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Finally made it back down to Austin after 13 years, this time with my husband and kids. The last time I was in Austin was in 2006 and 2007 for SXSW – before John and I were married, and before we had kids. A lot has changed but the rolling hills and trees I remember seeing were just as beautiful. Since both kids were on spring break the same week, we headed out for a fun weekend of outdoor adventures, kid-friendly attractions, and lots of yummy eats in between.

Our weekend itinerary:

Travel Day

Picked Up Provisions at H-E-B

We always pick up snacks, beer and wine at H-E-B when we travel through Texas. I love it. Every H-E-B in each city has its own unique vibe and offerings and I just feel at home buying food for where we’re traveling to and staying at.

Checked in to our Airbnb– a beautiful 36 acre waterfront property in Volente on Lake Travis. The place was beautiful, secluded, comfortable, and had everything we needed. The water views from the home were amazing and the backyard was a dream. We loved being able to walk down to the dock to go fishing.

Day 1

Morning and Midday

Fueled up for the day with coffee and breakfast we made and went for a morning hike around the property’s trails and spent the rest of the day fishing with the kids on the dock.

 

Outfit Details: Shirt Jacket, Bike Shorts,  Chunky Sneakers

 

 

 

Evening

Ended the evening quesadillas for dinner and s’mores by the fire.

Day 2

Morning

Headed out for brunch at Hillside Farmacy. A historical landmark, with beautiful architecture and interiors, the food is just as beautiful as it is delicious. The building reminded me of a lot of the Victorian-era architecture homes in Capitol Hill and the Central District in Seattle. Reminiscent of the pharmacy it once was, but in a warm, friend’s-house sort of way. Small copper-topped and marble bistro tables surrounded by vintage pharmacy cabinetry – so much great design inspo!

Midday


Took a family stroll down South Congress Avenue, for unique shops, bustling eateries, and the lively vibe. Obligatory photos at the ‘Greetings From Austin’ mural, let the kids pick out penny candies at the circus-themed Big Top Candy Shop, and got our sweet fix at Amy’s Ice Creams . The Vietnamese Coffee flavor was my favorite.

Kendra Scott Flagship Store

Since it’s opening in 2018, I’ve been dying to check out the Kendra Scott Flagship Store on South Congress, and finally made it out here since we were here for the weekend. Even more design inspiration here! More than a retail shop, the Kendra Scott Flagship store is a total experience. I love when brands integrate consumer experiences in their retail strategy. You can find home design and decor inspiration here, shop her latest jewelry collections with custom creations, and even enjoy a frosé and baked goods at the Sips and Sweets cafe featuring pastries from Austin-based bakeries. The building used to be the old Hill Country Weavers, and the new architectural design preserves some of the historic, quaint charm.

 

Outfit details: Mock Neck Sweater.  Wide leg pants  Teva sandals

 

Evening

As the sun went down, we returned to our default outdoor venue/market/kids playground for live music at one of Austin’s kid-friendly outdoor concert venues at Central Market North Lamar . We frequent Central Market often because our kids love choosing what they want to eat from the market, while John and I get to grab our bottle of wine, beer, and charcuterie plate stuff, and enjoy the outdoor patio with live music while the kids play the playground.  Why aren’t there more establishments like this?

 

Day 3

Meal Highlight – La Tunitas 512

John and I will travel for food, real good food, especially good tacos. We’ve had our fair share of authentic Mexican food and street style tacos, and most recently babacoa. One thing I have not tried is birria and after eating this, I believe I’ve reached taco nirvana. Traditionally the meat is cooked in an earthen oven and served with a Chile broth. In Austin, the birria is done with brisket!

Photo by Sara Marie D’Eugenio

The only thing to order at La Tunita 512 is the birria de res tacos and most definitely that consommé. Also worth considering are the gringa tacos with melted cheese – omg!

So we ordered two platters full for take out and headed out to the Boardwalk at Lady Bird Lake for a picnic with the kids and our birria tacos.

Tip: La Tunita sells out fast. Following their IG feed, they’ll let you know what’s available. They only make a certain amount each day and once they’re out, they are out!  The wait varies depending on the day, but we went on a Saturday and the wait time was about 20 minutes.

 

Other family-friendly food places:

  • The Picnic, just one block from Zilker Park with 8-9 Austin food trailers including The Mighty Cone, Hey Cupcake!, Trudy’s, Acai Hut, Kebabalicious, Coat & Thai, Cannone Cucina Italiana, and Steel City Pops!
  • Salt Lick for bomb bbq and the large playscape for kids
  • Stubb’s (my favorite bbq sauce since 2006), love the venue too. Traveling with kids do the Gospel Brunch featuring family-style bbq, without kids plan to see a concert, and stay of beer, and bbq.

Other attractions with kids:

 

That’s it for my shortlist for an Austin weekend with kids. John and I are already planning a quick weekend trip back here without the kids. There are so many other spots I’d love to check out that are more date friendly for just us. What are your favorite Austin recommendations for food, culture and nature?  Tell me in the comments!

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I get eager as March approaches as I can feel spring just around the corner.  I love the renewal and rebirth of nature. As a family, this is our first spring season in Texas and we are seeing signs of spring earlier than we are used to from springtime in the Pacific NW.   I’ve always dreamed of having lots of yard space to grow a garden for flowers, trees, vegetables and herbs, and yard space for the kids to play.  Now that we have the yard space at our Texas home, it was time to make it all happen.  We spent the past couple of weekends starting a new gardening project that involved installing raised garden beds, selecting seeds and fruit trees, and getting the seeds and starts in the soil.  I would eventually love to have a greenhouse, but I’ll save that goal for a later time and focus on starting small with raised beds and a few fruit trees.  We planned and plotted the northern portion of our property that receives full sun to place our garden.

Our gardening project consisted of three phases over two weekends:

  1. Phase One: Inspiration, planning and and plotting
  2. Phase Two: Select trees, seeds and space, and install raised beds
  3. Phase Three: Add soil, sow the seeds, plant the starts

Phase 1: The Inspiration

We recently returned from our first trip to Waco and the Magnolia Silos and what a better time to visit and get a burst of inspiration as we were in the beginning stages of our gardening project.  The gardens outside of the Seed and Supply store truly inspired me to get my garden dream going and #gardengoals accomplished.

Not to mention, reading up on my Magnolia Journal with a cup of coffee led to me plot out where this garden would go and what would go in it.  I’m still not sure how all this will turn out, but I will give it a try and enjoy the process and hopefully be rewarded with a beautiful harvest.

Early morning reading and inspiration to start a garden (January 2018)

 

 

 

First rough sketch of where the raised beds and trees will go (February 2018)

 

Phase 2: Tree and Seed Selection

We got our fruit trees from Guerin Nursery in Granbury. This is a great local nursery that carries many native plants and varieties of annuals and perennials, with the largest selection of fruit and flowering trees. We knew we wanted apple trees and peach trees for their spring blossoms and of course for their fruit! We were thrilled to find Honeycrisp Apples (our favorite) and Fuji Apples.  We let the boys each pick out their own trees. For seeds, Eden Brothers offers one of the largest seed and flower bulb assortment available in the United States from heirloom, rare and hard to find flower seeds, vegetable seeds and herb seeds.

Nursery with the boys to pick out fruit trees that will be planted in the garden (February)

 

Seeds I selected, thanks to Joanna Gaines’ inspiration from her Garden Shed episode on Fixer Upper: Hyacinth Beans, Sweet Peas, Zinnia, and Wild Flower seeds

Vegetable and herb seeds for John’s salsa garden

 

3L x 6W ft cedar wood raised beds installed by John with Baron’s help :). (March)

 

Adding a water seal on the exterior to protect the wood from the outdoor elements

Lining the interior of the beds with landscape fabric to prevent weeds from growing into the soil and plants

 

Phase 3: Add potting soil, sow seeds and plant starts

I wanted to involve the kids as much as possible in the process of planning and creating our new garden.  They had fun choosing the fruit trees at the local nursery that would be planted in the ground, along with what types of fruit and vegetables they wanted to grow.  Jonah chose strawberries and Baron chose carrots!  The boys will have their own dedicated garden bed that they will tend to, while John and I will share three garden beds dedicated to growing ingredients for his salsa garden and my very own cut flower garden.

Jonah’s strawberry starts

Jonah and Baron sowing their first seeds in their garden bed

Jonah’s sweet pea seeds

Baron’s hyacinth bean seed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now we wait for the grass and trees to turn green and bloom again, and let Mother Nature take its course.  I can’t wait to see how everyone’s gardens will grow: my cut flower garden, John’s salsa garden, and the boys’ fruit and vegetable garden. My hope is that gardening with our kids teaches them to appreciate nature, the virtue of patience, and to celebrate wonder. The past weekend with my little gardeners, we planted the seeds of hope—which is what a seed is and what a garden is—a promise of what will come.