McKinney Falls

This weekend S had a speaking engagement in Dallas. So since for the past several weeks of summer, 94% of my day has been spent asking myself  “How do I keep these kids fed and entertained in Houston” I decided to switch it up a bit and ask myself “How do I keep these kids fed and entertained in Austin”. My original plan was to explore the Barton Greenbelt or Barton Springs or Barton Creek Park but I couldn’t ever get a straightforward recommendation for exactly where to go, how to park and what to expect (and what to even call it). Lots of sometimes there’s water and sometimes there’s not and you wanna look for the giant tree with the rope swing, not the smaller tree with the rope swing.  So at first I said I’d wing it and 4 seconds later I screamed I CAN’T LIVE LIKE THIS and we ended up at McKinney Falls State Park. I knew where it was. I knew it was beautiful. And I trust Texas State Parks system with my life.

The trip was a quick one, but we managed to squeeze in a visit to Home Slice and be reminded that it’s still the best pepperoni pizza I’ve ever eaten. The following day we visited an old college friend of mine and she and her husband made brunch for us. Once we were done and the kids and husband were occupied by whatever electronic device, we got to spend a good 2 hours drinking mimosas and listening to old Luther Vandross records while flipping through what has to be THE most embarrassing collection of photos of my lifetime. I would have been totally fine never recalling my tinted yellow spectacle/cowrie shell choker days, but there was something so special about seeing the crazy stuff we got into together and just how different our lives and our wardrobe are today.

So this was our second Mama/Sons trip to Austin and I think it might be a thing we do regularly. If any of you have some cool spots (with GPS coordinates) to suggest, please share :).