Buddy & Bug Family Adventure Club

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Typhoon Texas gets winter makeover

November 25, 2016

It’s a place we normally go to during the summer, but Typhoon Texas-555 Katy Fort Bend Road-recently made a transformation from waterpark to Winterfest, complete with light displays, Santa photos, train and pony rides, a petting zoo, an ice-skating rink, live bands, a 4-D Christmas light show and fire pits for roasting s’mores. The wintry venue also serves up holiday fare such as hot chocolate and chocolate-covered apples.

Hours are from 6 to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Sunday, and from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $24.95 for adults and $19.95 for children ages 3 to 12. Children ages 2 and younger are free. For information, call 832-426-7071, e-mail info@typhoontexas.com or visit www.typhoontexas.com.

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A large, lighted Christmas tree shines from the center of the park.

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A petting zoo (tons of cute baby goats!) and pony rides are included with admission.

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Two trains regularly circle the park. Its the perfect amount of time to see all the lights with a little one.

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Santa and his elves greet and pose for photos.

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Texas touches can be seen throughout the park.

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Ice skate rentals are $5. The rink is in the back of the park, so be sure to bring cash or purchase a ticket with a credit card at the front ticket booth.

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Visitors are encouraged to take photos in the nativity display. The park also includes characters such as The Grinch, Frosty the Snowman, The Abominable Snowman and a treetop Angel, who will all pose for photos.

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I’ll admit, at first I was a little skeptical about a 4-D light show. This production, however, erased all my doubt. In it, a little boy flies on a magical rocking horse around the world (an allusion to Santa Claus as a child). The imagery of the various countries he visits is just fantastic. What I thought were particularly cool were the 4-D fish that swim in what is the waterpark’s wave pool during summer months. My son could not be convinced the fish were not real – they were so believable. The show starts at the “30” (ie. 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and so on), so be sure to schedule it in!

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Local bands play every weekend.

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S’more kits are $5.99 for two s’mores. However, given how many marshmallows and fixings were included, we probably could have just bought one pack for our family of four.


Filed Under: Activity Guides {Houston}, Adventures, Houston HappeningsTagged: holiday, Katy, Texas, Typhoon Texas

Follow our Christmas adventures around town!

November 25, 2016

Christmas activities
Stay tuned as we bring your Christmas happenings around Katy and Greater Houston!


Filed Under: Adventures

Reindeer Digital Overlay Set

November 22, 2016

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL! Receive 40 percent off any reindeer overlay package in our Etsy store through Sunday, Nov. 27 with the coupon code: Blog16

Purchase overlays here

 

{10} digital reindeer overlays

 

 


Filed Under: PhotographyTagged: reindeer overlay

Nesting for Kindergarten

August 27, 2016

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For the month of August, I have been nesting – and not for the arrival of a newborn. I nested for kindergarten. Instead of preparing for countless hours cuddling a new baby, I prepared to send my daughter away for eight hours a day. As a first-time kindergarten mom, this is uncharted territory for me. However, the path feels familiar.

The bag is packed and waited by the door. Honestly, I am not entirely sure why I did this.  It is not like kindergarten starts before its scheduled date. I guess, I just felt better knowing her backpack was packed and ready when the time came. In the same way, I organized the pantry, the office supply drawer, and all of our closets. Because who knows, once kindergarten begins, I may never find time to clean or organize again.

Her new clothes are hanging in the closet. This time, however, I left the tags on. Because, as much as I hate to admit it, she has developed her own sense of style and sometimes refuses to even try on the frilly number I love – the one with the mismatched patterns. It makes her look like a baby, she says. And what is so wrong with that? Babies let you dress them in whatever you want. I love babies. Fine, I will just leave the tags on. But I will insist she wear her designated first-day-of school outfit and hold a sign, marking the momentous occasion.  Right now, I have big plans to bring out that chalkboard again on the first day of first grade, and then on the first day of second grade, and so on and so on. However, after the monthly baby sticker debacle, I also acknowledge the small chance she might have to hold that first day of tenth grade sign sometime in mid-December.

We went on a kindermoon. With the start of kindergarten, I knew family vacations would never be the same, so we took a trip to Disney World last May before most schools let out. I also took the kids to the museum, the zoo, and to every play place I could think of, relishing in low crowd levels and discounted weekday rates. When August arrived, however, we kept close to home. Because who knows when kindergarten will come. The bag is packed and waits by the door.

I have been doing my research. And this time, it has not been on nursing and sleep patterns. I have, instead, been reading endless packets and pamphlets and flyers about bell schedules and carpool procedures and meal plans. Good thing I stayed close to home.

I decided on a brand of bento box. Bottles are so five years ago. Bento boxes are what’s on my mind now. Choosing which box was a commitment, but I found the perfect one. It has four dividers and a small removable carton. It is the only box that will do when it comes to feeding my daughter the nutritious smiley-faced lunches I found on Pinterest.

What it means to be actually be a kindergarten parent still remains a mystery to me. However, I have a feeling that when I send my second – and last – child off to school, I will wonder why sending just one seemed so hard.

What did you do to prepare for the school year?


Filed Under: Adventures

Buddy & Bug’s First-Ever Book Club {Fancy Nancy}

August 16, 2016

I am so excited to announce the first-ever Buddy & Bug Book Club! This club has been the vision of this site since it’s inception. A big thank you to our test group who worked through these plans with us! The goal is for parents to use these plans to host book club meetings for their children and their friends and for teachers to use to create classroom reading communities.  The first series includes four club lesson plans, using the following Fancy Nancy Books by Jane O’Connor: Fancy Nancy: Too Many Tutus, Fancy Nancy: Poison Ivy Expert, Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris, and Fancy Nancy Sees Stars.  It is targeted to beginner readers ages 4-7 years old. Club meetings can be every day of a week, once a week, every other week, or once a month, and clubs have the option to read the books during meeting times or beforehand – how the club runs is completely up to you! We hope you enjoy the first club lesson plan for free. Be sure to check out Club Lesson Plans 2-4 here and receive 40 percent off all additional lesson plans thru Sept. 1 by using the following code at checkout: bookclub40. Let the adventure begin! *This site includes affiliate links.

 

Fancy Nancy Too Many Tutus (Book 1)-1

Fancy Nancy Too Many Tutus (Book 1)-2


Filed Under: Uncategorized

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Meet Marianne

Marianne is a second-generation Houstonian, former newspaper editor and English teacher, freelance writer, photographer, Jesus follower and xillennial mom of two blogging adventures around the city, the state, the world and beyond. Read More…

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