Gruene, TX

Eric and I took a last-minute trip to Gruene, Tx for a little R&R. Neither of us have been to visit this quaint little town, home of the oldest dance hall in Texas.  Gruene, Tx is located within the city limits of New Braunfels. It has a 1840's German farmer/settler history, but was wiped out by a boll weevil plague in the 20's. The only business that remained open through it all was Gruene Hall. A group of people restored the town in the mid-70's. The result is what you see today: antique shops, gift stores, boutiques, a potter, wine tasting, music, drinks, food, etc. 

We arrived Friday late Friday evening and caught the end of World Series game 7.  WHAT a huge letdown that the Rangers could not pull out a win...2nd year in a row.  After a few drinks at the local bar, we headed back to our cottage for the night.

We woke up Saturday morning and went back to town for a day full of good eats and lots of shopping and browsing. We went to Gruene Hall to see the Bruce & Charlie Robison show, an acoustic song-swapping setting.  An added bonus: the opening act was Jamie Wilson from The Trishas. It was a great night with some great music!

Lone Star Music store, Gruene, Tx

One of the many shops we visited.

Gruene Hall

 We packed our things Sunday morning and made a quick run to the Gristmill for some Chicken Fried Steak before jetting out of town. It's fortunate that I was eating this for breakfast; I'm fairly certain that if I was there for dinner I would have been totally stuffed!

Gruene, Tx

We headed home up Highway 281, with 5 wineries in our route.  We made it to four: Comal Creek, William & Chris (my favorite so far), Stonehouse, and Spicewood. 

Eric, looking very serious about this wine. This imposter (Stone House) has all wine from Australia.

But they had some cool tables.

Can you see the small grin on his face? This means he is relaxing.

Final stop!

This little guy was in heaven chasing some fish.

Cannot put the new iphone down.

What a fun few days to spend with my honey!

The End of an Era....or is it?

Addison's soccer season ends this weekend, and I won't be there to watch her last game. I started a new job this week and was asked to spend this 1 Saturday at the club doing some training. It just dawned on me that this may be Addison's last soccer game ever. (I hope she'll play again in the Spring).

Since she is now in the U14 division, the United now play on the biggest field in the park.  This presents a challenge for snapping good pictures of her.  But I was able to get a few.  

I'm so proud of this girl! I tell her everytime she comes off of the field, but I think she blows it off because she has so many people that are proud of her. I guess she's blessed that way.



I love this picture



Cousin Ezra spent the day with us & he was so supportive
of his cousins, cheering for them at each game.

A little down time.

I think she's 5'2" now. Sheesh.

Addison's 12th Birthday

Being a Walker has many benefits. One of which is birthdays.

Addison started out her 12th birthday weekend with her dad at the Taylor Swift concert at Cowboys Stadium.  While her Dad insists this is not a big deal, the rest of the world knows that there are very few young girls who have a chance to go to a music concert, sit in Floor seats, and be 20 rows away from the most famous pop/country artist in the world. 

The following day we were supposed to be attending Game 2 of the ALCS championship series, Texas Rangers vs Detroit Tigers, but it was postponed by a day due to forecasted rains.  I like to think that the rain that the State of Texas received (2-8 inches) was a birthday gift from above, but Addison may not agree. 

Fortunately, the kids had Monday off from school for Columbus day, so attending the 3pm game was not a problem.  In preparation, we had some cupcakes and opened presents.

Happy Birthday Addison!

Addison & Eric before their trip to the Taylor Swift concert.

New Volleyball from Aunt Emilie & the Jacobuses



In this video, you will notice Preston is being a little absurd because we had just watched the video from his 3rd birthday where his mean ol' big sister was bossing him around. =0)

Texas State Fair

I don't ever remember going to the Fair when we were growing up & I don't really ever make plans to go when it comes around each October.  Eric & I have not been to the Texas State Fair in about 5 years....and we've never taken the kids, so we had a fun-filled day in store when the Powers invited us to join them.

First up: the animal barn

Reagan, Addison, Eric, Preston, Jackson

Quite possibly the largest pig on the planet.

Can you see the baby legs sticking out of her pouch? So cool!

Can you imagine? Oh my gosh.

Preston & Jackson, trying not to get poked by the Emu.

Since we have not been to the fair in so long, we were way overdue to try the many fried-food creations. Among the adult selections were Fried Cheesecake, Fried Beer, Fried Kraut Balls, Fried Tamale Balls, and Fried Corn Dogs (a must). We skipped the fried butter, fried pecan pie, fried snickers, fried biscuits & gravy....to name a few.

One of several food breaks.

PatPat, Amy, and Eric trying out 'Kraut Balls.

 After dragging the kids through a few buildings of displays, we finally made it to the midway for games and rides.

Preston & Reagan - both winners.

Addison & Reagan are somewhere in this picture.

We were pretty sure Reagan was going to fly out of this.

Addison & Reagan



We wrapped up our super day watching KC & the Sunshine band, an 8 hour trip in all. 

Big Tex



Team Dynamo

Preston decided to play soccer again this fall & I'm so glad that he did. He's really pretty good at it & he is a big contributor to his team's success. I like to see him get out there every Saturday morning and give it his all!



He has a great coach - Coach Rachel.  She is 'very intense' as I like to say because she does not let these 8 year olds mess around.  She is doing a great job developing them from the little-kid soccer to the big-kid soccer. (These are my technical terms).  And they have alot of fun playing for her.

Preston spitting in the Goalie's gloves for good luck.

They all get such a kick out of this ritual.

Preston, #7

He does quite a bit on this team. Forward, defense, throw in's, corner kicks.

Funny that both of these boys are airborn in this shot.

2nd Half - Preston playing goalie.

Kicking the ball after a Save.