Things to Do in Pflugerville

Offering a range of family-friendly events and activities, Ceramics-N-More tickles your crafty fancy with paint-your-own ceramics projects, fused glass creations, and paint-and-take T-shirts. Display your painting prowess with a Picasso-inspired piggy bank ($8–$25), or spatter a bashfully bare platter with the drips of a thousand Pollocks ($12–$30). If the confounding simplicity of a plain white coffee mug ($10–$20) stymies your design-glands, dig your paws into the studio's ample supply of stamps and stencils. Ceramics will be ready for pick-up five to seven days after completion.

Each night, about a half-hour before sunset, one of Capital Cruises' double-decker boats launches out onto Lady Bird Lake. Austin's skyline peeks its head over the tree-lined banks as the vessel floats toward the Congress Avenue Bridge. Once there, passengers watch the sun drop below the horizon and paint a streak of burnt orange across the sky in an action that seems to bring the bridge to life. Here, at one of the largest urban bat colonies on the continent, thousands of bats take flight and soar into the sky.

These bat tours are just one way Capital Cruises explores Lady Bird Lake. The crown jewel of its fleet, a 75-foot yacht, sets the stage for floating wedding parties and specialty cruises such as the Riverboat Gambler. During these trips, passengers play roulette and nibble fajitas, pasta, and barbecue catered by the Hyatt Regency hotel. Additionally, Capital Cruises' staff lets customers chart their own adventures with rentals of standup paddleboards, swan-shaped pedal boats, and 21-foot electric Duffy boats.

Stretching across more than 6 miles, Lady Bird Lake's tranquil waters reflect the Austin skyline, the cliffs at Red Bud Isle, and the Congress Avenue Bridge, home to the largest urban bat population in the world. Throughout the year, Rowing Dock’s instructors take visitors into this manmade lake and teach them to paddle in kayaks or row within stand-up paddleboards. For customers who feel comfortable with their paddling prowess, the staffers rent everything from one-, two- and three-person kayaks, paddleboats and paddleboards, and canoes. As these human-powered vessels float across the lake, passengers can view the area's many native birds or canoodle with their oars at sunset.

Wazoo's 15,000-square-foot facility invites kids 13 and younger to let their imaginations loose while playing on eight inflatable attractions. The sound of laughter emanates from the bouncy castles, fills obstacle courses, and silences the pleas of candy-filled animals in the piñata zone. Towering over the facility, a 24-foot slide harnesses the power of gravity to create kid-friendly thrills. Elsewhere, the aptly named Toddler Town boasts age-appropriate toys and inflatables that let younger ones in on the fun. Wazoo's other features include a concession stand and big-screen TVs that keep parents up to date on the political climate of nearby bouncy castles.

Hosted by the Austin Automobile Dealers Association, the Austin Auto Show summons new, exotic, and pre-production models from a swathe of manufacturers at the Austin Convention Center. Attendees wander through the aisles, comparing vessels by price, specifications, and how they convert horsepower into humanpower. Vintage drag cars, including a 1923-T roadster, will be on display. View the display guide and attractions, which include a "Green Street" highlighting alternatively fueled vehicles, the University of Texas Solar Vehicles Team displaying one of their solar cars, and appearances by Captain America and Iron Man.

The percussive sounds of water drums and rattling gourds echo across limestone bluffs and the grassy banks of a meandering creek. A cedar-post fence creaks in the breeze. An elegant Victorian farmhouse towers over livestock corrals. Pioneer Farms' themed history sites sprawl across 90 wooded acres, immersing visitors of all ages in exhibits and living demonstrations of Texas history. The grounds also serve as a haven for historic 1800s buildings, many of which were transplanted from their original plots throughout the state and reconstructed with rubber cement.

Offering a snapshot of central Texas's Native American population, an authentic Tonkawa encampment dating back to 1841 welcomes guests to visit tepees and dance to tribal music under a centuries-old oak tree. An 1873 Texian farm, which includes a log-and-board cabin on its original site, provides livestock care and tractor-throwing demonstrations, and the restored rural village of Sprinkle Corner introduces visitors to carpenters, blacksmiths, a general store, and a 19th-century stagecoach house from which more than 12 horse-drawn wagons convey passengers across the farm throughout the day. Wild animals raise their heads above lush grasses near Walnut Creek, and the Scarborough Barn allows children to meet their favorite farm animals. Visitors can further connect to history and nature through the farm's many programs and classes, including workshops focused on traditional blacksmithing, cooking in the buildings' original kitchens, and basic photo red-eye correction using squid ink.