Utopia, Texas

We took a little time off this past week to relax and spend time together as a family. We had talked about going somewhere cooler—Seattle or Colorado, maybe—but in the end I didn’t feel like getting on a plane with Liam yet. He’s at a difficult age for traveling in confined spaces. He’s old enough to be mobile and vocal and loud, but not yet old enough to understand that he has to stay put for a flight. Also he’s not old enough to be distracted by movies or books. He probably would have been okay, but in the end we decided to keep things easy and headed down to Utopia, Texas, about a three-hour drive south of Austin.

We stayed at Utopia on the River and it was pretty ideal for small children. We had a very short walk down to the river, where we explored rocks and fallen trees and water. Zoe loved to “go on adventures,” and Liam enjoyed throwing rocks into the river. For hours. We also had access to the pool and hot tub, and we alternated between the river and the pool almost every day.

There was a lot of “wildlife”—some domesticated and some wild—that the kids enjoyed seeing. Tons of hummingbirds, a flock of turkeys, horses, deer, Monarch butterflies (I think they’re about to start migrating south), and bats. The kids loved watching the hummingbirds and deer eat right outside our door.

We also took a day trip to Garner State Park. We started off the morning with a hike and probably chose a trail that was too ambitious for Liam. Many parts of the Crystal Cave trail were steep and challenging for us, and we had to carry Liam at the same time. We ran into two different families with older kids who said the trail was too much for them, so next time we’ll probably pick one of the easier ones. At least until Liam is a little surer on his feet. (It was challenging for Zoe, but she loved it.) We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the Frio River, and we had a hard time pulling Zoe away.

One night we headed to the Frio Bat Flight where you can see the second-largest bat colony in the world. It was strangely calming to hear their wings and chirps coming out of the cave in waves. Similar to waves on the ocean (as strange as that might sound).

 

We had some debate about whether we stayed one day too long. But I’m off the opinion that you should get a little bit bored on your vacation. That means you’ve truly had time to relax and unwind.

And now, back to the real world.