While staying at our home base in Texas for a few weeks, I just had to see the grandkids. They grow up so fast and we missed seeing their cute faces during the entire summer last year. It only seemed fitting that we camp at the North Texas Jellystone Park for a couple of weeks.
The kids came over during the weekend and spent the night in the fifth wheel. They had a ball playing with the bag of beads and other toys that we caught during the Mardi Gras parades on the coast.
Unfortunately, we had just received several inches of rain and the park was filled with mud puddles. Mimi was not worried because she bought rain boots for the littles to wear.
If you are looking for a great weekend for kids, this place has it all. We were camping during the off season, so the activities were limited to weekends only. Spring break and summer schedules include daily events for kids. A special phone app sends you notifications when each activity begins.
I think the kids enjoyed the rides through the park the most. The staff organized a barrel train ride, a hay ride, and a ride on top of a real firetruck. Mimi got to go on two of these, but adults can’t fit into the barrels.
Throughout the day, costumed characters would attend specific activities. The kids were so thrilled to see the bears!
Kids can participate in Candy Bar Bingo, Karaoke, movie night, arts and crafts, lazer tag, a dance party, toxic escape, and much more. Not to mention the water park onsite. Wow!
If you are looking for an exciting weekend for kids, bring your camper or tent down to this park in Burleson. They also have lots of cabins available for rent, and they can facilitate groups for birthday parties, weddings, or family reunions.
On Sunday morning, we attended the free pancake breakfast at the restaurant in the water park area because the other restaurant was under construction. Drinks and bacon were an added expense, but worth it.
Since check out time was 11:00am, there were only a few activities on Sunday morning. To learn more about this campground, check out their website here.
Now fast forward to another gorgeous weekend in March and we headed to the Arbuckle Wilderness Park in Oklahoma. From the north side of Fort Worth, the drive took us about 90 minutes, door to door.
The park occupies more than 200 acres in the beautiful Arbuckle Mountains with hundreds of exotic animals roaming freely. We saw a lot of cars, but it didn’t feel crowded because the wilderness is so spread out and goes on for miles.
The kids loved spotting the various animals as we drove on the gravel road. I’m glad we took the truck because there were many large potholes and washed out areas on the road.
Can you believe that we were able to pet a zebra on the nose? We saw three of the black and white beauties and they were very comfortable around people. It didn’t take long for two of the kids to run out of food pellets.
Two horses got loose and roamed into the donkey area. Their hooves are so big that they can easily walk across the cattle guard. We watched a couple of cowboys chase them back into their field.
A large longhorn came up to the road to greet us. Then he rubbed his neck on the metal fence and it made the kids laugh.
After playing on the playground and feeding the animals, we ate lunch at Sonic and headed south toward home. The kids slept all the way home and the truck was covered with sandy nose prints from hungry critters. Another day of memories in the books…
How fun! Kiddos are getting big!
They grow up so fast!