Spec's

Loving a liquor store does probably not rather harm my reputation instead of improving it, but next to the Oh!Mart - Asian grocery store and the Hobbylobby it is one of my favorite stores in the next town. I can take care of most of my errands around here and only occasionally make it into Killeen since shopping is definitely not one of my favorite things to do. But I love stopping at Spec's, an Texan liquor chain store with a huge variety of special things from alcohol to specialty food. There are not many places you could find Limoncello for sale or four different types of Irish cream in all sizes. It is interesting to browse through the aisles and see all the bottle and label designs and the huge selection of wines from all different countries. But I definitely ALWAYS stop at the rack with the Haribo gummies. Spec's has the biggest selection of Haribo gummies (produced in the States), even I am missing my favorite Haribo gummies which are only made in Germany. Thirteen years ago Leland and I lived just a tow away from the Haribo factory in Germany and visiting it was definitely worth it. But Spec's has an even bigger incentive, they sell cigars. I am not a smoker, but I do love cigar boxes and also the smell of them.Spec's sells empty cigar boxes for $1.49 that includes paper and wooded cigar boxes. I used them already for wrapping gifts and of course kept some for myself whenever I can find one. and the last one works perfectly for the collection of stamps we own which got collected it a Pooh Bear shoe box before - since the girls were little. Definitely an improvement for organizing!

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.