Waterloo Ice House

Posted on February 20, 2011 by

Our friends Jen and Brad called yesterday and asked if we’d like to meet up with the kids for an early dinner. The first place that came to mind was Waterloo Ice House — we’re all pretty far north and they have a location at Avery Ranch, with a playscape in the back for the kids to play. It’s not too expensive and hey – BEER – so it seemed like a no-brainer.

We met up around 5:30 SPT (Standard Parent Time) and asked to be seated on the outside back patio. The playscape’s right there so we were able to hang out at the table with our friends while still keeping an eye on the little ones. And — Did I mention? — BEER.

As far as the kids playing, here are the “cons”:  The playscape is pretty dinky, honestly, and it would be nice if the area was fenced in or otherwise enclosed somehow. I do LOVE a good “baby jail,” where I knew my kid’s trapped and don’t feel like I have to have an eyeball on him every second.  But then again, Sam’s old enough now that he understands me when I say “Stay where I can see you,” and it IS pretty well isolated, far from the parking lot, etc.  Besides, what the playscape lacks in size and fun, the large grassy area around it seems to make up for in both.  The kids really spent more time running around and chasing each other than anything else, and they were perfectly happy with that.

Which brings me to the best “pro” of all: By the time we left that place, my kid might have been thoroughly sweaty and gross –but he was also completely worn out, and when you have an almost-four-year-old who’s 30 minutes out from bedtime? That is a GOOD THING.

Jen and some chips. And - what? BEER.

The food at Waterloo is pretty much your typical Austin restaurant/bar food — none of it made us jump out of our seats to cheer, but then, we didn’t expect it to. The beer was cold and flowed freely, the service was great and the check didn’t make us cry. The kids were entertained and we had a fun evening with friends, so I’m absolutely certain we’ll be back.

Woo hoo, Waterloo!

Posted in Dining, Outdoors, Playgrounds | Tagged | Leave a comment

Main Event

Posted on February 13, 2011 by

Look. I like bowling. I’m not ashamed to admit it.  I like renting the shoes, tossing the ball, drinking the beer, keeping the score. I get loud and cheesy when someone bowls a strike. I bemoan the gutter balls. I give lots of high fives.

I would probably like bowling just about anywhere.  So for that reason, I liked it at Main Event.

But that was the ONLY reason.

Because aside from the bowling part, Main Event kind of sucks.

It’s ridiculously overpriced. It’s unnecessarily loud. The service is horrible, and the food is even worse. Even the choice of arcade games, for the most part, blows chunks.

I had a good time because I was with my kid, who was bowling for the first time ever and loved it. Our best friends Jen and Sophia met us there and Jen is just as much of a bowling cheeseball as I am, so the two of us had a great time shouting for the kids with every knocked-over pin.  I also kicked my husband’s ass at air hockey (7 to 4, for those of you keeping track), which was a lovely bonus.

Gorgeous girls

I left with a nice beer buzz, tons of pictures of the kids having fun, and the general glow of air hockey victory.

But my wallet is STILL smarting.

Almost 50 bucks to reserve the lane and rent the shoes. Another $40 for the horrendous food and drinks. And the waiting, MY GOD THE WAITING! It was half an hour before we even SAW our server, and an additional eternity before he brought our food, which was awful. Closing out the tab was an equally painful process – I sent everyone off to play games while I waited and it’s a good thing I did because I think I aged a couple of years while I stood there. Sam might be ready for kindergarten by now if he’d waited with me.

Gross queso/salsa

This place just has way too much going on, and doesn’t do ANY of it well. We didn’t play laser tag or billiards so I can’t speak to their quality – maybe they have the best laser tag and billiards in the history of the world ever, who knows? But I can say that the rest of the arcade section was lame. With the exception of the air hockey tables and a game the kids LOVED where they got to stomp on rocket ships and soccer balls (which, incidentally, tried to eat our money and required a repairman and even more minutes of our lives that we will never get back to get up and running), the game selection was really not much to write home about. Not to mention, there wasn’t a lot for smaller kids Sam’s age and even Jason had a hard time scoring at the weird skee ball set.

Trying to figure out skee ball.

On the bright side, the bowling was fun and I LOVED that they set it so that bumpers came out automatically every time Sam and Sophia were up -- eliminating gutter balls and sad feelings. (Note to self: Next time, request bumpers for me, too.) But all the big screen music videos and changing of lights (It’s DISCO TIME! It’s NOT DISCO TIME! It’s DISCO TIME! It’s NOT DISCO TIME!) were totally distracting and after a couple of beers, made me dizzy. Plus, some weird alarm kept going off without explanation, and every few minutes it sounded (and felt) like we were under attack.

I’m pretty sure all of this explains my dismal final score of 42. (It couldn’t possibly be the beer. Or my actual bowling skill.)

Of course, the kids didn’t seem to mind any of the distractions and it’s always fun to watch them hug and play and laugh and jump. But the truth is, we could have gone bowling anywhere in town and had just as good of a time – and probably for a whole lot less money.

Five dollar smoothie. Seriously.

But maybe I wouldn’t have kicked Jason’s ass at air hockey like I did. So let’s still call this one a win.

Beej.

Posted in Arcades, Bowling, Indoors | Tagged | 2 Comments

Lakeline Mall

Posted on February 4, 2011 by

Today it’s freaking COLD outside and as any parent will tell you, cold days suck. Because your kids are bored and you can only do so many jigsaw puzzles and watch so many episodes of Sponge Bob before you ALL want to stab yourselves in the face. So you have to find stuff to do indoors. In our case, this usually involves the mall.

Yes, I said MALL. Lakeline Mall, to be specific.  It’s our go-to place for days that, for whatever reason, can’t be spent outside. Some of my very favorite days of all time have been spent at Lakeline with Sam, and many of those days we’ve walked out happy, without buying a single thing.

Sound weird? Yeah, maybe it is.  But Lakeline isn’t your typical mall.  It’s not centered around stores — well, okay, that’s a lie, it IS a MALL, after all — but along the wide walkways you can find more than just retail. You can also find tons of activities to keep your kids occupied and entertained. Of course it’s got your obligatory, half-assed playhouse, which honestly isn’t that much to write home about — but it’s also got a full-sized carousel ($2 per ride), a whole bevy of quarter rides (which are actually 3 quarters per ride, but who’s counting?) and one of those strap-in-trampoline things, the kind of thing that makes ME want to throw up but the kid absolutely LOVES.

(For the record, no one in my family is sure what this thing is called.)

The kids with their "inaction figures." They do nothing.

The Disney store sometimes puts on events, like the Phineas and Ferb episode viewing my friend Jen and I took our kids to last summer (complete with guided construction of a Perry the Platypus “Inaction figure”) — and the mall often runs kids’ events like the upcoming Pirate Adventure and the Kiddie train, which has been running every few half-hour or so since the holidays. There’s also Inflatable Wonderland – your typical jump-jump place that’s horribly overpriced but also safe and air-conditioned and keeps the kids happy for a couple of hours.

Just a few weeks ago, Sam and I spent an entire Saturday at Lakeline, just the two of us. We started out with a quick run through the play house and a $2 ride on the carousel. Then he strapped in and did a few flips on the trampoline before we headed over to Dillard’s to try on silly hats.  After that we dropped about $5 on the quarter rides and made some funny faces in the photo booth before catching the 3:00 show of Tangled at the theater.

All in all, not a bad day, and I’m pretty sure we got out of there for less than 25 bucks.

What I’m trying to say is, if you’re stuck indoors but want to spend an unplanned day of fun, you could do worse than Lakeline. (Shoe-shopping trip through Macy’s totally optional.)

Posted in Indoors, Movies, Shopping | Tagged | 1 Comment

Central Market

Posted on January 24, 2011 by

We’ve been to Central Market a thousand times, and I’m pretty sure sure we’ll go back a million more.  It’s not the best playscape in town, it’s not the best food, it’s not even the best grocery shopping — and yet, we keep going back, weekend after weekend after weekend.

I guess we just love it because it is what it is — easy, outside, and totally Austin. The Central Market Cafe is an offshoot of the grocery store and the menu’s kind of across the board — subs, salads, pizzas, pastas — none of which are spectacular, but most of which are at least a little bit off the beaten path and ALL of which are fresh and reasonably priced.  More often than not, we actually pick up our food in the store itself — they have a mean soup and salad bar, plus lots of refrigerated selections and a great pick of non-traditional sodas.

Whatever food we choose, though, we know exactly where we’ll end up eating it — outside.  The deck is a great venue of live music, and it’s usually blaring on Sundays.  Family-friendly events often include performances by the Biscuit Brothers, free frosties from Wendy’s, and a big parachute the kids can fan around and play under.  On a pretty day, the two playscapes are standing room only — and a short walk gets you to a duck/turtle/frog pond and ample tree-climbing.

We go, we play, we shop — and then we head home.  Usually a few dollars lighter, but almost always with a very happy (and worn out!) three-year-old.

So yeah, the parking may suck and you might have to dodge a few bird poop missiles on the picnic tables outside… but all in all, Central Market is an Austin staple that we think is totally worth it.

Posted in Dining, Grocery, Outdoors, Playgrounds | Tagged | 1 Comment

Kiddie Acres

Posted on January 19, 2011 by

I’m going to start this blog off with one of my very favorite places to take Sam — Kiddie Acres Amusement Park and Miniature Golf.  Kiddie Acres has been around forever (well okay, since 1979) and it looks like it.  To an outsider it will seem old and rickety — in fact, it’s even been used as a location in a 2006 horror film — but for insiders like us, this place is nothing but love and fun and HEART.

Filled with old-fashioned amusement park rides for the smaller set, this place is a HUGE hit with kids 5 and under.  They can drive cars, steer boats and fly airplanes.  There’s a carousel, kid-sized ferris wheel, and a train that rolls around the perimeter of the park.  Miniature golf, sno-cones, and pony rides round it all off.  Not bad for an afternoon outside — especially when you consider the cost.  Only $16 will buy a set of tickets that will buy one kid admission on each ride (including the train and a pony ride). Concessions are reasonable, too.

Maybe the best part? Kiddie Acres is run by a family that clearly loves what they do. Spend a little time at the concession stand and before you know it, you’ll feel like family.

It’s also been voted “Best Place for a Birthday Party” by Austin Family Magazine, and for good reason.  We celebrated Sam’s third birthday here last April and it was the perfect location. Buy a set of tickets for each kid attending at only $10, and their parents can purchase additional tickets at the same group discount.  It’s outside, low-maintenance, easy set-up and the kids just absolutely LOVE running around, choosing which rides they’ll pick next.

The birthday boy, in his Kiddie Acres tee (wear it and get a free sno-cone!)

Located just off of Howard Lane, this place is a must for any north Austin family — but if you’re south, it’s still worth the drive.  Ignore the Something Wicked This Way Comes vibe — this is a treasured Austin landmark and will always be one of our favorites!

Beej.

P.S. I wrote a much less politically correct piece about this on my other blog, back in October of 2009.  Read it, if you dare! (But don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

Posted in Amusement Parks, Animals, Birthday Parties, Miniature Golf, Outdoors | Tagged | Leave a comment