Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Houston, TX

Just south of Houston, a charming coastal town is tucked in between Galveston Bay and Clear Lake. Most Houstonians speed west of this town, Seabrook, on the way to Galveston or Kemah, and when they do, they miss a lovely spot that is very family-friendly.

The town motto is, "As grand by land as by bay, and why many choose to stay."

The town offers wonderful outdoor activities along with water fun and beautiful bay views. Seabrook has 15 parks and 10 miles of hike and bike trails, and is only 30 minutes from downtown Houston and four miles from Johnson Space Center.You can learn about the trails in the easy to follow Seabrook trails map the Parks and Recreation Department includes on its Web site. While enjoying a seaside trek, consider helping your kids spot and identify some of Seabrook's beautiful land and sea birds with the helpful birds of Seabrook species list.

We are always, always awed by the pelicans---the town bird! In fact, there are artistic statues of pelicans throughout Seabrook, which makes for some fun art appreciation and also attention-catching and time-passing spotting car games. The Pelican Path Project provides some good information about the artistic pelicans.

For nature, try the Seabrook Wildlife Refuge & Park at 700 Red Bluff Rd. This 10+ acres, primitive nature site provides trails for bird watching and observing other wildlife in their natural habitat. Armand Bayou is very nearby, too.

For a day of good family fun, we love Pine Gully Park. It has a fun play area for the kids, easy hike trails, is seaside, has a fishing pier on Galveston Bay, includes a Karawankawa Indians camp site, wetlands, wooded area, nature trails, restrooms, picnic tables and BBQ grills. It's easy to access off of 146 at 605 Pine Gully Rd.

Seabrook is the third largest boating community in the US, and there are plenty of boat rides, dinner cruises and fishing charters.

It also includes many wonderful, family-friendly restaurants. Although our beautiful town was hit hard by Hurricane Ike and lost quite a few cherished establishments, many are back in business or new ones are claiming our respect. Our favorite is T-Bone Tom's---which is back in business!---but you can also venture down to Kemah and eat seaside at one of the Boardwalk restaurants. Seabrook Tourism has a good guide to other restaurants.

I always told visitors to stop by our fresh fish markets, but most were wiped out by Ike. A couple have opened, though, so exit 146 and drive down Waterfront to stop in. I noticed another Grand Opening sign today!

Seabrook is closer than Galveston---which is looking fantastic, by the way---and offers so much day trip fun for Houston families.