Six Flags Texas

Saturday 27th July and we have booked to go to Six Flags in Texas - an amusement park with roller coasters and water rides, and a separate water park - great fun for the kids but, if I tell the truth, all accompanying adults were dreading it!  I booked the tickets online using a promo code I found on the web which reduced the price a bit but it had to be done 3 days beforehand.

I have a friend over from Ireland on business and he wanted to visit the park - he's also a fan of roller coasters (well... all things that do not spin!). It was hot so it was a good choice of activity bearing in mind the number of water rides on site.

It is about an hour and 45 minutes to drive down there. We started early so stopped off at an IHOP (International House of Pancakes) on the way to grab some breakfast - figured it was best to eat early!

We arrived about 11:00 and had to pay $18 for parking... the normal rip off you get when you go to these places.

The first ride (Goliath - see below) we tried broke down just as we joined the queue so we quickly jumped ship and wondered off to the next which was Boomerang Coast to Coaster and it lived up to its name - big time!

The ride above (Goliath - says it all)..... I chickened out of - Keith ended up being the sole rider out of our group!

 This ride is the Power Surge - basically it's a water ride with a difference. Not only do the riders get extremely wet but there's a viewing platform on either side of the final 'splashing zone' where people gather for a drenching.... well, it was extremely hot!

We had a great day but would recommend a two day visit if you want to visit the water park too.  A good tip for anyone attending - turn up in the afternoon, the queues for the rides are significantly  shorter after 18:00!

Round Rock Express - Baseball

Saturday night and we decided to go to the Round Rock Express baseball game - it's only 30 minutes down the road and looked like it could be a fun evening for the kids (truth be told - us too)!

The Round Rock Express are playing Omaha Storm Chasers. When we arrived there was a wedding going on, actually on the diamond - why I am surprised I do not know as they do that at football matches in the UK too.  After a round of applause (for the wedding couple) we wandered off, got drinks, looked at the team shop (great shirts and caps) and went and found our seats behind third base. Great view - Darcy and Cedah were hoping to catch a ball to take home - alas it didn't happen!

The game finished with the Storm Chaser winning 9-3 - Round Rock Express blew it in the 8th innings (big time)! There was plenty of entertainment involving the crowd in between innings and they even had a 'stretch session after 7th inning! Lots of flashing lights and messages appearing on the electronic display boards encouraging the crowds to 'make some noise'.  Last of all was a firework display as it was July 4th weekend which was pretty good.  We had a great time and all agreed we should do it again.... maybe even become Round Rock Express supporters?!

July 4th Cedar Park

Our first July 4th so we went to Cedar Park where there was an organised celebration. It started at 16:00 but we decide to turn up at 19:00 (it was really hot)!  It was pretty busy and we quickly noted that we should have brought a rug or chairs to sit on, plus drinks and nosh..... never mind, maybe next year!

The event had lots of stands with homemade produce, local shops or organisations, and things for the kids to play on (including a rock wall, carousels and slides) and a couple of live bands played throughout the evening and they were quite good.....

20:00 and it is time for the national anthem - all standing with hands on hearts though not singing, rather listening to someone warbling away on the stage!

So we picked a spot, sat and waited for the fireworks - people watching - which I have to say were pretty good (the fireworks).  It all finished up at around 21:45 when we headed back to the car and battled for an hour to get out the car park!  A good time was had by all.