Things to Do in Pflugerville Area

Hi L.,
My kids are about the same ages as yours but the last one is a girl. We're new in Pflugerville as well, but have found a few things to occupy our time. As other's have mentioned, the pool off of 685 is a lot of fun. Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Lake Pflugerville. We took some buckets and nets, and the kids spent time catching fish. If you are not opposed to driving, we love Landa Park which is in New Braunfels. The river is dammed up to make a pool. They have docks to jump off, a slide, a zipline, and a rope swing that all go across the water. I know that they have paddle boats as well. There are also several places near there where you can rent tubes and float the river. Our kids really liked that. I've heard great things about Emma Long Park in Austin, but have yet to go. Zilker Park is a fun place to go. http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zilker/ We spent a few hours looking around the Austin Nature and Science Center there, and even my 11 year old was interested in digging in the dino pits.
Hopefully you'll find some fun things to do. It's so hot here during the day that we tend to look for water activities. Good luck!

Hi L.,

Welcome to Pflugerville. There is a great pool in Pflugerville. I am not sure where you live, but it is located off of 685, behind the sonic. They have water slides as well as a wave pool. There is a much bigger version of that in Round Rock in Old Settlers Park, behind the Dell Diamond. Both are reasonable to get into. Also there is a "Jumpy" place in Pflugerville called Jumping Beans. I am not sure how much your older son would enjoy it. It is a huge place with several different bounce houses. We have a church playgroup that meets as well, let me know if you would like more information on that.

Thanks and good luck,
B.

There is a great water park/pool near the Dell Diamond in Round Rock on 79. You turn at the light there at the Diamond and it is back on the left. Sorry I cannot remember what it is called. We went there last week for the first time. If you tell them you live in RR the cost is minimal!! We paid $5 for an adult and one child. They have 2 slides, a lazy river, etc. And you can pack a cooler for lunch (no glass).
Best wishes keeping cool this summer.

I have three kids (11,7,4) and have lived in Pf for seven years. There is lots to do here - our favorites are "Pfluger-bahn" - a nickname we have given to the public pool on Old Austin-Hutto road (behind Sonic), swim lessons at Gilleland Pool through the Pflugerville Rec Center (every swim teacher we have had has been absolutely wonderful!), the Pflugerville Lake (although there are very few trees - too hot during the days, but nice for walks in the morning). And for indoors fun, Tinseltown is convenient and has lot of movie selections. Hope that helps - welcome the "P-F!"

Unfortunately I'm not too familiar with Pflugerville; but there are many things to do nearby.

If you want to get out of the house, you could go to Springwoods Park. It has tennis courts, playscape, sand volleyball, and LOTS of SHADE! It's located in NW Austin (183 & Pond Spring Rd.). Round Rock has Rockin' River water park; which is nice and the daily fee is pretty reasonably. That water park is in Round Rock off of Hwy 79 in Old Settlers Park behind Dell Diamond. Old Settlers Park is nice; but there's not too much shade. If you do go up to Round Rock, moms eat free on Monday at Gattiland (IH-35 @ 79). My kids love that one! Down in S. Austin you can hear live music (Blues on the Green) on Wed. eveningss at Zilker Park and also on Thursday evenings at Shady Grove (Unplugged @ the Grove). Those are family friendly. Both areas, Zilker Park and Shady Grove, are located in S. Austin off of Lamar and Barton Skyway (you can take Mopac to Barton Skyway and take the turn around into the park - go through the park to get to Shady Grove). Also this summer Beauty and the Beast is playing at Zilker Hillside Theatre. We like to spend a day down there. We'll pack a lunch and take advantage of the Nature & Science Museum, go swimming at Barton Springs Pool, and enjoy the hike & bike trails before settling in to watch Beauty & the Beast or listening to live music. If you have bikes, I'd take them. It will be easier and a little quicker riding around versus walking in this heat! You may also want to check out the Austin Chronicle (www.austinchronicle.com). It's published each Wednesday and is FULL of things going on all over Austin and surrounding areas. Finally, Regal cinema are showing free movies each week (Tues - Thurs) at participating locations (http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalsch.... My advice on the movies is to get there by 9:20 as the seats go FAST! Just thought of another park...San Gabriel Park. It's up in Georgetown (http://parks.georgetown.org/parks/sangabrielpark.php). It's also nice and has shade.

I hope this helps or at least gets you started. Welcome to the area!

A. W.

First of all, make sure each of your children has a back pack. Put a water bottle, snacks, sun screen and a change of clothes in each pack. Label each item. Make the children responsible for keeping it packed with the water filled, the snacks refilled before each trip. I used to make up a peanut butter sandwich to stick inside the b-pack. Each time you are planning on going somewhere, each child should be in charge of their own bag. Eventually they will just do this on their own.

I used to check out books on tape or Cd for the car ride.

On Wed's there is a free event at Symphony Square for children. It is called "Music in the Park". They have story tellers, music, magician's. It is lots of fun. Symphony square is located on Red River in Austin. Check on Statesman.com for more family friendly things.

In the summer we used to "camp out" in the back yard. We purchased a tent from a garage sale and we would set it up every once in a while in our back yard and sleep in it, just like we were camping. We would grill dinner and then breakfast in the morning. It was a good way to get out of the house, but still have all of the amenities.

Get on a city bus and take a picnic lunch.Teach the kids to get on and off of the bus and to pay to ride. There are some days that it is free to ride.

Go to the Capital Grounds and let the kids run up and down the "hills" on the west side of the building. Take stale bread or cereal to feed the squirrels and pigeons.

My daughter loves books so we went to many book store story times. They usually have a story and then an activity. Local libraries also have story times.

On Wed some of the movie theaters have free movies for children. Then they have special snack trays for the kids at special prices.

Look for the free Parenting newspapers and Magazines for the Austin Area. I used to pick them up at libraries or grocery stores. They have tons of free activities.

On our drive way (we do not have sidewalks), we would park our car on the street across the end of the driveway. Then we would take sidewalk chalk and make "roadways". We would do the yellow stripes, parking spots, stop signs, yields.. all the things kids see on the road. Then we would gather up all of our trikes, cars, wagons and let the kids "drive on the road" and have them follow all of the road rules.. It was wonderful to see how they loved making a different map on the driveway each time.

Go to an appliance store and get big appliance boxes. Take them home and let the kids turn them into playhouses or buildings. They can paint them or decorate them with markers. tape them together together and cut doors into them to make a maze... Your 11 year old will love organizing these into different configurations..

There are many things going on all of the time that are family friendly. Just check the notices at the grocery store, church bulletin, statesman.com... You will have a full schedule.

L. P,

There are two city pools. One is a beach style pool on Railroad (west of Pecan St.) The other is on Old Hutto Rd. (near Sonic on FM 685) - this is a fun pool with slides, etc.

The local movie theater has one morning a week where you can see a movie for free (you have to get there at 9:30 a.m.) Cinemark has a movie club where it 50 cent movies on Mondays (That's in Round Rock on the frontage of IH-35 before FM3406).

Also, the Pflugerville Library has a great story time/summer program for kids.

I am a member of the MOMS Club Pflugerville SE. We are a not for profit organization for stay at home moms. We meet once a month and have lots of activities on our monthly calendar. Check us out at www.geocities.com/momsclubpflgervillesoutheast.

Sincerely,
C.

I am a SAHM of two boys ages 8 and 4.