Round Rock Apartments, Daycares and fun things to do for a family with a toddler (Austin: appointed)

[RRMom2010]

Hi,

We moved to Round Rock a couple of weeks ago from Madison WI. We are currently staying in a fully furnished corporate housing at La Frontera Square and looking to move to a unfurnished apartment in a month. Any suggestions on a SAFE and Family FRIENDLY apartment (around $1000 for a 2bed & 2bath) in Round Rock are welcome. I really do like La Frontera except for the fact that it's far from work (Taylor) and the evening traffic is bad. Also, this place does not have any yard for my son to play.

We have checked 2 daycares so far. The first one being Goddard's school at RR. It will cost us 965/month to send a 2 year old full-time. Lunch is not provided. The teacher student ratio is 1:6. The second one we looked at was Stepping stone preschool at Grimes Blvd. The cost is $775 including lunch but the teacher student ratio is 1:11. I'd appreciate if you guys could help me find a good daycare for my son. Suggestions and comments are welcome, even negative ones. Hopefully the negative comments will help us eliminate the bad ones.

Last week we registered at the Round Rock Library and got some books for him. This week we are planning to enroll at the Clay Madsen recreation Center. Other than these 2 things I'm absolutely clueless about things to do in Round Rock area.

Can't wait to read the responses. Hopefully this post will help other mom's in RR too. Thanks in advance guys.

[cmaxmor]

I wouldn't recommend the Clay Madsen center. We switched to them after being at the YMCA for a year (thought we would save money) and we were very disappointed. The kids play area is not great and the person who watches them always has their own children with them. My kids always were parked in front of the tv. It costs about the same amount (when you add in childcare fees) to go to the YMCA and the facilities are nicer. They also have a childcare center that is fantastic. They have a play area that has lots of activities for the kids and their daycare is also great. Very reasonable prices.

[pdub]

We moved back to Round Rock last year, and enrolled our son in Goddard RR's pre-K program. Overall, we have been pleased with the school. There was a decent amount of teacher turnover at first, but this has stabilized. The school is clean, the staff is friendly, and the teachers seem very good. I do think it is a little on the expensive side, but you may want to ask if you or your husband's company qualifies for a tuition discount (for example, Dell). There is also a new KidsRKids facility opening in RR. We do not have any experience with them, but in our former home state, they had a good reputation.

As far as activities for kids, there are plenty. My son is a little older, but I'll give it a shot...recently we went to Scott Mentzer pool in Pflugerville, which is perfect for a 2 year old. My son also enjoyed Brushy Creek Lake Park (I think that is the name) in Cedar Park, which has a cool waterscape that is free. There is also the Rock'N River Aquatic Center in Round Rock, which is fun. There are nice playgrounds at Old Settlers Park (RR), including one for the younger than 5 set. Kaleidoscope Toys (RR) is a great toy store to explore, and they sometimes have special programs for the kids, and last I saw, a nice train table to play with. When our son was 2 years old, we enrolled him in a toddler gymnastics class. There are several gyms in Round Rock that offer this class. He really loved it. The Domain in north Austin is high end shopping, but there is a nice area there where little kids play, and you can enjoy a cup of coffee. I am sure others will have additional suggestions...there is plenty to do. Hope this helps, and welcome to Round Rock.