-you sweets. Until that visit, he thought all donuts were unglazed cake donuts. And was completely content to ask for “plain, unglazed cake donut” when it was his turn to order. I knew that we were going to let him try these and I knew that there would be no going back but these are important donuts – something that he should experience and have in his repertoire of tastes I did try not to give him this sugary treat, just out of habit, and handed him his usual unglazed cake donut. He munched on that for awhile and then asked to try mine. I gave him a bite and he politely handed me his plain, unglazed donut and said, “No, thank you” and then finished off the rest of mine. No going back.
The plan for breakfasts for this visit was to have Kountry Donuts the first morning that we were in Grapevine and eat at a sit-down restaurant (Biscuit Café) for breakfast the second morning (mmm – bacon!), stopping by Kountry D to pick up a dozen glazed donuts to take home. Well, as with the Joe’s plan, this one went awry. As we were munching on our delectable donuts-that-tastes-like-ice-cream Saturday morning, I had a feeling that Biscuit Café may have to wait until next year. I was right. The next morning, the plan was Kountry Donuts from the moment Boe woke up. When he greeted me Sunday morning with “Morning, Mama” followed by “Can we eat donuts?!” I knew that I could not deny him. After all, it’s his vacation, too, and they ARE the best donuts on the planet! So we indulged once again. We purchased the dozen that we had planned to take home and ate half of them at the cabin. Note: they are not nearly as good the next day unless you’re 3, then you’ll think they’re terrific no matter what.
I should talk about all the activities there are to do in Grapevine – Great Wolf Waterpark, train rides, Lego Land, some aquarium, Grapevine Market, shopping, boating, swimming, etc. – and how much fun all those are to do with a cranky 3-year-old who only wants to go home and see his dogs but that will have to wait.
