Seeing Gruene - Day 8

On our last day with Natalee we decided to visit a small old German village near New Brunfels called Gruene (pronounced green - just like the color.) But when we drove in we discovered that, of course, a river runs through it, and in these parts, where there is a river, there are folks tubing. Suddenly, most of our gang lost all interest in exploring the quaint little town of Gruene, and wanted to go tubing instead. Good thing Dennis bought those tubes, huh? So after we dropped Dennis, Nate, the twins, Caleb, and Lorin off at the river, Natalee and I were allowed to explore the fun little shops with only our three little ones, and Alex along to help. It actually worked out perfect, because I would NOT have wanted to bring all those kids into those fun shops.

We were also lucky enough to stumble upon quite a nice craft market where artisans were showing their wares. Natalee got some cool fused glass earrings, and we also got a few fun things for our parents.

I loved what someone did with old windows, and the shelves and other fabulous decor made from old tin ceilings. Oh, how I wish we had room in our car!

We also got to explore an old Victorian home that was now an antique store.

I was drooling over this green room with the yellow and red toile! If only I had a girl.

Luke and Brynn were very good in the stores.

Of course there were things that the kids enjoyed too, like the toy store with all kinds of imaginative and unusual toys, and the garden shop with the fountains and the doves in a big cage that Ethan really liked. I liked that they sold ice cold water bottles, because by this point we were pretty darn hot. That is probably why the kids were so drawn to the water features.

We enjoyed exploring the Gruene General Store, packed full of sundry items and samples of Texas specialty foods. My favorite was the pecan honey butter. Oh my! I'd make a trip back to Texas for some of that right now!

We explored a bit more of the town. I just loved the old German and Victorian architecture.

And of course so good ol' western barns and silos.

It was really a cool place.

I wanted to take this old gazebo with the swing home with me. It would be great in my backyard, don't you think?

It was getting pretty hot walking around, so we decided to slip into a large Antique mall where Natalee was happy to find a vintage 50s era dress pattern in her size. She is a talented seamstress and I can't wait to see that darling dress on her.

But for the kids, the coolest thing in the whole huge antique barn was this traffic signal, all lit up and on the ground. They had so much fun turning their bellies and hands different colors and gave a whole new dimension to the game "red light, green light" We couldn't tear those two away.

Now that would have been a cool thing to strap on top of the car and bring home with us!

After a few hours, Dennis called us and told us where down river to come pick them up. They had had a terrific float down the river, and we had had a great little bit of girl time together. It worked out perfectly.

Unfortunately, that is where we had to say goodbye, since we had to go in different directions - Natalee, back home to Abilene, about 5 hours north, and us to our final stop, Houston, a few hours east.

It was hard to say goodbye! We had such a great time with these guys! I know the cousins had a blast together, and I always love to spend time with my baby sister. Love you Nat!