Last night, my family and I were fortunate enough to attend one of our very first MLB games at Globe Life Park in Arlington. It was my second MLB game, and my boys' first. I should state here, in case you don't know us... that despite the societal pressures of living in Frisco, we are not a huge baseball family.- which is probably obviously from the scarity of aforementioned MLB ticket stubs. I mean, we enjoy it, but we don't necessarily tune into to games or hang out at the ballpark, unless we have a dog in the fight... in this case- the Rangers.
I should also mention that Rangers fan wear is bit scarce around here, as well. C, my youngest son is definitely the biggest fan, but even his fan wear had been through the ringer on the playground. So, when Husband said, "Hey, someone gave me tickets to the Rangers game", I did what I always do, and sent my mind immediately into the closet to plan everyone's attire. (See the pantless Seine cruise post, haha!) You might not think this was a big deal, but trust me- it could have ended up that way, so bear with me. My last Rangers fanwear was a Hamilton tshirt, that I ended up donating after he left- only to have him yo-yo back and make me regret my decision.
Now, C had been counting down the days to this game, and reminding us daily about it, so he was psyched. We considered picking up fanwear, but looking at Target, Husband said, "Nah" to the $20-30 price tags for each of us. But when I woke up yesterday, and C was dressed to the nines in his Rangers ball cap, and a FC Chelsea soccer jersey from England (because, hey, it's the right colors!)- I said, NO. This will not do. They are playing the Toronto Blue Jays for crying out loud, and let's not have any mistaking our commonwealth affiliation; while I love anything attached to Her Majesty, we are Texans for crying out loud.
I hightailed it to Walmart, and they did not fail me. I was able to pick up a couple of Rangers tshirts for about $12-15 (which was the perfect price point for "temperate" baseball fans); the women's selection was limited so I just went with a generic Texas shirt and improvised with Rangers colors.
As I began researching the ballpark and what was permitted- (could I bring in a bag? Did it have to be a certain size?, etc) I came across the realization that soft-sided cooler bags were permitted. I texted a friend because the website did not specify what exactly could go in said cooler. She recommended bringing in as many waters as possible, and this turned out to be the best advice ever, because waters were for sale for $5.25 each in the park. I estimate that we saved around $60 by bringing in two soft sided coolers of water.
Also, researching the concession options, we knew that it could add up quickly. You can view their menu here. However, I came across the mention on the site that you could tailgate as long as you don't have an open flame. Now, I know you can do that for Cowboys games, so I'm not sure why that didn't occur to me before- but at that point, I was gung-ho for tailgating. We loaded up the Boy Scout camping grill, and made a run to pick up the usual suspects of hot dogs, chips, fruit, and sodas. Turns out we forgot to bring lawn chairs, but we made do with the back tailgate in true form.
Not bad for $12-15 fanwear. Tailgating at the ballpark was a great idea.
There were quite a few people tailgating in the parking lot for a Monday night, and plenty of spaces to park. You can read the tailgating tips HERE. Tailgating and bringing in water allowed us to go into the park and use our budget on more important things like cotton candy, and peanuts, and the ultimately elusive bacon on a stick.
The Rangers lost by one point, but we feel like we won the night with the money we saved, and you can't beat the experience for some family fun- even if you are a "tepid" baseball fan.
I share this blog with the full disclosure that I will sound like a brat. And probably am. But, being that it might make for some entertaining reading for you guys, I'm sharing. So, give me grace. Being that our anniversary was in February, and our trip was the beginning of March, Husband and I decided to postpone our 17th anniversary celebration so that we could celebrate in Paris, instead. I mean, no brainer, right?
So for weeks, actually- probably months before hand, we started researching romantic locations to dine around Paris. Parisinfo.com was one of the first places we started, in addition to Trip Advisor. And Paris Info did have some great recommendations, and you can find those HERE. But, in the words of Ed Sheeran, "you and me are thrifty", so we took those ideas and ran with them to see if we could do better. It's how we do in the H house.
We could do a dinner at the top of the Eiffel, but then you can't really see the Eiffel, right? And, after looking at a few of our favorite chef's restaurants in Paris, we said- thanks, but no on the price tag; because we also wanted an experience in addition to good food. That led us to check out some dinner cruises on Parisinfo.com; but the prices seemed a bit steep for a mediocre experience (by Trip advisor reviews); and yes, again, this is how we do.
Research led us to a little vessel experience of Bateau le Calife, a 1939 wooden boat that seemed to ooze charm from the pictures on the review pages. We set about booking because at this point- we were less than a month out from our trip, and I was panicked (who me?) that we might not get a reservation. I did a bit of back and forth with the company by email, with the help of google translate (which turned out to be unnecessary since they spoke great English). It turned out that you have to call and actually pay a deposit to reserve a spot, so of course, being the telephone chicken that I am- I delegated that task to Husband. WTG, Husband!
Booking and correspondence was easy, and we were on our way! Almost, of course. For you girls, out there, you know what comes next.... What in the world shall I wear?
There is a whole part of travel planning that you guys will never know about; and that is the planning that goes into the woman's suitcase. One sets about digging through pinterest for other ladies' experiences, recommendations and pictures; followed by checking various sites to verify dress codes and trip advisor to see what everyone else wore; followed by shopping and/or digging through our closets. I mean, obviously, we all usually have some sort of something in mind, but just to be sure...
That is some serious effective packing.
After all this research and a couple trips to favorite stores around town to scout out the right outfit- I ended up landing on a LBD that was already hanging in my closet. The trip advisor reviews said they saw everything from dressy to business casual, but being that it was a celebration, I decided to go with dressing up on the little black dress, instead of down. I mean, I know Paris should be understated mostly; but I had inherited my mother-in-law's vintage gold chain mail evening bag from West Germany; and by golly I was going to find a reason to use it finally- understated be darned. Some snazzy, black suede stiletto heels and I felt like I was going to be grown-up-looking for a night out. I showed everything to Husband, and he approved. Okay, phew. One outfit out of the way.
Let's cut to about a few weeks later; and it's Monday evening, the day of our cruise reservation, and we are actually in Paris. Remember that little blog I posted about our monster day at the Louvre and Notre Dame? Remember the foot pain and agony and how tired we were??? Well, it's that day.
So, let's say- hypothetically- that a husband and wife come back to the apartment to take a quick nap and rest up and give the barking feet a break before a big night out. You're both pretty chill, and tired, and just hanging out until it's time to start getting ready.
For some reason, wife says something along the lines of (and I will acknowledge that this conversation is not recorded verbatim), "what did you bring to wear?"
Husband says, "Oh, I'm just wearing these pants, and a collared shirt."
Wife glances over to notice that husband is wearing Wrangler blue jeans.
(Silence.)
Wife: "Umm, really?"
Husband: "Well, yeah. Online it said it could be business casual."
Wife: "Business Casual is not jeans. Do you have another pair of pants?"
Husband: "No. I tried to pack light."
Wife: "Did you bring a sports jacket?"
Husband: "Yes."
Wife is sitting on the opposite side of the bed, staring at the closet doors, flashing back to that time in the Bahamas when husband didn't try on the new swim trunks before the trip (even though wife said too), and they ended up being humongous and husband had to spend half a day searching the resort to end up purchasing an $80 pair. Wife sighs as heavily as that run-on sentence.
Husband knows that sigh, and says: "Should I go out and find some slacks?"
To which wife snarkily and brat-ily answers- "For $300 euros? No way. I showed you what I was going to wear, with a gold chain mail purse, why didn't you pack slacks?"
Husband says, "I'll go out and find some slacks."
And round, and round until hubby sets out on foot to search the Boulevard Saint-Germain for slacks under 300 euros.
Wife is surprised when Husband returns, fairly quickly- ecstatic at finding presentable black, albeit skinny European style slacks and a nice sweater, found for a reasonable American price, in a fair amount of time- from none other than the all American Gap. (As suspected, the Parisian pants come with a fashionably hefty price tag).
Husband and Wife set about getting ready, in much better spirits; and aside from Wife's bad hair night- they are ready to catch the Uber to Ponts des Arts, right on time. P.s. Uber guy didn't really know where to drop off and we ended up walking a good ways in my heels, but the rest of the evening was just magical, and I hope you all get to go.
You can read my full review of Bateau le Calife, HERE.
Bateau le Calife
The charm and warmth of the boat was so cozy, which was great considering it was still lightly misting and raining at times. We met a couple tables of Americans, and yes, we could have gone a little more casual (not jeans, though); but I wouldn't trade anything for this hilarious memory. It's these little moments that are uncomfortable at the time, that we laugh about later. (Sometimes, much later). And the sparkle of the Eiffel made it all worthwhile.
Disclosure: This story has been shared with the permission and consent and review of both guilty parties.
So, some of you might know that a group of my neighbors like to kick off summer in grand fashion, and in years past, we've had some pretty epic EOY (end of year) parties. It all started a few years ago when Paige decided throw an amazing block party to kick off summer. Every year those parties got bigger and bigger and more and more involved to plan. Paige moved on to another neighborhood a couple years ago, but the tradition continued.
This year, my kiddos were on the way out age-wise for the types of parties we've done in the past- games, bounce houses, etc; and also we were getting a little tired of putting in the time to plan and run. We usually started planning super early, and this year got away from us and suddenly it was May! I was about to pull out of the whole thing when the other two EPP's (epic party planners), Angela and Cristi suggested that we do a destination party instead. Easy-peasy! No planning, no problem! The problem came in choosing a place. We briefly talked about Broken Bow, OK but then ruled that out for a variety of reasons, with cabin scarcity being an issue at that time of year and with that short of notice. I wanted to go to Schlitterbahn (um, one of my favorites, and I'll have to blog about that later); but we all agreed that 5 hours down and back was not fun for a short weekend stay.
So, our local options were Great Wolf Lodge, Gaylord, or they mentioned the Hilton Anatole. I haven't been to GWL- I'm sure it's fun, but pretty pricey, and definitely more kid driven; we wanted adult stuff to do too. I've stayed at the Gaylord, but wasn't sure about the water park because I hadn't done it, and again, pretty pricey. I was thinking, why in the world would we go hang out at a HILTON with our kiddos, until Cristi says, "Oh, it's got a waterpark." I had no clue that was the case- I thought it was just a convention hotel in DT Dallas, but that changed everything! Turns out they renovated everything last summer and put in a pretty sizeable water park. They must've figured out they were losing some business to JW Marriott in the Hill Country because that place is the bomb, and I need to blog on that too.
It was my birthday weekend, so I would be sharing this celebration with the kiddos- so my vote was heavy in the direction of Hilton Anatole so that we could use Hilton points since the weekend was likely to get expensive with everything else. (Regular rates range from $189 and up a night). Fortunately, the other EPP's agreed with me on the Hilton and we were off.
It is also a tradition that every year the EOY (End of Year) party is nearly cancelled because of the threat of rain and storms. We have been lucky every year- but last year; we moved it and it didn't rain (of course). This year was no exception and the threat of weather loomed, and we had the added bonus of baseball challenges with tournaments looming the whole weekend. I'm thankful that we are not a baseball family anymore because this control freak could not stand the unpredictability. Turns out baseball tournaments were not the problem since it rained cats and dogs on Friday. Days before hand, we had to decide whether it would be worth it to burn through the points since we would also have to board the dogs, and who wants to sit in a hotel room all weekend with your kids while it rains? We decided to take a chance and keep the reservation.
24 hour period from Friday to Saturday evening. That's a little rain.
Turns out, we're glad we did! Yes, the rain was coming down sideways when we checked in Friday afternoon; but the hotel had so many other options and the kids just love staying at a hotel anyway. And Moms and Dads all got to hang out in the lobby and have drinks, play cards with random people later, and hang out guilt free! It was an EOY with little planning and almost "built in babysitting". EPP's for the WIN!
You can read my full and thorough review of the hotel and the restaurants on Trip Advisor, here. Here are a few ways we saved money during our stay (and you will want to do that because everything is kind of overpriced):
Kids under 12 eat free with each adult entree purchase at
Media Grill and the Counter Bar. We used this on Saturday night to get meals
for my two sons (teen and pre-teen) so that they could stay in the room and/or
go to the movie while we went to dinner. $16 out the door, versus $100 I heard someone paid for two burgers and drinks through room service.
Free breakfast in the Gossip Bar for Hilton Honors
members and snacks in the Executive Lounge (although, based on other reviewer's
experiences, I'm not sure if this was a weekend thing). We took advantage of this both days.
Free water stations around the pool, and the wait staff was always on hand to bring waters. Also, you can bring bottled water and personal tumblers in. Some mentioned that their bags were checked, but that was not the case for me any of the times that I went in with a bag.
While you could not bring food or beverages (besides water), there were picnic tables outside the pool area. We didn't use them because we didn't think of it, frankly, but others did.
Biggest money saver of all was that we knew we would have two mini fridges in our suite. So, since I knew I'd have 3 teenagers and a pre-teen, I made an $80 Target snack run that paid for itself for the price of one hotel meal. I stocked up on chips, tortilla chips and salsa, pb&J, bread, mayo, mustard, pop tarts, donuts, lunch meat, veggie tray, cheese and pepperoni tray, hummus, cheese, lettuce and tomato, soda, a two gallon jug of water, and a million other goodies that teenage boys might eat. I felt like either the worst or the best mom ever at that checkout line. You decide. We took a break mid-day at the pool to run up and eat lunch. That cooler of food was worth it, and they even had leftovers. With two mini fridges, we could have easily packed more. Don't forget paper plates, cups, forks, napkins! I remembered everything except knives and napkins. Somehow the kids went through all the cups playing soda pong though.
We kept a stash of wine, beer, mineral waters and other beverages locked in our king bed room.
Use a personal tumbler if you are hanging out with a beverage in the lobby, or you will get called out.
Side note, apparently the coffee in the hotel is terrible. I'm not a coffee drinker but so many people mentioned it. So I would add that to your shopping list and maybe make it in the room.
My son bragged to me this morning that he only spent $3 at the hotel and that was because he wanted a Hershey bar. I like that frugality, son!
Jade Waters features splay/slide area, water slides, lazy river, water b-ball; swim up bar and more.
We brought a Switch and Classic Nintendo gaming system that the boys could use.
Hilton Anatole a prime choice if you need a place to celebrate for a summer event (like a 13th or 16th birthday party) and want to stay local.
Saturday and Sunday's weather ended up being great. While hanging out at the swim up pool bar, us adults decided that 40th birthdays are supposed to be celebrated all year, so I'm just going to roll with it. What's next? Cheers y'all!
