Parties

Chef Tony Lee operates Cake Craze, which not only makes creative, intricate, special-order cakes, but also has everything you need to create your own birthday cake, graduation cake, or cake for any other special event. Also available are vegan, vegetarian, and sugar-free cakes, pies, and cookies.

The shop features baking supplies, cake decorating supplies, pans, and more. Pans can be rented out by the day.

The site is also home to Le Leeds Cooking School, which offers classes for kids and adults in cake decoration, baking, candy-making, and more. Classes are scheduled on weekday evenings and on weekends. Call 713.339.4535 for further details and a current schedule.

Chef Tony Lee operates Cake Craze, which not only makes creative, intricate, special-order cakes, but also has everything you need to create your own birthday cake, graduation cake, or cake for any other special event. Also available are vegan, vegetarian, and sugar-free cakes, pies, and cookies.

The shop features baking supplies, cake decorating supplies, pans, and more. Pans can be rented out by the day.

The site is also home to Le Leeds Cooking School, which offers classes for kids and adults in cake decoration, baking, candy-making, and more. Classes are scheduled on weekday evenings and on weekends. Call 713.339.4535 for further details and a current schedule.

For a real birthday party blast, Foam Rox sets up a large, square pit with inflatable walls and shoots foam out of a cannon, covering kids better than a giant bubble bath. Kids - OK, and the grown-ups - can play, dance, and splash in piles and piles of foam. The foam pit is 20 feet by 20 feet, so make sure you've got plenty of yard space. Or have the party at a nearby park, because Foam Rox brings its equipment to your location of choice.

The foam is non-toxic, hypo-allergenic, and harmless to clothes, grass, and plants. We found that even a bear-hug from a foam-covered kid doesn't leave the grown-up sopping wet; the foam dries off quickly and easily.

Foam Rox also offers a 30-foot, two-lane, inflatable slip 'n' slide, which is not only tons of fun, but also a great way to rinse off the foam.

Prices: The foam pit costs $340 for the first hour, $125 for each additional hour. The slip 'n' slide costs $75 per hour with the foam pit, or - by itself - $200 for four hours, $375 for eight hours.

For events over 20 miles from I-10 West (Katy Freeway) and Beltway 8, Foam Rox adds a $25 service charge, plus mileage. Rentals are also available for school fairs, church festivals, or any other large gathering.

Creative Connections offers fine arts classes for children in dance, drama, art, yoga, creative movement, and motor skills. Classes are available for infants to fifth graders at various venues throughout the greater Houston area. Call or visit the website for current locations and schedules.

Creative Connections also offers day camps and birthday party packages.

Ask about the schedule of free demo classes.

Diva Dreamz offers the ultimate girly-girl party for your birthday princess or diva. Party packages are fully inclusive, from invitations to party favors, with themes such as Pop Star Diva, Pajama Jamz, Princess Tea Party, and more.

Extra options available include themed cookies, custom candy bar wrappers, specialty cakes, a punch fountain, fruit trays, and sandwiches.

Noah's Ark Workshop is a traveling "stuff-n-fluff" animal workshop that comes to you. Children create hand-stuffed animals and dress them in outfits. Activities generally take 45 minutes to one hour.

Party packages also include invitations and thank you notes. Workshops can be arranged for birthdays, day care centers, summer camps, girl scouts, and other gatherings.

Bella Bee is a traveling glamour girl workshop for parties. Visit the website for further details.

Monkey'N Around is an indoor playground designed for infants and children up to six years of age. Activities include slides, a cool train table, a reading spot, and more. Parents are welcome to bring in snacks and drinks, or purchase from the on-site snack bar. Party packages are also available.

Open play hours are available Monday through Friday and the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. Hours can vary; call or visit website for current schedule.

Silly Town is an indoor playground and party center specializing in creative and imaginative play for children up to eight years old.

The play center offers both open playtime and party packages. Kids can pretend to be a chef, teacher, home maker, construction worker, and more. Other activities include a ball pit, vehicles to ride around the "town," and a make-believe market for shopping.

Kids' Night Out includes playtime, pizza, juice boxes, games, and storytime. Available on Friday and Saturday nights from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, this program is open to potty-trained kids up to age eight; the cost is $20 for the first child, $15 for siblings. Space is limited - advance registration is highly recommended.

With 15,000 square feet of space, Monkey Bizness has plenty of room to truly "monkey" around. Included are a variety of custom-made inflatable play structures, such as an obstacle course, the 17-foot "Volcano Climb", and a giant, 24-foot slide. For a break in the rough-and-tumble action, an air hockey table is also available.

Admission to open play is for unlimited playtime, with no re-entry allowed.

Party packages include time in the play area and on the 24-foot rock climbing wall, a party room with a host, party supplies such as plates and cups, complete set up and clean up, party favors, customized invitations, and balloons. Basically, you bring the cake, and Monkey Bizness takes care of the rest. Pizza and soda are optional for an additional charge.

In the play area, socks are required on everyone - including the grown-ups. All the restrooms have changing tables.

A discount price ($5) is available for open playtime on Mon, Thu, and Fri, for those arriving before 11am.

Jump in anywhere! The attractions in Schlitterbahn Waterpark cover approximately 15 acres, with both outdoor and indoor water play areas, all connected by a winding tube ride which can be entered and exited from any area of the park. So you never have to walk from one part of the park to another - just tube on over. Single and two-person tubes are neatly stacked up throughout the park, readily accessible for any of the pools or tube rides; life jackets in infant, child, and larger sizes are also provided for free, available throughout the park on easy-to-reach racks.

The indoor portion of the park, "Wasserfest," is open year-round and includes over a dozen attractions such as tube slides, speed slides, a wave pool, and a children's activity pool with small slides. Wasserfest is climate-controlled, with both air and water temps maintained in the 80s - so families can enjoy a day at the water park even in the middle of winter.

Outdoor attractions include a family wave pool, body slides, speed slides, tube slides, and multi-rider raft rides. The "Surfenburg" area also has a sort of waterpark-within-the-waterpark for little ones: a one-foot deep pool surrounds smaller water slides, splash fountains, and squirting hoses. The "Blastenhoff" area features thrill-seekers' favorite, the Cliffhanger Speed Slides, from which riders freefall over 80 feet.

Chaise lounges line the faux-beaches of the wave pools and wading pools both indoors and out, and shaded picnic tables are numerous, spread around the whole park.

Food kiosks are located throughout the park, including the BBQ Haus and a grill that serves burgers and chicken strips. Schlitterbahn also lets guests bring in their own food and drinks (no alcohol and no glass bottles), making it the spot for the ultimate swim party.

Parking is free, located about half a block away and across the street; a drop-off area in front of the entrance is also available. Lockers cost $7, less a $2 refund upon return of the key. Restrooms have changing tables, and showers are available in the park's changing rooms.

Prices:
Summer season all-day admission: Adults $34.99; Seniors and Children (3-11) $28.99, (2 and under) free. Afternoon admission (after 3pm): Adults $24.99; Seniors and Children $20.49. Two-day passes and summer season passes are also available.

"Wasserfest" Heated Indoor Season (fall/winter) all-day admission: Adults $25.99; Seniors and Children (3-11) $21.99, (2 and under) free. Afternoon admission (after 2pm): Adults $17.99; Seniors and Children $14.50. Two-day admission and indoor season passes are also available.

Call or visit website for exact dates of summer and indoor seasons. Tickets are available online or at the gate. Prices do not include tax.