Horseshoe Bay, Texas 78657

Things have been a little busy around the Cosby home since, well for as long as I can remember, and we were in need of a little quiet time. We contemplated going far from home, like usual, but with airplane plans for all of us in August, September and October, we thought maybe something a little closer might do the trick. Ben and I thought we would head south to Port Aransas like years past but instead discovered a special little hide-away just 70 miles north near the city of Marble Falls.

Along the shores of Lake LBJ lies a bay in the shape of a horseshoe. It's surrounded by the Texas Hill Country and is a treasure for many with huge weekend homes dotting the water. Fortunately for us, Mr. Marriott was smart and snuck in a 4-star hotel along the lake line which allows his guests temporary membership to all the small resort town has to offer. We spent the week drinking fruity drinks at the swimming pools, building sand castles on the beach, playing games on the hotel lawn, exploring the exotic animals on-site and mostly just having fun as a family.

Isabelle especially was catered to as the resort had daily kid activities almost every hour. She took her turn on the slip-n-slide, played bean bag games, painted her own sailboat, petted birds and turtles, made a "home" for bugs with a jar, ate snow cones at the pool and so on. Although we were only an hour from home, Jelly thought we were in paradise.

Olivia participated as well dipping her toes in the sand and swimming with her sister. She and I both enjoyed the break from "normal life" and even took a nap together one afternoon.

The first night we were there, Isabelle quickly made friends with another little girl in the pool from Dallas named Emma. She was visiting Horseshoe Bay with her parents and little brother as well as her grandma and grandpa. They made the trip down for some fun in the sun every summer and were the nicest and most "Texas" friendly people. We made it a date to meet at the pool each late afternoon and the girls played and swam together like old friends. The sweet Grandma even included enough snacks for Belle in her beachbag and was so excited to see Olivia every day. It was fun to have some friends to chat and enjoy the resort with and on our last night when Belle said goodbye, Emma begged her mom to let her invite Belle over to her house to play. Unfortunately we live several hours away but if we had lived in the same neighborhood, I think we would have all been good friends.

One day for lunch we snuck into the city of Marble Falls for lunch at the infamous Bluebonnet Cafe. It was some good old fashion Texas food and we all left happy and full...and with the Bluebonnet Cafe Recipe Book!

Our little family getaway was just what the doctor ordered and all four of us were disappointed to see the time go by so quickly. What a fun week we all shared! We can't wait to visit the Horseshoe Bay again!