love, coco: hill country lovin'

Baby's just a little bit tired of the city,

Billboards and bullshit got her down,
Seem like you need a little hill country,
A little back roads driving, little bit of the old top down.

-Pat Green, Carry On

if you are a texan, you know that the hill country is special. this year, we celebrated a big anniversary and decided to share some of that hill country magic with our little guys. i cannot adequately express how perfect this trip was for our family (inspiration was found here). i will break-down our trip for you in case you want to make a similar one someday. i sure hope you will, friends. you will not be sorry, promise promise.

DAY ONE: thursday, travel day (which just happened to be our tenth wedding anniversary. holla!)

we left dallas early afternoon to start the four hour trek to marble falls. we chose marble falls because we had holiday inn hotel points to use and it was centrally located for our swimming hole destinations.

we stopped in lampasas, texas for dinner at a highly recommended little german restaurant (thanks, yelp.) we ate schnitzel, drank a german beer and toasted to happiness. let the long weekend begin.

DAY TWO: friday, hamilton pool

after reading reviews, we arrived to hamilton pool when they opened at nine after a fourty-five minute srive from our hotel. that drive may not sound ideal, but the views were stunning. they only allow seventy-five cars in the parking lot. once the lot is full, it's one car in, one car out (so get there early). it is quite a hike down to the pool, so wearing tennis shoes and carrying a manageable cooler was necessary. once the pool reveals itself after the hike down, you are rewarded with one of those rare moments of take-your-breath-away beauty. what a gift.

we kept thinking, "where are we"? it was like we were on mars. the pool is spring-fed and water falls off the cliff above. the water is cold, the beach is pebbly, the people-watching is phenomenal.

there is a trail around the pool perfect for exploring.

we packed a lunch so that we could leave when we were good and ready, not because we were hungry. and it turned out that with two young kids, the longest we could last was until just past lunch anyway.

bringing a float is crucial. the water is deep in 80% of the pool.

we wore ourselves out enough to recover by watching movies in our hotel beds until it was time to leave for dinner.

if you are texan or a foodie or a foodie texan, you may have heard of cooper's barbeque. we have had the pleasure of eating at the original before, and this trip made it possible for us to indulge again. good lord, it's delicious.

this is a picture of a very, very happy man.

DAY THREE: saturday, krause springs

just twenty minutes from our hotel is a privately owned campground and swimming hole called karuse springs. it was completely different than the day before but equally as gorgeous. once we arrived we took a stroll through the butterfly gardens on the grounds, which was a treat in itself. if you go, don't skip this part. while heading to the springs we passed a beautiful man-made pool and hiked down a very steep staircase (wear tennis shoes, if you go) to be rewarded again with a take-your-breath-away beauty. two days in a row! that doesn't happen often.

this pool feels smaller and it's a bit tricker to get into and out of (think moss covered rocks). but once you are in the water, you're golden. it also has a muddy bottom, so i recommend wearing those super stylish water shoes. safety first, people. we did not have those fancy shoes, so my feet got a little beat up on the rocks. i also recommend bringing floats. this place is perfect for sitting in a chair float and drinking cold beers (like lone star, because when in rome...) all. day . long.

we did not do these things since we had our children with us, but in another life we would have, fo sho.

there was a rope swing where ben spent all of his time. krause springs was his favorite swimming hole, hands down.

and just so you know it wsan't all rainbows and unicorns, here is a picture of my darling crosby who cried to get out of the water and once out cried to be back in. good times, y'all.

i would suggest not taking kids younger than three to these places. some people definitely do, but it would be difficult. there is a lot of swimming, maneuvering on rocks, and hiking involved in both places we went. ben was the perfect age. we were cutting it close with cros, in my opinion.

after lunch at the swimming hole, we changed clothes, hopped in the car and headed to luckenbach with waylon, willie and the boys. just kidding, they weren't there. but i'll tell you what was: ice cold shiner bock beer, along with sausage on a stick, mandatory luckenbach souveniers, and live texas country music. texas perfection, y'all. the last time we went to luckenbach was with friends, pre-kids. then i never would've imagined that on my next trip there we would be with our two young sons. they were the best sports and let momma and daddy get nostalgic about old times.

that evening we ate dinner in marble falls and took it easy at the hotel. you would think we were staying at the four seasons and not the holiday inn according two our boys. they thought they were in the lap of luxury laying in the hotel bed and watching karate kid. sweet babies.

DAY FOUR: austin and home

our original plan was to drive our tired (and cranky) crew back to dallas after breakfast. but we had a last-minute change of plans and spontaneously drove to austin for one last hurrah.

we rented a canoe on town lake. we sweat (sweated??) through our clothes and took in the beautiful sights of our state's capital through our boys eyes.