all the way in the water

I had only two kids in tow when we made our way to town for an errand on Saturday, quite convient when Bella and I can look and Soren manages to fit in the shopping cart just fine - or barely - but he had one of the seldom chances to play on my Kindle and was happy to let us browse. All set after the one store - I usually only go to one store if possible better even to none and Soren was ready for another trip to the lake. 

We met Tina and her kids there, she even brought the missing third one of mine along.

 The temperature was higher as a few days ago, but the wind a lot more, too. Can you see the sand flying on the little island in the lake? Nothing was safe that wasn't held on. Believe me. And we had a BBQ planned ... hahaha ... everything flew  ... from hamburger bun bags dancing like arabic snakes above the trash cans  to ketchup off the hotdog and you even had to hold to the salad on your plate. BUT the kid had a blast and you  definitely didn't feel your sunburn in all the wind until you left.

Bella is a little picky where she is swimming no matter what the water temperature is, but all the little ones were continously in and out the water till the evening. In between the colected roks and shells and of course dug in the mud. We fed them with snacks and BBQ and were one of the last ones to leave this time around.

sand ... sun ... water

sun ... sand .. water ... a day at the beach of dana peak, texas.

We are a little bit late in the year to go out to the lake about a month and a couple of degrees highe rin temperatures higher as usually, but 77 degrees and almost no wind was just perfect for a day outside. Of course, the kids didn't need more as minutes to be in the water and were digging in the sand and mud for hours. They collected shells between in the rocks and the driftwood from the last storm. We also were the only once for the most part. Wasn't that neat.

The usual area marked area for swimming at Dana Peak was laying out on dry land and we walking and sat comfortably on it. Ir was a little bit of an eyesore for taking pictures but perhabs we have enough rainstorms still coming that even the Stillhouse lake is filling up again. You can always hope.

Everybody was enjoying the sun, standing, sitting, laying, on the rocks, in the water, in the sand on just lounging on the blankets .... for hours ... the kids are worn out and by now mine volunteerly went to bed ... all three. Hihihihi.

None of the little ones were ready to leave, but finally with lots of hugs, hands full of treasures and promises to come back .... we all had to leave for today.

Impressions of the QuiltCon 2013 - Austin, TX

Hello Austin.

On Thursday, two days before my mom flew back to Germany just the two of us made a road trip into Austin to visit the QuiltCon 2013 organized by the Modern Quilting Guild. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We saw many awesome quilts, shop hopped through many quilt shop booth, received charm packs as samples, won a Welcome package from Spoonflower which will be mailed to, tried out freehand quilting on a top of the line machine - I am still in awe - and got lots of inspiration and even  more motivation to start sewing right then and there. 

road trip north to glen rose, tx

Last weekend we were busy with skating on Friday night, hiking dripping springs on Saturday morning, so on Sunday we used the sunny weather for a trip north to Dinosaurworld in Glen Rose. Soren was already super excited since Friday evening when I picked the tickets up at the ITR office on post (the military discount made quite a difference for five people).

Dinosaurworld - or just Dinoland for us - is about 1 1/2 hours from us driving through the country passing chocolate heaven a few miles outside of Glen Rose. You can hardly miss the entrance with huge dinosaurs and tiny giraffes at the entrance. With us on this trip was a happy little dog, because Dinoland does allow friendly dogs, and Brynne was well behaved compared to the crazy little poodle who didn't want to stay away from her.

 

The kids started our visit at the Fossil Dig and all three were only interested in digging up shark teeth even they were plenty of other fossils and founds. Then all four (3 kids plus dog) were ready for the dino trail to see 100+ life size dinosaurs.

Of course, now, on every outing even the littlest one brings his camera along for exploring and snapping pictures. My little photographer.

It's not only fun to check out the dinos from the outside, but also from the inside. It was hard to get Chiara and Soren back out of it. 

Dinoland also offers plenty of shady picnic tables outside the museum or around the playground perfect for kids in Soren's and Chiara's ages. Soren did not really want to leave this place.

Goodbye Dinoland.

Glen Rose has a historic downtown and we - the adults - wanted to take a look after the kids had their fun. However we changed our mind when we reached Big Rocks Park located on the Paluxy River on the side of downtown. 

Who could resist to climb and lounge on those big round rocks or were not tempting to stick his feet in the water. We always end up somewhere at the water with the kids, it's impossible for my kids to stay away from it on any outing even if we don't plan to get even close to any water source.

I had a chance to take more pictures of Chiara while Soren and Bella were disappeared between all these rocks and hardly wanted to get back down.

My mom is probably used weird outings with us by now and enjoyed the beautiful day in February while everybody back home was freezing and had to deal with snow and ice. :)

The crossing over the Paluxy River is neat and leads to a beautiful walkway along  the river on the other side with plenty of ducks waiting to be fed.

Soren would have loved to keep going further and further, Brynne, too, but the girls were tired out, especially Chiara hardly wanted to take another step and we had two knocked out kids on the way back.

road trip south to dripping springs

All our outdoor plans for last weekend literally fell in the water with thunderstorms all weekend long, so we stayed home. We didn't mind and were busy sewing and some of us just plain lazy.

This is the last weekend with my mom before she leaves next Saturday again and we used every single minute until our feet are so tired now. Friday evening we took the kids out Skating on base and the little ones had lots of fun, Bella on the others side was a playing scary cat. I expected that from Soren and not from my oldest, however he did great for just being the second time on roller skates and was a tough cookie. Chiara is the one who ended up with the bruises for kissing the floor several times.

Saturday morning we packed up enough food for the day and all of us wore sneakers for a trip to Dripping Springs. This was our second time visiting Hamilton Pool, a Travis County natural preserve. Last time we brought our swimsuits, towels and floaties for a dip in the natural pool, this time we planned on exploring the hiking trail to the Pedernales River after stopping at the pool first.

The first part down to the valley is very rocky and quiet steep and even in summer you leave your flip flops in the car and wear good footwear. The hike to the pool is absolutely worth it no matter what season you go. Photos from our last trip in early summer.

The kids love this place as much as I do and are already asking to go back there again. 

We followed the trail back to the intersection to check out the opposite way to the river and were not the only ones enjoying the beautiful weather with 60 degrees. We made it all the way over rocks, roots, branches, had a picnic at the shore of the river and hiked the mile back. Soren and me were the end of the tail and of course he tripped and fell down. Immediately he explained, "I did not break my leg!" , but then the crying started. He scraped himself just a little, but a band-aid was needed to make him feel better. He made it to the car on his own feet and luckily not on my back.

Last time after the park we just drove with Karin into the town of Dripping Springs and by luck discovered the Valli & Kim's quilt shop. What a pleasant surprise. So this time it was already planned in to show my mom this awesome quilt shop.

The display from the store is as much fun to check out as all the fabric with a wide variety of fabrics and it's hard to decide where to look first when you first step through the wide doors.

Lots of beautiful quilts are displayed hanging down from the ceiling.

Pillows, pillows, everywhere you look.

Isn't this an awesome idea to use fabric for decoupage this old desk? 

Soren was so tired after all the walking, but he still managed to bug the saleslady with lots of questions about the thread, fabric and quilts.

It is so hard not trying to buy the whole store up and just leaving with a few treasures, but hopefully we will be sometime in Dripping Springs again and definitely stop there, too.