Summer Vacation Ideas

I second the Port Aransas area. Not too far by car from Dallas, and very kid friendly. Not to mention it is really reasonably priced. There are lots of houses on the beach to rent. If you have any questions feel free to message me. We are going at the end of the summer.

Texas has lots of state parks and many of them now have "beaches" because of the appeal of having a lake with a beach area. Check with Texas Parks & Wildlife for which lakes have beaches. Also, if your daughter loves water, there's the new Great Wolf lodge in Grapevine that I've heard is a lot of fun (it has an indoor water park). Sea World in San Antonia is a great idea too.

IMO the best beaches in Texas are on Mustang Island/Port Aransas (which are just outside of Corpus Christi). As for the bathing suit, I have recently had luck with Lands End.

Austin and San Antonio are also fun cities to go to when you do not want to drive all the way to the beach.

I have a 7 year old and a 7 month old--both boys. Since my older son was 3 years old we have been taking a 3 day trip to Galveston every summer. It is a 5 1/2-6 hour drive, depending on where you live in the metroplex. Besides the beach, there is SO much to do--Moody Gardens is one of our favorites. Old downtown Galveston (the Strand) has lots of cute shops and a train museum. As your child grows older there are different things you can do that are more age apprpriate. It's not Florida, but for a easy, family-friendly getaway it is nice. I recommend the La Quinta on the Seawall--free breakfast, nice pool, and it is right across the street from the ocean. Hop in your car and drive down a few blocks to the public beach and you will save lots of money over the hotels that are directly across the street from it. At night take a flashlight and go look for crabs--my son loves that.

Hi C.,

The Lake Ray Hubbard area is great off of I-30 & Ridge Rd.
They've just made all sorts of new places over there and it's really beautiful. Very nice hotel, movie theatre, shopping and of course the lake.
Lake Ray Hubbard is always my favorite to rent a boat from because it has really beautiful scenery.
I found my bathing suit at Walmart and it's the shirt type that has an open back and sort of shows your belly button but I wear a pair of wind shorts as my bottom so the shorts hide my lower tummy area. I've had 3 children, 2 c-sections so I'm not comfortable at all with my belly area and I feel very comfortable in the bathing suit I have.
Welcome to Texas and have a fun Texas Summer!

There is SeaWorld in San Antonio. Or you have many lakes to choose from. Probably can rent jet skis or boat for a fun day in the sun! I wouldnt do galveston personally just because it is not a good looking beach anymore. But perhaps further north on the coastline would be better. I hear Port Aransas is really pretty and cool! Check it out! and have a great vacation!

When my kids were school-age, I did not have the money to send them to camp in the summer. So a neighbor and I decided to do a themed camp ourselves. We chose a theme (early American history) and thought of two activities per day for five days. Here is a smattering of the things we did: We took the kids to an active farm, visited an historical house/museum, had them eat foods a kid would eat in the historic period we chose (baked potatoes, apples, etc.) and gave them buckets for their lunch boxes. We planned the camp to coincide with the Milk Festival and they got to milk a cow, make butter, and see all kinds of crafts the people in period costume made. The kids did crafts relating to the theme as well. It was a blast, and the kids really had a good time. They never once said, "I'm bored!"

Hi C.,
I'm a transplant too from CA. There's South Padre Island which is nice, but as it is prime coastline tends to be packed/booked early. There is also "tubing" down the local rivers. One of the most popular is out of New Braunfels area about 4 hours south. There's a water park called Schlitterbahn which is always rated one of the top water parks in the US. Or if you want something relaxing, there's La Cantera Resort in the North part of San Antonio. It has a few really nice pools, plus golf. It's near Fiesta Texas and Seaworld too. I've personally stayed in the resort & it's really nice and child friendly. There's a Starbucks on site & spa ammenities.

I bought a Miraclesuit. It definitely helps in the tummy area. I bought mine at Dillards, but I'm sure you can find that brand at other stores and online.

K.
Mom to 3 ages 6, 5 & 3

Austin has a lots of things that are family friendly. Barton Springs is great for swimming and Lake Travis is good for boating and scuba. In the evening the bats come out from Congress Ave bridge - it's awesome! And of course you have the state Capital and the grounds. My favorite vacation spot is San Antonio, though. There's Sea World and Six Flags - both have water parks as well. And the river walk and great food can't be beat. If you have several days to spend and want to drive to San Antonio, you can make stops in Austin and New Braunfels at Schlitterbaun on the way since it's all on I-35.

Hi and welcome to TX. Hope you enjoy it here. My husband and I moved here nearly 3 years ago from NC. We lived in the RDU area. I lived there for 12 years. We love TX soooo much better. : )

Don't have any summer recommendations for the TX area. We never stay in the state for vacations.

Good luck, I am sure the other moms here will come up some great suggestions.

We moved here from NC about 20 yrs ago and we miss the convenience of hopping to the beach in 3 hrs.

Great thing about Dallas is that the airport is fantastic and you can get away to either coast fairly quickly.

We go to South Beach in Miami a lot (NOT family friendly), Sandestin just bit of a drive from Ft. Walton, San Diego, San Francisco, LA and South Padre to name a few. These are quickie get aways via air.

IF you want to stay in this area, we go to Sneaky Pete's on Lake Lewisville and watch the boats, listen to music, etc. Sometimes they have activities for everyone. We also frequent our country club pool which is great and family friendly for our 13 yr old.

As for swimsuits, no idea. I order mine from Victoria's Secret.

Welcome to TX!