Bring the Kids

Kid-friendly travel site helps globe-trotting Dallas families feel at home on the road

Anyone traveling with tots knows that not just any motel room or Airbnb will do. Zoie Kingsbery Coe found this out the hard way when she traveled the world with her husband and baby and noted lodging after lodging that lacked child-friendly amenities.

She took matters into her own hands and founded Kid & Coe, a website that helps makes vacationing with family easier and more fun. Five years after making all those lists, Coe's site has become an indispensable tool that families use to make their trips more comfortable and enjoyable.

As a traveling mom of a little one, I use it all the time to book my excursions from Dallas. Kid & Coe curates a list of stylish vacation rentals around the world that offer kid-friendly perks like playrooms and backyards. Folks can list their homes and become hosts, as well.

What makes it different from Airbnb and VRBO? In addition to every property looking like it is straight out of an editorial shoot (s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g), they are hand selected by families for families.

"Just about all of our homeowners are parents, and that means they have empathy with your situation as a traveling family — more than likely, they are one, too. The shared ground makes a stay so much easier," said Coe, who currently resides in Ibiza.

Amenities listed range from babysitting services to fridge stocking and everything in between. Customers can easily search for properties with cribs, games, and even baby monitors.

Parents know that often, destinations that tout themselves as "child friendly" are long on style and short on substance. Coe recognized this, which is why a demand to share her findings about family-friendly travel inspired her to start the site. Part of her mission is to inspire people to think outside the box when it comes to family vacations.

"Disney must be done, and we love a kids club as much as the next person, but we also believe in showing our children a world that stretches beyond typical family travel boundaries," Coe said.

Coe says that the majority of renters are choosing to stay in the city rentals listed on the site (think Amsterdam, Paris, and London); however, she personally has wild and off-the-grid locations saved in her bucket list file. At the top of her wish list is this Brazilian treehouse. (I personally am dreaming of a trip to New York City that involves my family making ourselves at home at this Tribeca beauty.)

The site has picked up steam quickly in the U.S., especially in Texas. When it started, just one Texas rental — a Hill Country beauty — was listed. Now, customers can find vacation homes all over the state, from Houston to Austin to Dallas-Fort Worth.

Kid & Coe is constantly adding new properties in popular travel spots and has its eye on bringing even more options in fun destinations like Sardinia and Ile de Re, off the coast of France. Coe's hidden-gem travel destination? Portugal, for its affordability, great cafes, and beautiful beaches.

"It’s about seeing that the world is wider than the bubble we live in," Coe said. "Trying new food — even if you don’t like it — seeing new animals, meeting new people, and trying out new activities are good for all children. Kids understand more about what they like and don’t like, they gain a curiosity about the world around them, and they are more outgoing and accepting in their approach."

Traveling with kids can be truly magical and always memorable (for better or worse) for the whole family. Coe encourages parents to travel with their kids as much as possible, and to savor their time together.

"The generosity people in other countries extend to your children — a cheeky head rub in Morocco, a little tickle under the chin in Italy, extra sprinkles on your daughter’s ice cream in Mexico — makes you see that the world is a varied and wonderful place."

The Brackenridge Street Residence in Austin, listed on Kid & Coe.

Photo courtesy of Kid & Coe

The Brackenridge Street Residence in Austin, listed on Kid & Coe.

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WILDFLOWER WATCH

Why the hunt for Texas bluebonnets could be trickier this spring

Marble Falls bluebonnet field, bluebonnets

Photo courtesy of Visit Marble Falls

Drought may actually be helping this year's crop of wild bluebonnets.

Bluebonnet bounty across Texas may be a little harder to spot this spring after a dry fall and mild winter, particularly across the Hill Country.

The 2026 wildflower bloom season is expected to vary widely across Texas, shaped by uneven rainfall, continuing drought conditions, and local microclimates that influence where seeds germinate and how wildflowers thrive, according to the experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. This forecast is similar to the 2025 season projection.

Across the Hill Country, from Austin to San Antonio - considered bluebonnet mecca each spring - the recent fall and winter weather helps explain why bluebonnets, in particular, may be sparse. Much of Central Texas saw a notably dry fall, followed by a mild winter with limited rainfall. The fall is the time when many wildflower seeds, and especially bluebonnets, germinate.

Bluebonnets rely heavily on fall moisture to sprout and winter rain to grow before blooming in spring, according to the Wildflower Center. When conditions are dry, fewer seedlings emerge, and roadside displays can appear patchier than usual.

“We may just have to look a little harder for bluebonnets on the side of the road this year in many locales,” said Andrea DeLong-Amaya, horticulture educator at the Wildflower Center, in a press release.

Caltrops in Big Bend National Park Caltrops on the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park.Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service

Central Texas, in particular, has the native prairie ecosystem where hardy native flower species can thrive. Add to that thin, rocky limestone soil and the state's long-established roadside management practices, and it's no surprise that drivers see an abundance of bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and pink evening primrose emerge and thrive during the spring.

The lack of rain in early spring does not mean a paltry wildflower season. Bluebonnets dominate early spring in areas around the state, then retreat. With subsequent solid rainfall, later wildflowers such as firewheel, purple horsemint, and black-eyed Susans will take over as the wildflower season progresses into the summer, according to the Wildflower Center.

“If early spring bloomers are a little more sparse, later spring and summer flowers have more room to flourish,” DeLong-Amaya said.

Around the state
Wildflower displays can vary dramatically even within short distances. Small environmental differences, including soil moisture, shade cover, and pavement heat, influence which seeds will germinate and how flowers thrive. The Texas Department of Transportation, which has sown wildflower in highway medians since the 1930s, provides a map for the best wildflower weeks across the various regions in the state.

Across North Texas prairies, fields of Drummond phlox and prairie verbena often appear alongside bluebonnets, particularly around the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails south of Dallas.

ennis bluebonnets Ennis Bluebonnet Trails will be open April 1-30, 2026. Photo courtesy of Visit Ennis

The organizers of the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival posted on Facebook on February 27, "Ennis Bluebonnet season is officially on the way! We are already monitoring the trails, and these sweet little baby bluebonnet plants are starting to pop up right on schedule. Bluebonnets plants start emerging as these green rosettes in late winter and typically bloom throughout the month of April here in Ennis."

Ennis bluebonnets typically peak around the second to third week in April. This year's Ennis Bluebonnet Trails will be open April 1-30, and the Festival will take place April 17-19.

In West Texas and the Big Bend region, desert wildflowers such as Mexican gold poppies and desert marigolds can produce dramatic blooms after winter rains.

Coastal prairies along the Gulf Coast can produce sweeping displays of yellow coreopsis and red Indian blanket wildflowers in spring.

Even in dry years, experts say Texans can still expect to find wildflowers somewhere across the state.

“I’ve never seen a year where nothing is blooming,” DeLong-Amaya said. “That just doesn’t happen.”

The Carolina jessamine is the Wildflower Center's 2026 Wildflower of the year.Photo by Stephanie Brundage via the Native Plant Information Network

The Wildflower Center also named Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) as its 2026 Wildflower of the Year. The evergreen vine produces fragrant yellow trumpet-shaped flowers and can climb along fences or trees.

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