Our annual trip with the Pikes took us to Jellystone Park in Waller, Texas. We have finally settled that tubing the river, or doing anything around a public river is just going to have to be put on the back burner until the kids get older. So, we have abandoned our usual spot in New Braunfels and in fact have leaned more towards the Houston-side of Texas, to the family-friendly Jellystone Park.
Right out of the Hanna Barbera cartoons, Yogi, Boo Boo, Cindy and Ranger Smith are all part of the scene. There are cabins, RV slots and tent camping spots for all types of accommodations. All of this seems to revolve around the great water park that is perfect for kids of all ages.
We opted for the 2-room cabin to share with the Pikes for our usual 4 days, 3 nights stay. The living room had a loft above it, which was perfect for Reed and Kate (both 3 yrs old) to sleep in. The loft had a fixed ladder leading up to an enclosed space that had two full-size mattresses on the floor. The extremely low ceiling clearance was only about 3 ft (no lie), which made it a perfect space for the kids. The bedrooms were quaint and could have used a few extra square feet, but we didn’t spend much time in there at all. The lone bathroom had only a shower which made bath time for the little ones a little makeshift. The best feature was by far the screened-in porch. Having the kids within earshot after they went down for bed and able to sit outside without the gnats was clutch.
We were pretty adventurous with our cooking, and opted to do all dinners over the camp fire, even though our cabin had a full kitchen. We didn’t know that the water park had pizza and burgers, or we certainly would have done that the first night there. I think the most success we had on the fire were the kabobs of chicken, beef, pineapple and peppers… the worst experience had to be the pigs in a blanket that Julie and I never really had a clear idea of the cooking and prep process (once again, had we eaten at the water park we would have avoided that catastrophe).
The water park is where it’s at. I will admit that it was overwhelming the first day we were there because of the sheer number of people. Unfamiliar territory and the first time on big water slides took a little while for Reed to get comfortable. However, by Sunday afternoon the park had significantly cleared out and it was much more bearable to settle in and spread out at the kiddie pool and the slides. In fact, Reed did eventually go on the slides all by himself after a series of rounds with him in my lap. Once again, having Kate around gave him the extra peer pressure he needed to suck it up and just do it. By the end he was doing the circuit (up the stairs, down the slide) by himself and we got to live the good life on the sidelines and cheer him on.
The other things we did while we were there:
1) Tried fishing with Reed for the first time… 2) Played some miniature golf… 3) Played football, teeball, and chased each other around in the field by the cabin… 4) Reed took a shower for the first time… 5) The girls took the older kids to the outdoor theater (saw Despicable Me) while Jim and I watched a Spurs playoff game.
