Things to Do (Near) Austin: Hyatt Lost Pines.

Y'all. This is likely my new favorite staycation getaway spot! I'd been to Hyatt Lost Pines once before, years before, but just for the day to hang out with some friends who were visiting the area. This time, my in-laws booked a two-night stay there, and so naturally we joined them for all of the fun!

One of the biggest draws at Hyatt Lost Pines is the lazy river and recreational water areas (pools, splash pads, etc!), which is really the extent of what we did the first time I went. Sure enough, that was one of the kid's favorite parts. Even Jack, who is notoriously unimpressed with most everything, really, really enjoyed himself. Apparently, chill-out mode is Jack's favorite mode. Who knew?

Another great thing that Lost Pines offers is arts and crafts periods for the kids, usually twice a day. We took advantage of two of these craft offerings while there, and Ava made both an awesome backpack, and the kids made some great Father's Day gifts. Two birds, one stone, amiright?

...not to mention, the animals. My kids are both major animal lovers, so the variety of animals we got to see/ride/enjoy was fantastic!

 Yes, I did almost fall off that first Longhorn. Oops. 

One of the things that I had never seen before but immediately knew I would love and just had to ride were the baby-seat bikes (no, that's clearly not the official name. Anyone know what these seats are called?). So. Awesome.

The hayrides at sunset weren't too bad, either ;) And their signature s'mores? YES PLEASE.

But the best part of all? The amazing memories we made as a family this Father's Day weekend, and especially those that Ava is making with her grandma and grandpa. Sure, Jack adores them too, but she's at an age where these memories will stay with her for a lifetime! I can't wait to go back for one last hoorah before school starts!

Things to Do in Austin: Our Sojourn into SoCo.

I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the Public Breastfeeding Awareness Project back in June (another post with more about that later!), which brought us down to South Congress. It's not that far in the scheme of things - like a 25 minute drive, tops - but still, we're not in that area all that often, and so we decided to make an entire day of it, crossing off items from our Austin Bucket List!

After the photo shoot, which took place behind Home Slice Pizza, we decided what better way to start our tour of South Austin than to stop into the pizza place itself! I had actually never eaten at Home Slice, but was pleasantly surprised by how kid-friendly it was! They even brought out some pizza dough for the kids to work while waiting on our slices! They LOVED it! They were pretty stoked about the pizza, too ;)

Seeing as how it was within sight distance, we then headed over to the 'I Love You So Much' mural - an Austin favorite!

Afterwards, we decided that since we were close by, that we'd head over to the 'Greetings From Austin' mural on S. 1st and Annie St. and grab a picture in front of it. I've always wanted to do this, so this was super fun!

Turns out South Austin is pretty cool ;)

Things to Do in Austin: Hope Outdoor Gallery.

Hope Outdoor Gallery is absolutely an Austin institution. From the unconventional display of graffiti art, to the inevitable panhandlers hanging about the area, to the panoramic views of downtown from Baylor Street, it's hard to not feel like you're "Keeping Austin Weird" while visiting. Here are some of our favorite pictures from our visit (poor Jack Jack slept through the entire thing...):

Hope Outdoor Gallery can be found at 1012 Baylor Street, Austin, TX  78703.

Summer of the Birds.

Back in late Spring, we noticed the beginnings of a nest on our back porch light. My first reaction, admittedly, was to roll my eyes at the inevitable mounds of bird crap I'd be facing, but the nest was so well-built and the kids were so excited, I decided to embrace it. Thank goodness I did, too, because we're currently on our second litter of five babies! It's been one hands-on science and nature project around here this summer!