A Time Out for the Midland County Fair

Our family has had a lot going on. But we still try to take out a moment for fun as a unit. Our most recent adventure? Going to the Midland County Fair! 

This is the first time we have been able to do so. We were pretty new in town last year. Going to and from work, my husband was able to watch the transformation of the Midland County Horseshoe as the rides for the carnival went up.  

In case you are interested in what they offer, here is the official website. You know me, I'm a planner. So I check into an event as much as I possibly can before we go. These are the posted rules:

Things to know:

You can't bring in food and drinks. They have vendors there for that. More on those options below.

You can purchase a VIP Pass for unlimited carnival rides. These are bought on site, or just buy tickets for a few rides. The VIP pass is $35. Individual tickets are $1 each. Rides are about 3-5 tickets each. My husband couldn't wait for us all to try out the centrifuge ride called Starship 4000. 

He had been on one a long while back. You all stand against the wall of this round ride and it spins around, pinning you in place! This ride cost 5 tickets per person. So it turned out to be the only one we rode this time. This was the enclosed version. They had an open air one too. It was quite warm in here. And I definitely had to close my eyes a couple times.

Foods were plentiful! There were food trucks and then, in the carnival, you had the types of foods you would expect to see. We preferred trying the food trucks this time. There were so many options! So let's break it down... We tried some amazing juices and lemonades. My husband and I loved the mango one. My oldest son says the cherry lemonade was divine. My oldest daughter got a Root Beer Float from the Hawaiian Shaved Ice truck.

We tried fried Oreos and Twix bars. 4 fried Oreos or 2 Twix bars were $10 each.  I told my husband I can officially knock that off my bucket list. One son had curly fries. He wasn't as thrilled with those as they were made straight up from potatoes cut in a curling pattern. But they were quite the serving for $10. The Mini Donuts truck had some delicious tiny donuts that my youngest enjoyed. She got the Banana Cream Pie ones. You get 12 for $9. The nachos my other girl got were also $10 for a decent serving. My favorite? Steak on a Stick! $10 got us a delicious ribeye steak that was cut into chunks and grilled to perfection. My husband and I shared one.

Bringing cash is better. Using the card means you will pay additional fees or even just $1 more per item.

They have vendors inside. This is also where they had the Pet Parade and information on the various shows you could check out. Or the contests that were being held. We didn't spend much time in here, but it was still pretty interesting to see various types of things that were being sold. 

Overall, it was a fantastic experience that the whole family enjoyed. We were a little fried by the end of our time there. After all it was 104 degrees out there. But it was worth it. The kids are even asking to go back next year! 

Jurassic Quest is Coming to Town! (Discount Included!)

My 6 year old LOVES dinosaurs. I'm not sure if it has something to do with Chris Pratt, but the Jurassic movies are top on her list. She'd take those over Disney princess movies any day. So, of course, I was thrilled when I saw this new promotion through U. S. Family Guide. They are working with Jurassic Quest to promote the show that may just be coming to your town! 

There is quite the lineup already for the locations available. They even have shows in Canada! Texas has Abilene on March 3-5. I can imagine that my youngest will be wearing her new Chris Pratt shirt if we are able to make it. She will enjoy seeing the animatronic dinosaurs that rule the show there! As I'm typing this, I have her running around talking about riding dinosaurs, digging up fossils and watching the "live" dinosaurs! This is perhaps the closest thing to her going to a real Jurassic World. 

FAQ's

I like to plan out trips like this as much as possible in advance. So the FAQ section is typically my go-to. I'm happy to say I got a lot of helpful knowledge from doing so. 

First off - children under 2 are free, however will need activity tickets to participate in some of the events inside. Kids tickets are for 2-10 year olds. 

Tickets can be purchased at the door. It will cost you the same online as in person. However, subject to availability. They have safety restrictions on how many may be allowed to enter at once. Ticket prices are $19 - $36.

Saturday and Sunday afternoons - evenings are the least busy. I think this is one of the most helpful things for us. We aren't big on large crowds. 

Wear socks! Unless you want to purchase socks there. The inflatables and soft play areas require socks. 

My teen boys are going to be a bit bored. This is mostly geared for 2-10 year olds. Especially the rides and activities. 

Check ahead about parking! Since they are using venues from third parties, you could have to pay parking. Once you figure out where the venue is for your town, you can contact them to find out if you need money for parking.

Bring your cameras! And share your rawr-some moments with them! @jurassicquest #jurassicquest  I know I plan to do this. After all, my little one will be losing her mind from the fun. 

Cash and cards are accepted. They have activity tickets as well as souvenirs.  

And the most important for our family - food! Seems like food options and rules are run by the venue. Jurassic Quest does not provide food. So check out what your venue allows. Being that the event is usually about 2 hours to get through the whole thing, you might not even plan to eat there. Just plan your trip around meal times. 

Activities include....

Dino rides! These are just for kids. There are stationary dinosaurs that walk in place as well as those that walk slowly forward.  

Bounce houses! My little one tends to be afraid of these. Not really sure why, but she's afraid of others bouncing her. So we might not even bother with them. 

Dino crafts! You can do a quick craft to create your own dinosaur. My daughters might enjoy this. Looks like paper crafts. 

Dig for fossils! My little one recently learned to say paleontologist. As well as what that is. And she is excited to dig up dinos.  

Meet the baby dinos! When I was telling my kids that we might go to Jurassic Quest, they wanted to know what kinds of things were included. My oldest 3 were meh about it. But the youngest has been squealing about the possibilities since. Meeting baby dinosaurs has to be on the list or she won't be satisfied. If she could have her own baby dino, she would. That and a unicorn....

While you are walking around, look out for the walking dinosaurs! They are playful and like to run and walk around the guests. So be ready and snap a cool pic while you are at it! 

Lastly, discover the ancient oceans! I'm a skeptic on this front. Then again, dinosaurs trigger my skepticism too. However, it could still be a lot of fun to see the ancient ocean creatures moving around.  

Want to go and save money?

I can't wait to possibly make the trip! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Is anyone you know a dinosaur fan? Would you enjoy taking your family somewhere like this? Let me know all about it!  

Don't forget to use this code at checkout to save 20%! 

My readers get an exclusive offer of 20% off by using the code USFAM at checkout!  Get your tickets before they go extinct! https://www.jurassicquest.com/
 

Fun times with the kiddos!

Yesterday was all about taking the kids to do fun stuff. We went to Toys R Us for the Lego Princess build. Each of them got to build a Cogsworth figure from Beauty and the Beast. Line was relatively short so the kids weren't begging to leave. 

I really do think it's better to let them build in store. This way, they can make sure that they get all the parts needed. 

Then we went to the Good Games Expo at New Horizons CLC. Hosted by EdYOUcation and San Antonio eSports. So many great games were set up for play. Students got a $3 discount off admission. 

The kids enjoyed Smash Bros the best. 

Good Games Expo is next Saturday!

Listen up, gamers, game enthusiasts and those who like to just have fun around those that are in the first two categories. ESports has teamed up with EdYOUcation to host the Good Games Expo here in San Antonio at the New Horizons Computer Learning Center off Vance Jackson and 410. 
You can now register to play games such as Hearthstone, League of Legends, Overwatch and Super Smash Bros! Enjoy the tournament and come see the events sponsors. Mark your calendar now as this event is happening next Saturday - on September 17th! Starting at 9 AM and going strong until 11 PM. 

Its not just so that we can get our game on or watch those who are true gamers... though that is quite the fun part! No! EdYOUcation also works hard to connect students to the professional world. Sponsors will be setting up to show students how or what they can be capable of. 
Who is EdYOUcation? EdYOUcation helps students build a professional profile that will get them on the path to success in a career they can love. How does that work? A student expresses their interest and EdYOUcation will connect them with a company as well as help them build a professional profile. This can help students realize dreams or at least know if their dream is what they really want for the long run. They can get a Shadowship, where they can have the chance to visit and observe what their dream job really entails. This approach helps students to pick a profession they will stick with until graduation and after. 
There is a great line up of sponsors so far. Redbull, Blizzard, New Horizons, Twitch, Riot, and Tespa. I'm not at liberty to give much more insight, but I'm bursting with excitement at some of the other possibilities we have lining up. I say "we", because I work at New Horizons as a Classroom Rental Specialist. I've been helping as best I can to get this event set up. As such, I'm urging you guys to keep a watch out for this event. I promise to post more about it as information becomes more publicly available. We want to have everyone in San Antonio interested in this! Follow them on Facebook and share their page! 

Good Games Expo coming soon!

Listen up, gamers, game enthusiasts and those who like to just have fun around those that are in the first two categories. ESports has teamed up with EdYOUcation to host the Good Games Expo here in San Antonio at the New Horizons Computer Learning Center off Vance Jackson and 410. 
You can now register to play games such as Hearthstone, League of Legends, Overwatch and Super Smash Bros! Enjoy the tournament and come see the events sponsors. This event is happening on September 17th! Starting at 9 AM and going strong until 11 PM. 

Its not just so that we can get our game on or watch those who are true gamers... though that is quite the fun part! No! EdYOUcation also works hard to connect students to the professional world. Sponsors will be setting up to show students how or what they can be capable of. 
Who is EdYOUcation? EdYOUcation helps students build a professional profile that will get them on the path to success in a career they can love. How does that work? A student expresses their interest and EdYOUcation will connect them with a company as well as help them build a professional profile. This can help students realize dreams or at least know if their dream is what they really want for the long run. They can get a Shadowship, where they can have the chance to visit and observe what their dream job really entails. This approach helps students to pick a profession they will stick with until graduation and after. 
There is a great line up of sponsors so far. Redbull, Blizzard, New Horizons, Twitch, Riot, and Tespa. I'm not at liberty to give much more insight, but I'm bursting with excitement at some of the other possibilities we have lining up. I say "we", because I work at New Horizons as a Classroom Rental Specialist. I've been helping as best I can to get this event set up. As such, I'm urging you guys to keep a watch out for this event. I promise to post more about it as information becomes more publicly available. And should you want to be a sponsor, or know someone else who would be interested, please share this with them! We want to have everyone in San Antonio interested in this! Follow them on Facebook and share their page! 

Lego Americana Roadshow

Another thing we did this weekend, was take the kids to the North Star Mall for the Lego Roadshow. It was a Saturday and Sunday event where kids and adults alike could participate in building a replica of the Liberty Bell as well as go on a scavenger hunt around the mall to various Lego replicas of historical buildings from around America.

These were amazing works of art that resulted from hours of dedicated building.

Once you completed the scavenger hunt, you were awarded a poster with fun information about American history with a Lego twist here and there. 

The Liberty Bell build was fun. We grabbed the parts they listed and took them home in bags to build later.

It will go nicely with my custom Lego museum. 

They have a couple more stops to make when they leave here on Labor Day. You can see where by going here. 

Summer time is here, half a year is gone...

Can you believe that we are already over half a year into 2016? July is here. Summer is in full swing. I have to mark my calendar with all the events we have lined up for the next 3 months just to keep up. And I have to check in on it often. With 3 little ones and hitting the 4 ¾ months in the pregnancy, I’d crazy without that little bit of order.

So what does the start of July mean for me?

My daughter continues to get caught up on her shots so she can start preschool this year! My 3 year old baby won’t be the baby for long… She turns 4 next month and goes to school the following month! Where has time gone?

July – August also means that soon we will take our boys to 6 Flags. My little smarty pants duo won tickets and they will soon be eligible for use. A day of fun, sun, and roller coaster rides! Even though I’m pregnant, I’m considering riding some milder ones… Though this story about one getting stuck on the tracks and the riders needing to be rescued worries me a bit.

There is also a retro gaming convention coming up.

My boys play Super Mario Bros and Minecraft among the newer games of Lego Dimensions and Skylanders. So if I’m able to introduce them into true retro gaming – i.e. Arcade games, Atari, Sega, Nintendo 64…. YES! My kids will be nerds and I will be one proud mama. I might also take at least the older one to Austin to play Minecraft Summer Splash!

You get to play Minecraft Undersea Adventure in theaters on the big screen – with CaptainSparklez. For those of you who aren’t big nerds… Minecraft is an awesome game! And it is one that now allows you to play in an underwater world (something I have yet to be able to do). CaptainSparklez is a huge hit on YouTube that posts videos of himself playing Minecraft. He’s in the top 100 list for having the most subscribers on YouTube. (How sad is it that this guy is a major hit and younger than me…). This group of events is going on across the country, lasts for 5 days, and is being hosted by Super League. My oldest son would lose his mind…

We are also in the summer reading program for Half Price Books!

I am trying to get their 300 minutes of reading in for July towards free books since they love reading. If you haven’t gotten into it, just print up a form for the month of July and get on it!
July 4^th is this weekend. So many events are happening around San Antonio. I’m hoping to take my kiddos to the base up the street for some family fun and the fireworks. We bought some glow sticks and I plan on making them s’mores too.  But more than all these fun things, I want my kids to understand why we celebrate Independence Day. What freedoms we were granted as well as the cost.