Things to Do in Midlothian

For more than three decades, the Hudson family has fostered a fun, safe environment for exercise at Red Bird Skateland. The glossy roller rink welcomes the public during open skate hours, and hosts birthday parties as well. Bashes can be held during public skate hours, or birthday kids can opt for private celebrations, which lets partygoers skate unimpeded by strangers after feasting on cake.

Just a 10-minute trip from downtown Dallas, Bahama Beach Waterpark draw visitors to its cooling oasis filled with soaking attractions. Lazing riders lounge in inner tubes as they bob on the serene current of the Calypso Cooler Lazy River, and children race through the nearby Coconut Cove, a rainforest-style playground with rope ladders, slides, and a 1,000-gallon dumping bucket. Two intertwined slides, the Riptide Slide and Bahama Bullet, descend from a 45-foot-high platform, and the nearby Bermuda Triangle's trio of open and closed slides deposits riders into a high-speed splashdown.

Bahama Bob's Island Eatery crafts a full menu of sandwiches, burgers, and snacks for diners, and the Island Traders store dispenses necessities such as sunscreen, locker rentals, and emergency rubber duckies. The park also offers party-sized seating, including group pavilions and private cabanas.

Since its opening in 1988, Ellen's Amusement Center has provided visitors with a full range of family fun, including mini golf, go-karts, and paintball. The 18-hole putt-putt course is littered with such whimsical obstructions as a diminutive oil rig, a mini rollercoaster, and the obligatory windmill. Racers negotiate hairpin curves on the tire-lined go-kart track. A crossfire of chromatic projectiles enlivens four paintball fields, where players dive behind bunkers on the speedball courses or camouflage themselves as commando squirrels on the woods field. The facility also boasts batting cages equipped for hardball and softball as well as a redemption arcade filled with two stories' worth of video games.

The members of The National MudRunners Association strive to build challenging and entertaining obstacle courses with their medium of choice—mud—motivating participants to get fit while having fun and getting filthy. Each of their events attracts nearly 14,000 participants, who sprint across muddy terrain, climb over walls, and splash through muddy pools of water created by dinosaur footprints. After crossing the finish line, dirt-caked participants can amble into the event's post-race area to pick up their medal, grab a T-shirt, stroll around vendor booths, and dry off while soaking in live music. Committed to giving back to the community, The National MudRunners Association gives a portion of its events' proceeds to charitable organizations, which have included the American Red Cross.

Several years ago, Branndon Bargo and his brother set out on a mammoth adventure. Not sure what they were after, they biked 4,000 miles to Baja, Mexico from Alaska and found themselves submerged in the open waters of the Pacific, scuba diving with great white sharks. After a harrowing climb of Mount McKinley in Alaska, Branndon began questioning his motivations for staying at his desk job. So in 2005, he gently kissed his cubicle goodbye and founded Live Adventure as a means of encouraging others to challenge themselves while discovering deeper connections with the world around them. Within Cedar Hill State Park, Brandon organizes team-building programs and encourages groups to kayak, synchronize swim, and fish on Joe Pool Lake. Other expeditions include rock-climbing outings and custom guided jaunts around the planet.