Kalahari Resort-Round Rock

We tried something new for Christmas vacation this year and decided to book a few nights at the indoor water park, Kalahari. The park is advertised as the largest indoor water park and it’s not too far away from us, about 2.5 hours. It’s located in Round Rock, TX which is just outside of Austin. On the day of departure we loaded up the car and the boys and headed off on our little adventure.

To be completely honest I didn’t have very high expectations, I am not a water park fan. Kalahari completely changed my mind, I absolutely loved it! More importantly, our boys loved it too!

We were a little nervous that there wouldn’t be many activities for the littles but half the park was designed just for them. My toddler went down so many slides, floated the lazy river, and enjoyed all the water table activities with his baby brother. We spent hours splashing around and playing in the water. I do have to say it was a tad bit chilly but we acclimated quickly. The water is kept at 84* but good ole Texas was having some pretty cold weather and we could tell while in the park. Anytime the boys seemed chilly we just hopped in the giant hot tub for a few minutes. Overall it wasn’t too bad.

The water park is the resorts biggest attraction but it also has an enormous arcade and adventure park with rides and activities such as rock climbing, bowling, escape rooms and several other things. We spent a good amount of time in the adventure park playing kid friendly games with our toddler. He’s never been to an arcade and absolutely loved all the games. He was even able to pick some pretty cool prizes with all the tickets we won.

Kalahari also has several resultants and shops which we took full advantage of. Before we left I followed the advice of my fellow travelers and we stopped at the store to pick up snacks and easy meals for the kids. Our room had a microwave and fridge so we were able to do simple breakfasts and lunches in the room. We did however grab pizza at the Italian restaurant, cocktails at the lounge, coffee and desserts at the cafe, and on our last night we had dinner at the resorts burger place. The food was pretty good, priced as you would expected for a resort. I’d definitely eat there again, it was super convenient and there were quite a few restaurants to choose from.

This place had any and everything you could possibly need to have a wonderful family vacation. Since it was the holiday season the resort was decked out in beautiful Christmas decor and made our trip that much more magical. I would definitely recommend Kalahari Resort to anyone looking for a family vacation. As a matter of fact, I’m already planning next years trip!

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Pre-Christmas Vacation

Every year for the past 3 years we’ve been celebrating the holidays in our favorite little tiny Texas town, Gruene. We meet up with our friends and enjoy the shops, food, and holiday festivities. The kiddos take pictures with Santa and the parents enjoy each others company. We sip, we shop and we end the evening by watching Santa ride in to town and light up the Christmas lights.

If you’ve never been to Gruene, I highly suggest you check it out. It’s a small little town right by New Braunfels. It’s famous for Gruene Hall which has hosted numerous famous musicians over the years. Since having children we go we rent an Air B&B. Before kiddos we stayed at Gruene River Inn, which is perfect for couples (I honestly miss staying there!). We get garlic fries at Mozies, blackberry wine at The Grapevine and listen to live music at Gruene Grove. If you need tips or advice about things to do and see in Gruene, just ask! We literally love everything place there!

This was the first year we traveled with two little ones and overall, they did fabulous! They napped in the car, enjoyed snacks at Buc-ee’s and were minimally fussy.

Our little pre-Christmas vacation made me so excited for the future and all the adventures we will plan.

We can’t wait to take our sweet boys on many more adventures!

Up next Kalahari Resort in Round Rock, TX ! We can’t wait!

Merry Christmas 🎄!

Beach Bound with the Boys

Our first family of four trip was a success! 4 1/2 hours on the road and 3 days at the beach seemed a little daunting but we all survived and had a great time.

We decided to stick rather close to home and adventure down to Corpus Christi. I know Texas beaches get a bad rap but we visited last year and found the perfect little condo on the beach. The water was much clearer than good old Galveston and we were steps away from the ocean.

I have to admit I was nervous about taking our 3 month old on a 4 1/2 hour road trip but he did amazingly well. We stopped frequently, I occasionally had to crawled in to the backseat to entertain the boys but it all worked out.

Pro Tip: stop frequently, don’t rush the trip, provide snacks and entertainment

Our second concern was taking a 3 month old and a toddler to the beach. How long would they last? How do we protect them from the heat? The sun? Well, we figured that one out too! We lathered them up with sunscreen and threw on protective swim wear. We decided to just stay in the beach for about 90 minutes at a time, which was pretty much all the boys could really handle. We also found a company that you could rent beach gear from. They came at 8:00AM to set up a canopy and beach chairs. It worked out perfectly. All we had to carry down yo the beach were toys, towels, and the babies. We spent mornings and afternoons splashing in the waves, napping in the beach, and building sand castles for little O to knock down 🙂

Pro Tip: Rent beach equipment, it might cost a little more but it’s so worth it! You have more time to enjoy with your kiddos and you don’t have to worry about carrying all the extra junk to the beach.

Overall we had a pretty great time. Baby L enjoyed his first beach vacation and Little O soaked up the sun and sand.

I’m not ready for summer to be over, not even a little bit. After spending so much quality time with my littles I am devastated to return to work, especially given the circumstances this year. The passion and drive I once had for my careers is minimal in comparison to the passion I have for my little boys. Some days I dream about just staying home with my boys but I have so many great adventures and plans in the works for this upcoming year. I pray my boys stay happy and healthy and I make it through this school year to enjoy our next greatest adventure.

Stay turned, I’m booking our Christmas vacation as we speak 💙 🎄

Another Summer in the Books

Summer is my absolute favorite time of the year. I work exponentially hard throughout the school year so I can relax and enjoy my vacations, which is exactly what we did this year.

From Mexico to the Texas coast, we had quite a few adventures with our little man in tow.

Corpus Christi

After Mexico we decided venture somewhere a little more local. Usually we enjoy South Padre Island in the summer but we decided to try our luck in Corpus Christi. I’ve heard good and bad things about CC and honesty, we enjoyed our trip and we will definitely be back. I found a great little beachfront Air B&B that we really loved. The only bummer was all the rain! But, even with the torrential down pours, we were able to enjoy the beach and explore the Corpus Christi Museum off Science.

Schlitterbahn New Braunfels

We booked a trip to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels early in the spring and honestly, I was only slightly looking forward to it. I did my research and found a ton of toddler activities throughout the parks so I knew there would plenty for our little water baby to enjoy. I on the other hand, am not a fan of water parks. We decided to stay in a little cabin located in the park and the location was great but other than that, I was unimpressed. I think we will save water parks for when baby O gets just a little bit older.

We did however have a pretty good little road trip and stopped at our favorite restaurant in Bastrop, Maxine’s on Main (check it out if you’re every there!)

Galveston

Our final trip of the season was just this past weekend. We decided to join our friends on a little last-minute getaway to Galveston. Of course, it once again rained, but we were still able to soak up the sun, play in the sand, and enjoy our time together.

Unfortunately our sweet little summer is coming to an end but don’t worry, we already have lots of adventures planned for the fall!!!

Baby O’s First Big Trip

They say that traveling is good for the body, mind, and soul and I overwhelmingly agree. We knew from the start that we wanted to instill our love of travel and adventure into our children and in order to do so we started right away. At 6 months baby O was on a 14 hour road trip to Colorado. At 12 months another mini road trip to see Santa. And at 18 months, we decided to take baby O on his first international vacation to Mexico.

The unpredictability of traveling with a little one had me not only apprehensive but very anxious. So many unknowns, would he be okay? Fussy? Sleepy? Throw a fit? I was pretty confident in my ability to calm him down in any situation so we packed up and headed to Mexico with a dozen of our favorite people.

When I planned this international family vacation to celebrate our 5 year anniversary, I wasn’t anticipating a pandemic and I was completely unaware of how traveling with a toddler would be. Overall I was pleasantly surprised! Our first big vacation with our little one was a complete success! 1800+ miles away from home, 4+ hours on a plane, and zero meltdowns; he did so well!

Here are a few things I learned on this trip:

  • When traveling with a baby/toddler:
    • Pack snacks ! Not just for the airplane but for the resort/hotel as well. Baby O eats a lot and frequently. Snack are a necessity at all times of the day!
    • Keep them entertained. Whether your little one needs screen time, toys, or books, pack them all!
    • We took advantage of baby O being under 2 and he sat in our laps on the plane. Next time he will definitely get his own seat.
    • If possible, book the plane ride during baby’s nap schedule. Baby O slept on the plane both ways!
    • Pack extra necessities such as sunscreen and diapers. We packed enough but if we needed them, they were expensive at the resort.
    • When traveling to Mexico for the summer stay on the pacific side. The other side is swamped with seaweed from May to September. If I would have known this in advance I would have booked Puerto Vallarta instead of the Riviera Maya area.
    • Book a local photographer for family photos! It was inexpensive and easy to do.

We couldn’t have asked for a better first big trip with baby O. We soaked up the sun, enjoyed family time, and were able to watch our sweet boy enjoy vacation as much as we do.