Hill Country Wineries and Indoor Playgrounds

It's Monday once again, my friends. And as always that means it's time to reflect on the things that made us happy over the past week. And of course now is also the perfect time to set the tone for a great week to come! 

If you missed my take on LML, you can find it here. If you missed the explanation of LML Monday, you can catch up here. 


The Texas Hill Country might not be the first place you think of when you think of wine. But, then again, perhaps it should be.

Now, I haven't verified that statement. But why would a hand-written sign in a winery lie, right? True or not, though, the Texas Hill Country definitely does produce some pretty darn good wine.

I had the pleasure of taking wine tour on my recent trip to Texas, and sampling some of the goods. I don't drink a lot of wine, but I did sample some really good ones. And the wineries are beautiful, which made it even nicer. And I was with my family, in my favorite part of Texas. What's not to love?

The best thing about Sister Creek Vineyards, besides the award-winning wine, is the self-guided tour of the winery. My kids and their cousins took the tour while the adults did some tasting. Then my son took us all back so that he could give the tour and explain to us all about the wine-making process. He especially liked showing us where the wine was sleeping.

You wouldn't necessarily think "family friendly" when you think wine tour, I know. But for the most part they actually were. (We had several kids with us, ranging in age from 5 to 17.) They couldn't drink the wine, obviously, but there was always something for them to do, and they all had a good time.

The Messina Hof Winery had some really great wine, and some of the friendliest staff that I encountered. The grounds were absolutely gorgeous, and the kids sat outside and had a "chocolate tasting" while the adults had our wine tasting.

The wine at the Fredericksburg Winery is easily as delicious as any of the others. It was, however, the only place that we encountered what I would consider a "wine snob" on staff. That actually just made it more entertaining for the rest of us, though, so it was still a good time.

This place is also the one exception that I found to the "family friendly" rule. Not that the kids weren't allowed there, it just wan't as welcoming, and there wasn't really anything for them to do. Fortunately there is a really nice chocolatier next door, so that problem was easily solved.

Sadly, our Texas vacation had to come to an end last week, and we headed back home to Arizona. Sadder still, the temperatures since our return have consistently been in the 115 - 119 range. And it's been kind of hard on the kids, going from playing outside every day to being stuck in the house for fear of bursting into flames.

Fortunately there are a few indoor options around, so we try to make the most of it. Like Saturday, when my husband and I took the kids to our local McDonald's to play. It lets us all get out of the house for a little while, and gives them some freedom to run around and make some noise.

And there's ice cream. When it's this hot outside, ice cream is a must.

Ok. I shared mine - now it's your turn! Please feel free to leave me a comment and share some of your recent LML moments. Focus on the happy thoughts, and let's all have a great week!

And if you're a blogger and would like to get in on the LML fun, feel free to grab the code and join the blog hop! Your post doesn't specifically have to use the "LML" label (although you're welcome to use it if you'd like, and the graphic that goes along with it.) If you have any kind of happy, positive Monday message that you'd like to share you're welcome to join. The more happy vibes, the better the Monday!