We were in town recently visiting family and decided to bring my 3 year old daughter to check-out the newly opened Children's Aquarium in Dallas' Fair Park. We went on a weekday morning and it wasn't too crowded which was nice.

The aquarium is small (spent about an hour there), but it's a nice size for preschoolers. You don't have to feel pressured to stay a long time. The floors are raised, so that my little half-pint lady could see everything without asking me to lift her up. My arms thank you for that.

We were able to catch a piranha feeding which was awesome. They really go nuts and the kids love all the action. Be sure to get there a bit before it starts because it certainly got crowded and your little one will probably want a spot, front and center.

If you're visiting Dallas for the first-time or you've got older kids, I'd skip this and head over to the Dallas World Aquarium. They've got a lot more stuff for them to interact and engage with. However, for the 5 and under crowd and for local moms this is a great spot to come for playdate. Wish there was something like this back in Jersey.

Awesome all year round. The playground has a fantastic rocket (3 stories up!) that kids love. There's a huge field for frisbee, wiffleball, football, or an old fashioned game of freeze tag.

The Boulder Creek trail runs next to the park which is great for a job with a stroller or a bike ride for kids of all ages. The pool is a big hit as well (fee applies) with a slide for the bigger kids. I wish they had more features for pre-swimmers. Skate park and ball fields as well.

We came for a picnic lunch and the tables are shaded which is nice in the summer. The park is also popular in the winter because there's a great sledding hill.

We visited Ellefson Park while in Vail for the holidays. It's great for little kids especially if you have your own sleds and want to give kids a taste of sledding before shelling out $25 at Adventure Ridge's Tubing area. It wasn't crowded at all just us and two other families. There are only 4 parking spots, so I would aim to go early. There are bathrooms on-site since Ellefson is a public park, but they were locked when we were there. There are picnic tables if you want to setup hot cocoa or food.

There's a long flat "catch" area at the bottom of you or your kids pick up too much speed. Don't worry, the bottom of the hill is far enough away from the street.

I grew up coming here to pick apples, pumpkins and more. The farm only gets better each year and now there's all sorts of fun things for my 2 year old daughter to enjoy now.

Be sure to take a hayride or head over to the Discovery Barnyard. In side the Barnyard, you'll find pedal go-karts with two different play areas. One for smaller kids and one for the bigger ones. There's a Pretend Farm, a Tee-Pee Town and special toddler areas if your little one keeps getting run over.

There's also a petting farm and obstacle course for older kids that my daughter's too small for right now, but not in a couple of years.

The staff here are fabulous and you'll want to check the calendar because they've got a ton of great seasonal events throughout the year. Our favorite is Santa and Prancer Day when real reindeer come and throw a cookie decorating party at the end of November for all the kids.

The Omni was great, especially for my daughter and my two neices over Columbus weekend. My sister was visiting us with her two school-aged kids. Since her girls had been studying the Declaration of Independence in school, we thought it'd be fun to bring them to see it in person.

We all had a blast. All the kids recieved gift bags during check-in filled with games, books and other random forms of entertainment. The milk and cookies before bed was a hit with the kids and the adults.

The hotel location is PRIME! Everything was within walking distance and we were able to get back to the hotel in a snap for naptime without having to waste time traveling back and forth.

The pool is nice and filled with lots of other kids. We had a floatie for my little tot to enjoy the pool.