Frontier Texas ~ A great way to learn Texas History

Okay, so we took the kids to the Alamo once, and frankly they found it pretty boring. I have heard it is getting a revamp and if it turns out anything like Frontier Texas I am sure we will love it.

Frontier Texas, which is located in Abilene, is simply a great way to learn a little about Texas history. It is basically a museum that in addition to more standard museum type displays features interactive displays called spirit guides (pretty cool holographic projectors) that tell you stories about the old west.

Carol, Ethan and Crystal at Frontier Texas

The spirit guides represent real people who lived and died on the Texas plains. My favorite story was of Britt Johnson a slave who was given his freedom after an Indian attack so he could go find his missing wife and two daughters (his oldest son was killed in the attack).

Britt Johnson's Spirit Guide at Frontier Texas

It was such a great story that it was used as the basis of the John Wayne movie The Searchers. I guess Hollywood wasn't ready for the true story yet or even realized black cowboys existed.

After getting his wife and daughter back Britt became a teamster hauling freight all over Texas until his death at the hands of a Kiowa raiding party in 1871. Britt made them pay though. He was surrounded by 173 shells from his shot gun and pistols when his body was found. I would love to see the true story done as a movie today.

The other spirit guides are very entertaining also, Buffalo Hunters, Indian Chiefs, and people who lived with the Indians. Everyone is represented and while Frontier Texas talks about the hostilities between White Men and Indians it does not sugar coat history for either side. Frontier Texas really makes the history of the time come alive and will entertain people of all ages.

The tour through Frontier Texas starts with a movie about life in the old west.

Human scalps on a war shield

The kids in front of a Tee Pee

A Bison Fighting a Wolf on the plains.

The final room is a theater in which you sit on swiveling chairs for a night adventure on the plains. This room might be a little scary for small kids when the thunder and lightning start, but it is a great finish to your time at Frontier Texas.  It is more then a movie and you have to swivel in your seat to see everything as it happens. It will keep you moving and you will b e entertained.

The whole museum takes about 2.5-3 hours to go through and is very reasonably priced. If you are headed through Abilene Texas it is well worth the stop and Abilene also has a great little zoo complete with giraffe feeding opportunities. I'll post pictures and review the zoo later.

So if your road tripping through Texas and find yourself in Abilene, don't skip this great attraction. Have you been to Frontier Texas? Please share your experiences in the comments.

All My Movies ~ By Bolide Software

It doesn't always have to be about travel does it? Families still like movie nights, we at least my family does.

I have recently come across a really cool piece of software for cataloging movie software and I want to share it with you.

All My Movies by Bolide

I'm a big movie geek. A couple years ago I started converting all my DVDs over to digital files. It saved a lot of space. My movies took up three or for full sized book cases in my home, so when I say it saved space I mean it saved a lot of space. 

The problem with digital files though is I used to be able to just look at my book case until a movie kind of struck my fancy. Hmmm, there's Armageddon, haven't seen that in a while.  It's a lot harder to do that when your staring at directories on a computer. This software will give you a virtual bookshelf of your movies, It uses the actual DVD art.

Not only that it links to IMDB (The Internet Movie Database). It will display all the movies information on the screen. You can find movies by actor, genre, year, title, just about any way you can imagine.

Virtual bookshelf on the left ~ Movie info from IMDB on the right

You can use it with DVDs or Blue Ray disc as a way to catalog what you have. You can even use it to track those movies if you loan then to friends. Both pretty useful features for those with hard copies of their movies.

For people like me who buy there movies in digital formats now the database will also link directly to files in your hard drive and you can use the virtual launcher to play the movie. To me that is the programs most awesome feature. Grab you soda and popcorn and then pick the movie you want from the virtual bookshelf and hit the play button to start the movie. 

It was exactly what I was looking for when I started looking for movie cataloging software. The only functionality I would add is the ability to export a movie or movies to a USB drive, Phone or Tablet, but that is a small caveat for such an awesome piece of software (Heck it might even do it and I just don't know how yet).

You can download a demo on their website here... BOLIDE SOFTWARE

Six Flags ~ Not as expensive as you might think.

We love Six Flags. If you read this blog for any amount of time you will probably be able to figure that out. But we are definitely  not made out of money so how do we keep the costs down and the fun up.

The prices listed in this blog are current as of 12/03/15.

Our first year at Six Flags we had memberships. For about $87.70 a month for the 5 of us we could go to either Texas Six Flags and it included the dining pass which gave us lunch and dinner at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, but not anywhere else. It also included standard parking free. If you go enough to make it worth your while it was a good deal. Average cost was about $1052 a year.

Memberships have gotten better though. Now with the combo gold membership you can go to any regular Six Flags park (although most of the dedicated water parks are still not included, only the closest one to your home park is part of the deal) and you can now eat at any park by upgrading to the combo gold dinning pass. You also still get free parking with either gold memberships or gold passes. A little more expensive but probably still worth it (when I priced it out it would have come to about $100 a month for the five of us. So about $1200 a year.)

It is a good deal of you can't come up with the money for passes but plan to make a lot of trips to Six Flags (like we do). If you go the membership route you do have to stay a member for a year. You can quit any time after that with a months notice (if you give notice in June you will have to pay for July, but then you would be done.)

If you can afford to pay it all at once however passes are definitely the best deal. 5 combo gold passes with 5 combo gold season dining passes came to $867.48. That comes out to $173.50 per person. If we go 10 times that would be Six Flags with lunch, dinner and a snack for $17.30 a visit.

A ticket bought online is $49.99 

Average for cost for a meal at the park is $11 

Average cost of a snack is $5

So a ticket, two meals and a snack would be $77

Oops, almost forgot, this year's combo gold dining passes and memberships come with an all you can drink beverage cup for free. That's going to be worth at least another $15 bucks a visit.

That's $92 a day. If you go twice that's $184 bucks. You just can't do it all in one day anyway. I tried, it doesn't work.

The Six Flags website says the dining pass pays for itself after four visits, but if you consider that sports bottle it makes that money back even quicker. 

2016 season passes are good now and last till the end of next year. So basically we are already saving money every visit.

Go on weekdays when Hotels are less expensive and the lines are not as long. We usually find a great Hotel with two queen beds and a sofa and with a full complimentary breakfast for about $60 a night in Dallas or San Antonio. We usually start two nights.

Don't Miss Out! See Today's Top Hotel Deals at TripAdvisor

Gas is cheap right now. Less then $50 each way and we are 5 hours a way. Our average trip is less then $300 bucks.

Heck if I lived in Dallas or San Antonio it would be an even better deal. We'd go to Six Flags just to eat.

Taking Your Small Child To The Amusement Park (or the Zoo or anywhere)

I think a lot of parents out there are very excited about getting to take their children to an amusement park. It's natural and done right it can be a lot of fun. It can also be very, very stressful for both the parents and the children. Whether you are going to Disneyland or the local fair there are things you can do to make sure both you and your smaller children have a great time.

1. They will be overwhelmed. The sites, the sounds, the food and the characters, it will be a lot for any kid to take in. Let them take it in. Don't be pushy. If a character or situation is stressful to them don't force them into it thinking they will enjoy it. In my younger days I worked in a mall. Parents would force children to sit on Santa's lap. All it created was unneeded stress. Forcing a child to meet any character in any park for the sake of a picture just isn't worth it.

2. They'll do it when they are ready. I waited a long time for my son to be tall enough to ride the roller coasters with me. He is a roller coaster riding fool now, but it wasn't always like that. Likewise with my daughter. Even once she was tall enough she didn't want to ride everything she could. This is one of my big mistakes in trying to force her to ride. Let me tell you from experience, don't bargain, don't demand, don't cajole them into doing it. You will just ruin their time and frustrate you both.

 Disneyworld 2012 ~ You can't tell by the picture, but my baby is terrified!

3. Let them dress up. My daughter usually goes to Six Flags dressed as wonder woman and not just around Halloween. She absolutely loves wonder woman. This is your kids day. She feels great seeing pictures of Wonder Woman everywhere and it makes her special day even more special. Random people give her high fives and make her the center of attention. You don't have to go that far of course, but let them wear what they want.

4. Let them have their fun. My daughter loves playgrounds. Even in a park full of mechanical rides if there is a playground their we are going to be playing on it for a couple hours. She can also fixate on a ride she likes. She will ride the same ride five or six times in a row. She probably rode the Boot Scoot at Six Flags Over Texas a hundred times last summer. So what if your kid doesn't go on every ride they are able to do? Which memory would you rather your child have in the long run; a miserable time being forced to go on everything, or an amazing fun memory of doing what they wanted? This was a hard one for me for a long time.

5. Take a break. Time at an amusement park is limited. Especially if its going to be your only trip, but forcing a killer pace on children big or small will make everyone grouchy. Rest and relax. Your small child might even require a nap in a stroller. If they are walking make sure you remember their legs are small then yours. They will have trouble keeping up and they will get tired quicker then you do. I still carry my youngest on my shoulders a lot of the time, but breaks are mandatory.

A quick little note about strollers. Bring a fold-able one of your own. Small children won't want to walk all day. They also might need a nap. Yes, the park rents out strollers. Usually big plastic strollers. Most parks have a train and most little kids want to ride it. The same park that just rented you a big plastic stroller wont let you take it on the train. Save yourself some headache, bring your own.

6. Let them be kids. That's what it all comes down to. Don't expect adult behavior from a child. Just because you know something is safe doesn't mean they do. Just because to you the value is in doing all the rides you can doesn't mean they feel the same. It's not just your vacation. If it's all about you come back without the kids. When they are there it has to be all about them.

7. A couple random thoughts. Make a checklist. Bring sunscreen, aspirin, band-aids. Bring bottled water to venues that will allow you to carry it in. If you purchase dinning passes your might not need one for the toddlers in your group (we often have so much left over food at each dinning pass meal we could have feed several other children and we are a family that likes to eat). Just remember, relax and have fun. These memories, good and bad will be with your kids forever.


I hope these tips make your next trip with the kids (especially the little ones) a lot more fun and a lot less stressful.

Fright Fest 2015 ~ Our first bad experience at Six Flags

Let me first off state that a bad time at Six Flags is still better then a good time almost anywhere else. We love Six Flags and we still had a great time for most of our trip.

Sooner or later I guess everyone will have a bad experience at a theme park. I expect the long lines and bad weather. Those are realities of life for a theme park junky, and one of the best reasons to have a season pass. Every now and then though a park makes decisions that adversely affect patrons and leave you scratching your head and wondering why.

We loved Fright Fest at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in 2014. The sights and shows were fantastic.  The final show off the night was so good we stayed an extra night just to see it again. My three year old absolutely loved it, and that is the root of the problem. This year we decided to go to Six Flags over Texas for Fright Fest, but checking the website I believe we would have had the same problem at any Six Flags park.

Fright Fest ~ Six Flags Fiesta Texas 2014

At the 2014 Fright Fest they had no scare zones and glostick necklaces that told their actors not to scare people even in the scare zone. For some reason Six Flags decided that in 2015 to get rid of both these ideas. Not only that they shut down all kiddy rides at 7pm. So my now 4yr old daughter has nothing to do and is getting scared and crying.

We drove 5 hours to get to Six Flags only to have to leave early each night. It seems that Six Flags decided to try and compete with local haunted houses over putting families and children first. The worst part to us is they were not allowing readmittance into the park. So no closing finales for us this year.

It was very disappointing but we did learn some things. Always have a backup plan. We didn't bring much cash to Dallas as we were using season passes so we were kind of stuck. Check the website carefully before deciding to make the drive. It did warn us, "scariest Fright Fest ever". It said nothing about safe zones this year. Lastly check around and see if you can find out all the details about an event before going.

It was still fun (during the day) and we still love Six Flags but I think they really messed up by taking the fun out of the park. If you were there let me know what you think too.

And if you were there and had the same problem we did make sure you let Six Flags know by contacting them here. They can't fix something if they don't know its broken.

How I lost 60 lbs. to go on more Roller Coasters

This is in no way a weight loss or exercise blog site. I’ll never be a health freak and I’m still not close to skinny (still working on it). I like amusement park food too much (mmm… funnel cake). I did lose weight just to go on more roller coasters though, and maybe my story can help someone else.

Imagine standing in line to go on a roller coaster on an average day at an amusement park. Sometimes you have to stand in line for an hour or more. Now imagine after waiting patiently all that time you get told you are too big to go on the ride. Kinda sucks!

Christmas 2014 at Six Flags Over Texas 312 lbs.

I love roller coasters. I was devastated. In fact when we first started going to Six Flags Fiesta Texas there were 5 coasters I couldn’t ride on. Not even in the bigger seats. That’s when I really realized that it was time to lose some weight again. This was in 2014. Just a couple years before in 2012 I had ridden literally every ride at Bush Gardens in Tampa and Disney World in Orlando. I told my wife right then and there I was going to lose weight to ride those coasters (I don’t think she believed me).

I was able to lose 5-10 lbs. before our next trip. It was very tough. I wasn’t on a particular diet, I was just depriving myself. It worked a little. I was able to go on Superman Krypton Coaster in the big seats, but I was still too big for most of the other rides I wanted to go on. Then winter came and I put it back on and maybe a little more. I got up too 312 lbs.

I was getting discouraged, but then remembered using Nutrisystem years before with great results. I decided to try it and have had great results again. It is balanced and I never felt like I was starving. I lost 40 lbs. and this time I paid attention to how the changes in my diet were actually working.

Now I am trying it on my own and still getting good results. I am using an app called MyNetDiary. The basic version is free (and can be found for both Android and IPhone) and is all I use. I program in everything I plan to eat the day before and don’t deviate. I have lost another good 20 lbs. with it.

Batman The Ride @ Six Flags Fiesta Texas ~ May 2015 253 lbs.

I would highly recommend Nutrisystem to anyone though. Especially when just starting. You do have to add your own salad and healthy snacks on Nutrisystem though and pay close attention to the food diary they give you. It really can work.

The end result though is I lost the weight and I can ride a lot more roller coasters. I have enjoyed every ride they have at Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Fiesta Texas with my family this past summer and I plan on being able to ride for many years.

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to our family travel blog. I know, family travel blog right? Don’t worry, it’s not going to be one of those “look at cute pictures of my kids on vacation” type of travel blogs. I’m not going to tell you what cute thing my little girl did petting a stingray at t he Dallas Children’s Aquarium. It will be more like, how can you and your family get the best deal at the Dallas Aquariums, which Dallas Aquarium is best for kids and should you eat the food at the Rain Forest Cafe inside the Dallas World Aquarium.

From Hotel deals to amusement park secrets to how to get along on long car trips this blog is for people who travel with their families.

All that being said, here is a cute picture of my kids.

Ethan Crystal and Carol at Fright Fest ~ Six Flags Fiesta Texas 2014

Our fun family has been traveling Texas and a few other states for years. We have found great deals, great fun, and a few things to stay away from. From amusement parks, to zoo’s, museums, theaters and fairs and just about anything else we can do as a family. We have learned a lot and we want to share that knowledge with you.

Some of the topics will include:

Are Season Passes at amusement parks worth the money? What about Dining passes? What about flash passes?

What museums are cool in Texas? Best Free museums?

Getting a good hotel for a good price.

How to make sure your toddler gets to have as much fun as you do. How young is too young to take kids to a concert?

And there might be a cute story or anecdote along the way, but hopefully they wont get in the way. I’d love to hear comments too, whether you agree with a post, want to recommend some family fun, or want to tell us just how wrong we are. I hope you enjoy our blog.