As I mentioned in my entry below, I've wrapped up the wearing of a few hats and have packed them away in hat boxes.  Since I am down to my normal wardrobe of hats, dh suggested we take advantage of the lovely spring weather which has wafted into our area.  Friday had been so gorgeous with bright blue skies and soft warm breezes,  that we could feel the winter duldreams slipping away.  DH and the children asked if we could go to Fredericksburg, a charming town in the hill country, to walk around and shop.  Aren't I blessed to have a family who actually enjoys shopping?  ;)

Sadly, Saturday felt cold, cloudy and wintery.  We kept looking at the weather prediction and the two did not seem to match.  Incredibly disheartened, I decided to tag along.  DS kept saying we could always keep warm in the shops.  I suffer terribly in the cold and did not relish the idea of having to work to stay warm. Elatedly, we watched the skies clear and the sun shone forth, warming my chilled bones.  The day turned out to be gorgeous!

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I have to eat at certain times.  And it was time to eat lunch!  I was not feeling great from my breakfast of whole wheat pancakes with a smidge of maple syrup.  It was the maple syrup crashing my blood sugar.  Therefore, I was very picky about where we ate.  Fredericksburg is a charming German town, with many restaurants that serve saurkraut.  Although I am of German descent on both sides of my family, even my maiden name is German, I feel blessed that my ancestors came to the New World to try new foods!  LOL  We found this charming little spot that does not serve saurkraut! 

The weather was so nice, we ate in the courtyard.

We enjoyed the flowers and blue skies while waiting for our food.

DH ordered creole gumbo, which he said was wonderfully spicy, as it should be.  Years ago we went to New Orleans and the food we had in the French Quarter was not spicy.  He kept sending it back to the kitchen to get more spice, but to no avail.  Texas knows how to spice up the food!  LOL  Actually, I'm sure the French Quarter does too; we must have chosen the wrong places.   He also ate the rest of the hamburger ds couldn't finish. I have a few recipes for gumbo that I want to try.

I ordered a salad with pomegranates, walnuts and parmesian, because I knew it would be perfect to get my blood sugar straight. Although I love onion rings, I didn't like these.  Too greasy.  I was delighted to find they used various lettuces! I first "cooked" with pomegranates during our first unit celebration and we love it!  They are very healthy too!

However I knew I needed more carbs to keep me going, walking through town.  DH also ordered chips and salsa for us all to share.  WOW!  The salsa was roasted and warm, my new favorite way to eat it.  I need to experiment with good recipes.  I have a recipe I used to like.  But I am now spoiled with the roasted flavor I've had here and a few other places.

Refueled, energized and feeling terrific, I led dh here.

Remember Kellie Ann's "Find the Wreath" contest?  I won a pair of earrings from her, courtesy of Jeep Collins. 

www.homeschoolblogger.com/teacupsinthegarden/447378/

This is his only store.  His workshop is a couple of miles away.  I showed dh there are plenty of less expensive pieces that I liked.  I even found a pair of bluebonnet earrings!  After drooling for a while, we went to other shops.

This is one of my favorite shops.

The windows express the mood well.

How true...LOL

  Oh, this would never describe me! LOL

Flowers were everywhere.  Pansies only grow well in the winter and early spring here.  They withstand freeze quite well.

See the accordian player? The shop is a kitchen store, the best one I've found in my area.

DD found a mold for petit fours.  She has a birthday coming up on March 19 and she always likes a tea party.  So I bought the mold.  Has anyone used these before?  Any tips or great recipes?  Doesn't have to be healthy, not for her bd!  LOL  The nice thing about these is that one of these will probably be a carb and very allowable in my diet (and my mom's).  It's the huge slices of cake and pie we have to worry about!  So this is a great way to have the taste of the real thing without going overboard!

This is the Nimitz hotel.  Admiral Nimitz, who headed the South Pacific operations during WWII, grew up in this hotel that was owned by his family.  It's a great museum today!  It has recently opened from extensive renovations.

This is my dh's and dc's favorite store.  There are a million food samples here.  You get to try before you buy!  I told my family they could not sample!  LOL  Too many germs this time of year.  Since they know I want to go to Dallas healthy, and I am on antibiotic right now, they conceded.  However we did sample fudge, which is behind the counter and served by a girl who touches it with her hands covered.  I love dark chocolate the best, but don't like anyone's fudge but my own.  So I sampled other flavors. Orange cream was delicious.  Coconut and chocolate was a huge wow!  I love coconut! These are mere slivers, so certainly doable on my diet! 

I asked dh to buy some Cajun Mesquite Mustard.  I always buy a jar when we come.  Pricey but a wow! I use it to make incredible low fat/carb free sauces to put over grilled meat.  WOW! 

Being an old town that dates back to the mid 1800's, the stores are built into some old buildings.  Lots of stone work.

Plenty of Victorian styling as well.

Now that the master bathroom remodel is done, and the feast is behind us, we took a little time away to go out into the hill country.  For us, this is a huge treat.  Apparently, many others thought so as well!  Oh the crowds!  And the cold!  We got a cold front the other night and it was around the 40's in Fredericksburg.  Every time we stepped outside, there was the feeling that it could snow in any moment.

All the weekends prior to this would have been beautiful weather with few crowds for shopping.  However, remember that remodel?  I could have postponed this one more week, but I did not know what next week would bring.  I am on  a deadline because my TOG yahoo group is doing a Secret Sister ornament exchange and I'm not much inspired by the ornaments in our big city.  The nearest Christmas store, which is huge, is in Fredericksburg.  I have to have the package in the mail by December 5.  Since the weather is getting worse the rest of the weekend, we went today.  I just checked the weather report, and I actually think we left Fredericksburg too soon!  We should have booked a hotel room!  There are snow chances on Sunday!  Alas...

One fun part about today is that we ran into old friends who used to be in our Sunday School class 18 years ago!  They came to our wedding!  They haven't changed a bit!  However, I could not get over the fact that their boys were old enough to drive out from the lake to meet them later!

Although I brought my camera, it was too cold and crowded for me to use it while walking through town.  While looking for parking, we passed some gorgeous architecture and gardens before I realized I had the camera with me!  This is the only picture I got!

Much of the town has Victorian charm and rustic stone buildings.  One of the big surprises of the day was finding a Jeep Collins store!!!!  Apparently, it's the only one! Anyone familiar with kellieann 's contest...

will know that she's offering a set of gorgeous earrings from Jeep Collins!  If you click on the button in my right column, you'll see the earrings. Turns out he's from Fredericksburg! And he went to the same college I did! I had no idea!  We walked through the store and I told my husband all about Kellie Ann's husband buying her Jeep Collins' jewelry for Christmas (dh is always looking for hints for me).  The selection was gorgeous!  We grabbed a catalog, since he wasn't committing to anything just yet.  There are many affordable pieces, around $35.  Many of them even express Christian faith.  Here is his testimony...

http://www.jeepcollins.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?page=aboutus.htm&cart_id=1193930580.29325

I can't tell you how many times I have walked or driven right by that store without a second thought.  Thank you Kellie Ann for telling us about Jeep Collins!

After a few hours meandering on Main Street Fredericksburg, we headed for...

http://www.wildseedfarms.com/

It's that time of year to plant bluebonnets.  This is the largest working wildflower farm in the US.  Seven years ago, we were able to roam the fields and see the newest crops.  Sadly, they put up tall wooden fences and now one has to pay a hefty fee for a tour.  Nevertheless, the gift shop area is one of my favorites.  Especially when you find a cat laying in a field of flowers!

He thoroughly enjoyed laying there while all the customers took turns patting him.  After going into another room, I found another cat...

After posting for his picture, he came to me to be patted!  Of course, the kids loved all of this too! 

One day we got this in the mail....

It was an invitation from our dentist for the ribbon cutting/blessing/open house for their new building.  This is located in a charming small Alsatian town about 20 minutes from our home.  I had been going to the dentist in this town since I was a small girl.  Then I got married and moved away, but when I came back with my children, the practice had been sold to Dr. Dana.  He is my favorite dentist, because he doesn't butcher my teeth the way the dentists did when I moved away.  They were always finding cavities...several fillings later I learned I only have sensitive areas in need of extra flouride. 

I decided to take the children to the open house.  They speculated on the types of food a dentist would serve.  We concluded it would only be healthy stuff!  Shortly before we were to leave, my husband called, informing me that he was coming home early to lay down the floor tile in the master bathroom.  So I hurriedly gathered all the clothes I could possibly need for warm weather or cold weather...depending on the weather.  I tried to gather daily clothes, go to the nursing home to sing Sat night clothes, and church clothes.  We'll see at the point of need if I forgot anything.  Once the tile is set in mortar, we can't walk on it to get to the closet for nearly 24 hours!

Therefore, we were late and just missed the ribbon cutting. 

Mrs. Dana came over and gave us hugs (she works as her husband's secretary) and sent my son off to get the food!  We were pleasantly surprised by the spread!

While eating, my son finally noticed something I had noticed.  No other children were there.  In fact, there was hardly anyone younger than me there!  Some people there were rather, well, ancient!  When we studied Texas history I had put together my own lesson plans and we had studied the history of this town and we sat talking about it.  I told the kids some of these ancient people could have had parents or grandparents that came from the old country and might even speak some Alsatian.  They might even be speaking Alsatian now...if only we could listen in! 

Then Loretta, our hygenist showed up with more cookies that her aunt had baked! After he took another cookie, ds assured her he would brush his teeth that night.  Then we told her we thought we'd only get bottled water and carrot sticks at the dentist's party!  She laughed and said they like junk food too!  They just brush and floss regularly! 

Loretta is our favorite dental hygenist.  She is our only hygenist...or at least we fight for that!  She is in semi-retirement now and we work to make sure she is available for our next appointment.  When she went on summer vacation, that interfered with our appointments, so Mrs. Dana wrote sticky notes to the receptionist to call us to rebook!   

My kids have Sensory Integration Disorder and so any change, espcially when they were younger, or bit of pain can rattle them.  Loretta is the calmest, easiest going lady one could ever hope to meet.  She has a smile on her face, speaks softly but carries no stick!  She knows how to clean our sensitive teeth in the least invasive way...we are big babies!  She also lives very close to us, so I wondered how she ever got a job in this little town.  After chatting for a while, we found out that she is from this town!  She goes to her mom's house for lunch and sometimes has leftovers to take home!  We got to meet her mom and aunt and brag about Loretta!

I asked about her heritage and she has no idea if her ancestors came from Alsace or not!  Well, how many of us have never visited that really famous tourist attraction in our backyard?  The funny thing was, one of those ancient people who might have been speaking Alsatian with her friends turned out to be her sweet mother!  lol

When the Dana's took over the old dental office from when I was a kid, they did a remodel and turned that old very dental office into a charming country dental office.  You know how a dental office is just a dental office?  It's like they are all the same.  That is not true of their new office.  I got to have my teeth cleaned recently about 1 week after they opened in their new location.  From what I could see, they had all but one wall wall papered. The entire place was gorgeous! And the treatment is incredible! I was very cold and wearing shorts, sleeveless blouse and flip flops because it was so hot outdoors.  So Loretta went into the cabinet and pulled out a clear plastic bag and opened it and there was a lovely soft daisy covered fleece to keep me cozy!

Well, take a look at the inside shots of their new office...

From here I am panning around to the right...

Here is the front door...

Still panning right...

Still panning right...

Still panning right...

Saturday we drove out to the hill country to climb up the batholith of an old volcano with the teens in my 14yod Awana Club. Called Enchanted Rock by the Indians and early settlers because of strange spooky noises at night, we now know this is merely a result of this granite hill cooling off at night after  daytime heating. Now, I realize this is merely Texas, and this hill we are climbing is a scant 1825' elevation.  Unlike our hikes in the massive Rocky Mountains, this was a mere 300' elevation climb.  However, have you ever climbed 300' straight up?  The teens take this hill running, whereas my thighs are burning, my lungs are about to bust, my heart is racing...and I must take frequent stops to enjoy the view.  Yes, there is a bit of a view in Texas!

 That pink hill ahead is solid granite...the hill we must climb.

Heading up...

My first of many huffing and puffing breaks...so I took a picture of the view...

Time for another break...see the interesting mushroom shaped rocks?  I think we found one one time that looked like a throne.  But with this group, I have to hurry.  The teens and the dads are out to conquer...

Taking another break to gather air and check out the surroundings...

The Indians used this hill as a vantage point...

Almost to the top...

Finally, the view from the top...

We had to climb down a little bit on the other side to get to the caves under these rocks. The teens spent quite a bit of time climbing and exploring...

These huge lizards were playing all over the rocks too...

Finally, heading down to a hiking trail...

Who picked this hiking trail?  I had an awful time trying to balance (with one balance nerve, weak back and knee) on tons of rocks in a gully.  Thankfully, there was no threat of flash flooding.  I was in a hurry, trying to keep up with those teens!  I did get a shock looking up at the rocks (praying that there'd be no rock slide!)...

Finally, a flat dirt trail.  Although it was easier, it was about an hour around the backside of the hill where we got lost, as always.  But 3 of us adults and my dd beat everyone else to the picnic tables...

After a picnic the group played tag football.  12yos intensely dislikes football.  But when he found out I played a little flag football in jr. high PE, he couldn't be outdone by Mom.  So he played.  I like how the Awana leader of the teen game time (who led the football playing that day) includes everyone.  Even 12yos got a few moments to carry the ball and play quarterback and kick the ball.  He never gets to do that in the lower club!

On the way home, we had to stop because a group of animals was crossing the road.  As all the cars slowed down, I grabbed my camera for a photo op, reminiscent of the times I captured Colorado wildlife on the side of the road with my camera.  This never happens to us in Texas.  What could be up there?

Oh, goats.  Oh well.  Come b-a-a-a-ck soon! 

Sunday was ds's 12th birthday!  Eversince his arrival into the world, he has been full of boundless energy and I've been wiped out!  lol  In fact, he was so excited about making his appearance into the world, he was born 6 weeks early!  He's had more than his share of doctor appointments for various issues, one of which was diagnosed by 1 year of age, Sensory Integration Disorder.  He had seriously fallen off of the growth chart, not enjoying most textures in foods.  His wonderful occupational therapist gave me tons of OJT in how to incorporate a sensory diet to nourish his vestibular, proprioceptor and texture senses.  In fact, dd was also diagnosed.  One of the best things I learned was that the outdoors makes for wonderful sensory diet experiences.  Even though we were then living 350 miles away, we often came back to the San Antonio area, mostly for medical check ups with specialists.  To celebrate his birthday, we started a tradition of taking him to Landa Park in New Braunfels, about 30 miles north. (By the way, the elementary school where I student taught is in view of the park.) He continues to enjoy going to this park every birthday. DS grew up loving trains, and this park has a wonderful train ride around the lovely park.  DH told the train conductor it was ds's birthday and he got a free ride!

After a picnic lunch and train ride, we headed for the springs.  There aren't a lot of springs in TX.  But in central Texas, an ancient earthquake left huge changes.  Numerous springs from Austin to San Antonio pump water from an aquifer.  This is how we get our water supply.  So we watch the aquifer levels daily.  During drought, I have seen these springs dried up.  Heavy rains this summer has caused the springs to flow in abundance this year.  These are the Comal Springs.  While looking at these springs, to the left of us for miles to the gulf coast extends the flat  Blackland Prairie.  To our immediate right begins the Hill Country.

Look how crystal clear the water is...

Looking towards the springs...

Further upstream looking towards the springs...

Looking upstream....

We usually have a science lesson here, talking about the springs and their formation.  I wasn't even thinking of doing that, since I was so busy taking pictures.  But ds started asking me about specific details, pointing to the diagrams on the signboards.  I told him I have tons of material on the subject at home that we could incorporate into his science lessons.  He's excited about that!  Where the stream becomes a lake (that's a pink and purple paddleboat out there, time for us to catch one!)...

We all got on the same paddle boat and the guys did the paddling.  I had to work at not falling out while I tried to keep my balance and take pictures (I have only 1 balance nerve because of previous head surgery....makes life interesting at times!)

Can anyone identify this fruit????

Turtles sunbathing...

Another sunbather....

Fine feathered friends coming to greet us...

The train...

You can see the play area in the spring fed pool where the water is a constant 68-72 degrees year round...

The first hill of the hill country up ahead...

Impermeable limestone...this is the type in our backyard.  No water from our backyard can seep into the aquifer, even though our house sits on top of the aquifer.

Permeable limestone...that type that makes up the ground in the recharge zone.  When it rains, water drips through those cracks where it is purified by the time it reaches the underground aquifer.

The lake becomes a river again...you can see the water spilling over the banks...

Looking at the edge of the park at the dam...

Further down river, families often tube....something we've not done yet!  This is the Comal River, the shortest river in Texas.

Giant oak...bet you never thought Texas had trees and water!  I don't know how many people I've met who thought that all of Texas looked like the cowboy movies!  lol