Free Fun in Austin

This is a fun blog with updates several times each week!

Alice in Wonderland Coming Soon!

The Scottish Rite Theater will be presenting "Alice in Wonderland" February 6-March 28. If you haven't been to this downtown venue, it is reminiscent of an old high school auditorium. There isn't a bad seat, and the shows are fast-paced and perfectly timed for little ones. My family always has a great time, and parking is free adjacent to the theater.

Tickets are $10/adult, $8/child 1-11 years, $4 children under 1 year.

http://www.srct.org/

~Leslie

Promise Pizza

Promise Pizza, located in Round Rock is now accepting competitor's coupons and will honor all excluding Little Ceasar's. Promise Pizza uses organic products and even offers gluten-free options for people. Check them out. It may be a little drive for you, but it's worth it!

Promise Pizza

-Janie

Jungle Java

Jungle Java (located in Round Rock) is a great way to way to get some exercise on chilly days (or hot days, or any day!).

http://www.junglejavaplay.com/

Winter Hours are:

Monday - Friday: 10 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m.- 8 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Jungle Java is offering a "Recession Buster" deal until May--admission for all children all day Thursday is just $3.

Olivia is on the zip line, Iris waiting for her turn!

Super slides!
Jungle Java has a special area for young children like Emma!

Woof--the swinging punching bags can bowl you over Asa!

Olivia, Iris, and Isaac in the treehouse!

37th Street Lights

If you want to take in some Austin funk, check out 37th Street east of Guadalupe this year. This isn't your average street of carefully adorned homes--there are vintage decorations and lights, lights in cars and maybe a motorcycle or two, and composed exhibits, such as "Barbie Meets Aliens". Note that this isn't far from Central Market, Phil's Icehouse, and is just north of UT.

~Leslie

Giant Magical Tree in Cedar Park

A giant oak tree awaits your family in Cedar Park. Standing under it each year is magical for my children--the tree is a giant umbrella of 50,000 clear lights and is billed as the largest oak in Cedar Park.

(Tree at top left)

Pack a snack and some hot chocolate and dance in the dark under this awesome tree located at: Heritage Oak Park, 875 Quest Parkway in Cedar Park. To get there, take 183 to Discovery Blvd (by Walgreens in Cedar Park, just south of 1431), make a left onto Quest Blvd. Drive past the tree on the left (the park is really a big traffic island), and make a left into the post office parking lot. Park and walk over to the tree. There is no charge for this event. Often times, there are just one or two families stopping by to check out the tree, so the experience is quite solemn--a great way to escape the hustle and bustle this time of year.

~Leslie

Charlotte's Web Coming to Canyon Ridge Middle School in Leander ISD!

On May 28th and 29th, CRMS Drama Department in conjunction with CRMS Choir (with special permission from Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois) will perform Charlotte's Web The Musical by Joseph Robinette and Charles Strouse. Performances will begin at 6:30 PM in the cafetorium. Pre-show tickets will go on sale May 18th for $5 and may be purchased from Ms. Cooper (theater director). We look forward to seeing you there as we bring to life the story of two very unlikely friends overcoming the odds together, with a little help from their barn animal friends!

Canyon Ridge Middle School
12601 Country Trails Lane Austin, TX 78732
(512) 434-7550
Fax (512) 434-7555

Mueller Lake Park

We stumbled on to a lovely park a few Saturdays ago when we took the kids "into town" to the Austin Farmer's Market. Mueller Lake Park is situated in the new Mueller Austin development directly behind Dell Children's Hospital. The green space is amazing and the park is a breath of fresh air with the latest in play equipment, playground is fully fenced, has great restrooms adjacent to the playground, walking trails [read tricycle path] and picnic spaces.

Our kids had a blast and didn't want to leave--Leslie and I didn't want to, either!

A view of Mueller Lake

They have a really nice restroom facilities [read--no port-a-potties here!]

Walking trail....

Asa enjoying the swings....

Olivia loves to climb and hang upside down!

Isaac enjoyed the spinning "cup"

Iris had a great time swinging on the large saucer swing. Great balancing, Iris!

Maureen Haskell, Storyteller!

Family Hour on Sunday, March 15th
10:30-11:30 am at Ruta Maya
“BE GROOVY, BE GREEN!”
Making the World more Eco and Friendly
One Story at a Time!

MAUREEN HASKELL, ACCOMPLISHED STORYTELLER WILL SHARE HER STORIES ABOUT LANELLE –“the coolest cactus lady”AND HER GROOVY FRIENDS!

Come enjoy stories, music, and a Special Earth Dance!
Website: http://www.artbydsh.com/

Blog: http://www.artbydsh.wordpress.com/
Ruta Maya is located @ 3601 South Congress Avenue

The Scottish Rite Theater--Fairy Tale Series

The Scottish Rite Theater hosts productions for children that are, at times, interactive and just 45 minutes to an hour long. They are a lot of fun for the whole family, and the characters are available for autographs after the show. Children may sit on a special place on the floor in front of the stage, in seats with parents, or in the balcony (definitely with parents!). The theater feels like my high school auditorium . . . a retro treat now! Parking is free in the adjacent lot. Makes for a nice Saturday or Sunday downtown . . . maybe soon it would be fun to ride the light rail down from Leander.

http://www.scottishritechildrenstheatre.org/

Little Red Riding Hood February 7-March 8
Hansel and Gretel April 25-May 31
The Frog Prince June 27-August 2
The Little Mermaid October 3-November 22

Open House this Saturday, 9/27!

We will hold another Open House for prospective families this Saturday, September 27, from 10 AM-12 PM. Come out to our new location at: 10820 E. Crystal Falls Parkway in Leander!

www.goodearthschool.com (map on website)

Fall Farm Festival

Join us for a Fall Farm Festival Saturday, October 25 from 10 AM-4 PM at our new location. Enjoy farm games with prizes, petting our miniature farm animals, hay rides for $2, pony rides for $3, and refreshments for sale. Admission is $5 per person, under 1 free! Open to the public, so bring friends and family!

Address: 10820 East Crystal Falls Parkway, Leander, TX 78641

Awesome Playscape in Georgetown!

Leslie's family had an awesome time this Sunday at the Creative Playscape in Georgetown. Located on the edge of San Gabriel Park, it has many creative play spaces, is all wooden, and is suitable for children of all ages. Picnic tables are available under shade trees, and bathrooms are convenient close by. The play scape was featured in the Statesman, and it was ranked the best in the state in the April 2008 issue of Texas Monthly. Might we suggest breakfast before, or lunch after at Monument Cafe, across town on Austin Avenue? Their website features daily specials, and the food is always great with exceptional service.

http://www.themonumentcafe.com/

Statesman article:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/07/17/0717playscape.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=52

The playscape is just below Austin Ave at the top of this map of San Gabriel park:

http://www.georgetown.org/pdfs/MapofSanGabrielPark.24May07.pdf

Peter Pan at The Scottish Rite Theatre

The Scottish Rite Theatre is a true treasure for families in the Austin area. Leslie's family has been fortunate to go to three different productions at the theater. Here's why this is a great find for families:

1. The productions are about an hour long, and the children get to wiggle and make noise at the actors' request from time to time.
2. If you arrive early, the children can sit on the floor in front of the stage. Our kids liked sitting in the balcony.
3. There isn't a bad seat in the house.
4. It's fun to see real people instead of something on a screen once in a while!
5. The actors sign autographs after the show.
6. All in all, it's an affordable family event. Tickets for adults are $10, children 1-12 years are $7, and infants are $3.
7. Parking is free in the lot or on the street.
8. For those of us living outside of Austin, it's a good reason to spend the day downtown!

Purchase tickets online at www.srct.org.

Upcoming shows:

now until 8/24 Peter Pan
8/12-8/14 Sleeping Beauty

Hamburguesas: Random Thoughts and Recommendations

Leslie's husband Jesse is from southern California. He had a lot more freedom to roam around in his youth than Leslie and Janie did, and rumor has it he could always be found near a hamburger joint with a Pepsi. Similarly, Janie's husband Todd was a freelancing bottle rocket commando in the burbs of Nashville, sun up to sun down. Janie and Leslie weren't allowed to ride a half mile down their rural country road unless they had a camp whistle to blow if someone tried to grab them. (They resent Jesse and Todd greatly for this.)

Nothing makes Jesse happier than a good burger, so he fancies himself an afficianado. Leslie thinks he can't know what he's talking about because of a huge road block--he doesn't like mayonnaise!

When Leslie met Jesse in Austin, it wasn't long before he was pining for an In-N-Out Burger (http://www.in-n-out.com/). Leslie, not a big burger fan, couldn't imagine what all the fuss was about. At least not until she experienced the fresh, no freezer, no heat lamp, made-to-order joy of In-N-Out Burgers one Thanksgiving in L.A. Still family owned, the empire is expanding, and according to Katie's dad, maybe we'll have one someday, too. Oh, and if you make it to an In-N-Out, don't expect to have anything but a burger, or fries, or a shake. There are no veggie burgers or chicken sandwiches, and you won't care anyway. If you want to sound cool, try and order like this: http://www.tiburon-belvedere.com/cgi/home.cgi?c=In_N_Out Jesse likes the standard "Double Double", and Leslie likes the "Protein Style" if it's the start of a new eating plan on a Monday, and the "Double Double" if not. (HA!)

The best, and only, burger in Leslie and Janie's small town was the DQ Burger at Dairy Queen. That was also the best place to get, umm, fast food thanks to the forward thinking and always trendy Royce family. Imagine when we moved to TX and learned how cool we'd always been to have had a DQ, as there's one in every small town here. YEE HAW we had our finger on the pulse of America. Dairy Queen has great burger names (BeltBuster, FlameThrower), but who knows about the burgers. A real live "Gus Burger".

Ever heard of a one-eyed hamburger? Every region has it's take on things, and in Charlottesville, Virginia, a cheeseburger with a fried egg on top was consider a delicacy called the Gus Burger. Jesse just never could get it, and even Leslie's dad pronounced it a failure one visit. http://www.foodhistory.com/foodnotes/road/va/ch/wh/01/

What the heck are water burgers? When Leslie moved to Texas, co-workers and acquaintances could often be overheard speaking in cryptic whispers about "waterburger", and she just couldn't figure out what they were talking about. Turns out it was Whataburger. It's OK late at night, but we'll explore some local family owned operations instead.

Oh, and ever since Leslie read Fast Food Nation, she always thinks of machines scraping bovine carcasses to get every last speck of nervouse tissue and meat to feed our country's burger addiction. When she can compartmentalize that thought, she and Janie feel confident recommending:

Top Notch (as recommeded by Katie's mom) http://austin.about.com/cs/restaurants/gr/topnotch.htm

Moonie's Burger House in CP
http://www.yelp.com/biz/moonies-burger-house-cedar-park

Fran's Hamburgers--only the Congress location!
http://austin.about.com/cs/restaurants/a/frans.htm
Might we recommend the bacon cheeseburger with jalapenos?

Hut's
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~russell/students/spr06/huts2/aboutus.html
too crowded most of the time . . .

Phil's (owned by Amy's Ice Cream)
http://www.philsicehouse.com/
great, busy, outdoor eating and a playscape for the kids . . .with Amy's next door for dessert. Janie recommends the 78704 or the Violet Crown.

Jesse also recommends: Texas Star Kitchen in Lakeway
1602 RR 620 S 402-2222
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:218391


Enjoy!

Scott Mentzer Pool

One of Pflugerville, TX best kept secrets is a splash pool located off of 685. It's geared towards the younger crowd [kiddos under 12] and is reasonably priced for non-Pflugerville residents. We love to go early when they open, spend a few hour and pack snacks. The pool is very clean for a public pool and there are life guards stationed at every part of the pool. They have a mini lazy river, water slides [for older kiddos] along with many other water features.

Check out the pool information below.
http://tx-pflugerville2.civicplus.com/index.asp?nid=942

H-E-Buddy

H-E-B is sponsoring a summer reading program for children. Children will receive a free H-E-Buddy t-shirt once they read ten books and submit the club form. We are recording the books that we read at circle time and submitting a club form on behalf of each child. Janie will be mailing the forms on Friday, June 27. Watch your mailbox for a special delivery in 2 - 3 weeks.

http://www.hebuddy.com/content/pdf/summerreadingclub.pdf

Leander Summer Reading Program

The Leander Library Summer Reading Program will begin 6/16 and ends 8/1 with a party and square dance. Weekly summer events include:

Summer Movie Mondays at 3

Dangerous Club for Boys (girls welcome!) Wednesdays at 3

Daring Club for Girls (boys welcome!) Thursdays at 3

Cedar Park Summer Reading Program

The City of Cedar Park reading program for children ages 0-11 kicks off 6/9 and ends 8/9. There is a special program for teens ages 12-17. Weekly library activities include:

Mondays @ 2:30 pm - Family movies
Tuesdays @ 10:30 am and 11:15 am - Special performers for toddlers/pre-schoolers
Thursdays @ 2:00 pm and 3:15 pm - Special performers for elementary-school aged children

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in August

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus will be in town August 20-24. Half price tickets ($7.50-$12.50) are available for opening night. You can save 20% off all tickets if you order before 5/30. The shows are at the Frank Erwin Center.