Barton Creek

Our family recently returned from a three-day trip to Austin. I reserved a family holiday package at the Barton Creek Resort as a surprise to Scott and the children, hoping that we could spend some time together relaxing after the Christmas madness was over. We left Dallas for Austin on Monday and returned Wednesday afternoon. Below is a stock photo from Google images of the resort. The weather was not this pretty while we were there to get such a clear shot of the main building.

We took our first visit to Austin this past July, when we enjoyed a nice weekend away with our friends John and Svetlana at John's parents' home in Austin. Austin seems like such a cool city with a rich history and fun vibe that it should merit several trips for our family per year, especially considering it is a mere three to four hour drive from Dallas.

Below is a view of the golf course on the resort property decorated with Christmas lights. The lights were beautiful and the view of the valley was stunning though my photo doesn't do it justice. In the next photo you can see the large Christmas tree on the property overlooking the terrace leading to the hills of the Barton Creek valley.

Unfortunately the weather was cloudy and overcast for most of our visit, so we amused ourselves with indoor activities. Not that we would have spent time golfing anyway, but my photos would have been a lot prettier if the clouds had not been there!

On Tuesday we spent the afternoon downtown at the Museum of Texas State History. Scott and I were both pleasantly surprised by the richness of the museum and I thought it was fun to learn about our state's history. Below is a shot of the children in front of the huge Texas star at the entrance to the museum.

And a close up of the "funny face" that John *always* makes when I ask for a pose for a photo! UGH!

Photography was not permitted in the museum exhibits but I was allowed to snap some photos outside of the main area. As I stated earlier the museum was very interesting and well-done, though the Texas flair of being proud of all things Texas was clearly predominant throughout. Check out the quote below.

And this is a small portion of the items for sale in the museum gift shop. Which is most cocky? - "Don't Mess with Texas!", "You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.." or "You can Take Me Out of Texas but you Can't Take the Texas out of Me!" Seriously, I know for a fact that they don't have plaques like this in gift shops in Florida!

We enjoyed two dinners out at Texas-style restaurants in Austin. One night of barbeque and one night of Tex-Mex. Though I admit now to feeling rather puffy after eating too much good food, the meals were delicious! Smoked sausage, mac and cheese, and homemade potato salad at County Line BBQ, and grilled veggie stuffed tacos at Chuy's Hula Hut...yum. And as always the kids (and Scott) were cooperative for photos...or not...

Below I think that Amelia looks adorable as ever.

And John does what he always does for my photos. I love the boy but I have to say he is a pistol at times.

And like father like son. I mean, honestly, I WONDER where John gets it?!? (sarcasm implied!)

A highlight for me was our turn on the ice skating rink. As part of their holiday celebration the resort created an enclosed outdoor ice-skating rink complete with twinking lights and an indoor fireplace. The atmosphere was quite festive. Amelia had been ice skating once before and she was very excited about this opportunity, and this was John's first time on ice skates. The children were fantastic and really enjoyed our time on the ice skating rink. Below is John before his first skate.

Amelia on the ice during one of her first laps around the rink.

Later when Amelia was more confident on the ice.

Below is a shot of Scott and John together enjoying their time on the rink. Scott was a good sport and stayed on skates for more than a half hour, coaching John through his first moments on the ice. On one of his first laps around the rink I caught up to Scott to see how he was doing. His response: "I'm from Florida for a reason. I'm not really meant to do this!".

Below is a shot of the rink. John and I are skating together on the right. I am wearing the grey coat and John is in the green hoodie.

And a mandatory shot of the children and me outside of the rink. Since I am normally the family photographer and am not in shots often, I sometimes mandate that I am included just to document that I too was there.

This trip was lots of fun and I am glad the we spent a few days away after Christmas!