Austin Ice Cream Festival, Playdates & Stubb’s Gospel Brunch

We started off Saturday with a quick stop at Torchy’s Tacos (UT location this time) – see previous blog post.  We are loving the tacos.

Activity 76: Cool off in the summer heat at the Austin Ice Cream Festival

And then we head off to the Austin Ice Cream Festival at Waterloo Park.  We arrived early attempting to beat the heat, but did not succeed.  We enjoyed lots of tasty ice cream samples, a few kiddie rides, and Alex even got balloon giraffe named Henry (I named him Henry ).  Not sure we’ll be going back to the festival in the future, but sometimes it’s just nice to say “we did that!”.

   

Saturday evening, Alex and I invited some new mommy and kid friends over for pizza and movie night.  About half way through the movie, the kids got their second wind and spent the rest of the evening playing tackle ball and tee ball in our backyard in the warm summer air.   It was wonderful.

Activity 6: Stuff your faces at Stubb’s Gospel Brunch

Aunt Lu joined us on our outing to Stubb’s Gospel Brunch on Sunday.  We were seated on the upper floor near the bar, almost looking down over the stage.   The music started about 30 minutes after we sat down and boy was it lively.  It was quite loud, but even Alex got to swaying and clapping and really enjoyed watching the band up close.

The food was very good – especially the spinach enchiladas, queso migas and crispy bacon.   Funny enough I don’t think any of us cared for the BBQ too much, and we would definitely not recommend the dessert.  But I do think we will be going back, perhaps requesting a quieter seating area.  Any visitors coming out our way soon? 

Here’s a cute pic I took of Alex this week:

Mommy Date, More Breakfast Tacos & Liz Carpenter Fountain

What a fun weekend!

After a productive morning of swim lessons and (boring) furniture shopping, Alex and I went on a movie date to see Kung Fu Panda 2.  The movie was a bit intense in parts for such young eyes, but Alex did well in his seat and was a perfect gentleman sharing his popcorn and slurpee with me.  

Sunday morning brought a visit south to Torchy’s Tacos in the South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery.  First off, the “trailer park” isn’t as unappealing as it may sound.  The first (yes, first) one we visited on Saturday was basically a nice lot we ample parking, matching picnic benches, and an indoor area with tables, restrooms, and fans.  Apparently you can have parties here.  Now the food options are basically spiffied-up versions of food trucks – some quite gourmet sounding.  I don’t know if this is a new trend or has been going for a while, but apparently there are quite a few of these “parks” in Austin.  Now to the tacos…  Amazing!  We tried a small variety of tacos, some breakfast, some regular.  It was grub.  We joked about stopping by again for lunch later that day.  I highly recommend the Migas breakfast taco, Michael loved the “Democrat” – a barbacoa beef taco, and Alex was quite content with his bacon, egg, and cheese taco.  Definitely better than Rudy’s breakfast options (see last week’s post), but also 18 miles further away.  We may need to move south… 

Following the taco feast, we headed to Liz Carpenter Fountain.

Activity 16: Get soaked at the Liz Carpenter Fountain at Butler Park

The Liz Carpenter Fountain is in Butler Park (formerly Town Lake Park), which is right next to Lady Bird Lake. There is a gorgeous view of the downtown skyline and the lake from the fountain area.  Alex had a fun time running through the fountain and soaking up the sun.

The day was getting pretty warm as we finished up at the fountain.  Michael suggested that we get some snow cones before heading home.  Great idea!  Snow cones or shaved ice are pretty popular out here.  There are “ice cream trucks” and entire free-standing businesses devoted to shaved ice.  This is how we happened upon our second “trailer park” of the day, enjoying shaved ice at Frigid Froggy’s Shaved Ice on South Congress.  Michael went for the classic cherry cola ice, while Alex was more adventurous with a “Spiderman” ice – blue raspberry coconut with cherry.  Both were tasty.  I tried a Sweet Tea Slush which was a delightfully refreshing drink (no spoon required) and allowed me to more closely monitor the food dye explosion that Alex was wielding.  Haha!

Hope your week was as fun and tasty as ours!

Breakfast Tacos & Barton Springs (Activities 13 & 22)

And we’re off on Alex’s 99 in 2 !! Activity 13: Pick up breakfast tacos and spend a morning and your favorite park We started off our Saturday loading up on Rudy’s breakfast tacos and heading to one of our favorite Austin parks (Zilker) for some morning playground time. First off, Rudy’s rocks. Not only do they have great BBQ, but their breakfast tacos are delish too! We may be repeating this activity in the future as we still have more tacos and parks to check out in the area. We have been to Zilker several times before, but today we scored THE best parking spot and a lunch table. It probably didn’t hurt that we rolled in before 10am and beat the crowds. Here is some photographic evidence of us grabbing some grub at Rudy’s and Alex inhaling his taco pre-playground time: Activity 22: Swim at Barton Springs Once we got all hot playing in the morning sun, we headed over to Barton Springs for some swimming. Barton Springs is actually in Zilker Park. Now, momma didn’t really do much research on this before we headed in, but to find out more go here. Apparently the spring is, as the cashier informed us, “69 degrees year round. ” Well. I was certainly glad that we came on a hot day, as that gave us a fighting chance to warm up after our refreshing dip in the spring. The “pool” is a bit weird – the floor is fairly slimy and slippery in some places, which made walking through the water while carrying a toddler a bit hazardous. Luckily, there was a shallow end where Alex could walkabout on his own. There are grassy areas along both sides of the spring where we’ve seen hundreds of people laying out basking in the warm Austin sun – it wasn’t quite that crowded during our pre-noon excursion.

This is a photo of Barton Springs as we saw it:

Here is (a tiny) Michael and Alex on the “shore” near the shallow end:

Alex and momma staying cool in the pool (brrr!):

And Michael Phelps Whisman even dove off of the popular springboard:

So, we are off to a pretty good start to Alex’s 99 in 2. Stay cool! -The Whismans

Alex’s 99 in 2

Though it seems so very far away, Alex will be starting kindergarten in just over 2 years from now.  I happened upon this great list of activities to do with preschoolers in Austin before Kindergarten.  What a wonderful way to get acquainted with all that Austin has to offer!

Below is the list, which was originally published in January of 2009 and shared recently by Nicole at LiveMom.  Nicole had already identified the activities that were, for one reason or another, made obsolete. Thanks Nicole! 

What we have here is a good old-fashioned challenge: 99 Austin-based activities to do with Alex in 2 years. 

I will need to find replacement activities for the 4 that are no longer, but that’s easy enough to do in Austin.

We’ll keep you posted on our progress.  Get Ready…Set…Go!

 

 

99 Things To Do With Your Preschooler in Austin Before Kindergarten

1. Hike to the top of Enchanted Rock
2. Pick strawberries at Sweet Berry Farm
3. Go to a UT game (try soccer, basketball, or baseball if you don’t want to shell out the dough for a football ticket)
4. Cool off at Hamilton Pool
5. Watch the bats
6. Stuff your faces at Stubb’s Gospel Brunch
7. Take in a free show during SXSW
8. Canoe on Ladybird Lake
9. Take bluebonnet photos at the Wildflower Center
10. Stomping in puddles after (or during) a rare rainstorm
11. Fantasize about in-state tuition at Explore UT
12. Buy local – plants, that is – at the kid-friendly Barton Springs Nursery (check out the birds!)
13. Pick up breakfast tacos and spend a morning and your favorite park
14. Ride a pony at Kiddie Acres
15. Split a snow cone at the stand outside Barton Springs
16. Get soaked at the Liz Carpenter Fountain at Butler Park
17. Skipping rocks in Shoal Creek
18. Broaden your literary horizons at the Texas Book Festival
19. Order a birthday cake from Amy’s Ice Cream
20. Have cobbler at the Salt Lick
21. Create at Maker Faire* (location rotates)
22. Swim at Barton Springs
23. Go to the Kite Festival
24. Introduce your kid/s to a new vegetable at Boggy Creek Farm
25. Catch a movie at Deep Eddy Pool during the summer
26. Shake your booty during a Biscuit Brothers concert at Central Market
27. Join the dance party during Ms. Staci’s (every other) Friday storytimes at Family Connections
28. Experience the “spaghetti” sculpture outside of the Blanton Museum of Art* (although the Museum still exists and has some great storytimes to check out, the spaghetti structure is no longer on display)
29. Sit back and listen at a library storytime
30. Take a family photo in front of the Steve Ray Vaughan statue on the south side of Lady Bird Lake, close to the Long Center
31. Buy some boots or a hat from Callahan’s
32. Eat at Mr. Natural
33. Learning about Texas wildlife – now and centuries ago – at the Texas Memorial Museum (do note that the Museum is closed until October 2011 for renovations)
34. Feel the sand between your toes in the Dino Pit at the Austin Science & Nature Center
35. Going to a Round Rock Express baseball game
36. Getting lost minutes from downtown on the grounds of the Laguna Gloria Museum
37. Ice skate at Chaparral Ice in Northcross
38. Have a picnic with the peacocks at Mayfield Park
39. Fly the Texas flag on March 2 – Texas Independence Day
40. Dangle your bare feet in the water after a walk along the Greenbelt
41. Bring a picnic lunch and listen to local music during Music on the Plaza on the grounds of City Hall
42. Feed the ducks at Lou Neff Point
43. Exhale during Free Day of Yoga
44. Retrieving hail from your lawn after one of those bizarre spring storms
45. Take in some culture during Austin Museum Day
46. Climb on the cows at the Arboretum
47. Visit the petting zoo at the Austin Zoo & Animal Sanctuary
48. Pick out plants together at Barton Springs Nursery or the Natural Gardener
49. Camp at Inks Lake
50. Watching the owner of Rootin’ Ridge make yet another wooden toy
51. Sit at the counter and order lunch at Nau’s Drugstore
52. Go exploring at McKinney Falls State Park
53. Imagine life before Tivo at Pioneer Farms
54. Take a cruise without packing a suitcase with Capital Cruise
55. Make a day of it at the Texas Parks & Wildlife Expo* (event was cancelled due to budget constraints)
56. Take a visitor from out of town on an Austin Duck Tour
57. Stop to smell the roses at the Zilker Botanical Gardens
58. Teach your child how to Keep Austin Weird by buying one item at BookPeople, Waterloo Records, and Over the Rainbow
59. Take a walk on the Hike and Bike Trail around Lady Bird Lake
60. Get photos from the photo booth at Phil’s Ice House
61. Take a tour of the Capitol
62. Exposing your charge to some live music at a daytime Waterloo in-store performance
63. Take a spin at Playland Skate Center
64. Bake cookies for your neighbors
65. Listen to Joe McDermott play free at Pottery Barn Kids in Barton Creek Mall
66. Go to First Night Austin* (organization which put on the event dissolved)
67. Taste at least five flavors before making a decision on what to get at Teo Gelato
68. Miniature golf at Peter Pan
69. Ride the Zilker Zephyr
70. Take the bus to Symphony Square’s Children’s Day Art Park during the summer
71. Spin yourself dizzy under the Zilker Tree during the holidays
72. Imagine the roar of the dinosaurs at the Hartmann Prehistoric Garden
73. Make wishes at the fountain at Mandola’s in the Triangle
74. Take in some history at the LBJ Library & Museum
75. See if your little one can make it all the way up to the top of Mt. Bonnell
76. Cool off in the summer heat at the Austin Ice Cream Festival
77. Stay up a bit past bedtime dancing at Blues on the Green
78. Enjoy an afternoon treat, sunshine, and fresh air at Mozart’s Coffee Roasters
79. Volunteering at the food pantry at the Capital Area Food Bank
80. Take him/her with you to vote!
81. Find your own secret spot to watch the 4th of July fireworks
82. Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at the Mexican American Cultural Center
83. Meet some friends for afternoon fun, food and music at the Triangle Farmers Market
84. On a hot summer day, stopping for some frozen custard at Sandy’s on Barton Springs
85. Running, walking, strolling, or people watching during one of Austin’s many 5ks
86. Buy some Kerbey Lane pancake mix and whip up a batch as a family
87. Get a bird’s eye view of Austin from atop the UT Tower
88. Take in a free summer performance at the Zilker Hillside Theater
89. Wear shorts in January!
90. Get on your boots and head to Rodeo Austin
91. See how many celebrities you can recognize in the “museum” at the Broken Spoke
92. Go to First Thursday on South Congress
93. Volunteer for a park project during It’s My Park! Day
94. Draw on the tables (OK, the paper covering the tables) at Hoover’s on Manor Road
95. Celebrate the Chinese New Year at Chinatown on North Lamar
96. Recall your favorite scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding at the Texas Greek Festival
97. Finally visit the Barsana Dham during the Mela Fair (that temple-like building on the way to the Salt Lick)
98. Head to Rosie’s for some yummy tamales during the holidays
99. Enjoy all the Austin Powwow & American Indian Heritage Festival has to offer