Backyardigans LIVE!!

Yesterday we took the boys to see Backyardigans LIVE at the Hobby Center in downtown Houston. James got really into the story asking lots of questions and answering the characters every time they asked the audience a question. John sat on Brian's lap completely mesmerized by the songs and dancing. He would clap and laugh at the end of each song. They had such a wonderful time. Thanks MawMaw for the tickets!! Here are just a couple of photos. They didn't want people taking pictures during the show.

The stage


Before the show started


John mesmerized by the show

Officially retired!

This past Friday was my last day at work for at least the next few years. I'm really looking forward to spending lots of quality time with the boys before they head off to school in the coming years. I've got lots of fun activities planned for us and I can't wait to get started!!

My 29th Birthday and trip to Schlitterbahn

Man, I feel so old. We celebrated my 29th birthday this past weekend. We left town around noon on Friday and drove up to Georgetown to hang out with Judy and Steve. We went to dinner and then sat on the patio eating ice-cream. I put the boys to bed before Brian took me down to the Barnes and Noble in Round Rock for the Breaking Dawn release party. My sister and I had a blast getting coffee and browsing the bookstore before picking up our books at midnight. I ended up staying up until 4 am reading.

Just a few short hours later Brian and James came to pick us up and we all headed down to Schlitterbahn. James had an absolute blast at the park. We took him on two of the big tube chute rides and he LOVED them. We spent some time at the kiddie areas of the park as well. After lunch my cousin, her husband and three kids arrived and we all went to the new sections of the park. We rode around on the lazy river and Torrent. I took James on the body slides on the huge pirate ship at Blastenhoff. We headed back to the old park and tried to ride a tube chute but the line was way too long. We ended up walking back along the river and stopping to do a ride whose line wasn't quite as long. We ate funnel cake and then got dressed and headed home. James crashed before we made it to the highway. We met my mom at Joe's Crabshack for dinner (super yum!!!) and then headed back to Georgetown. I stayed up late reading again.

Saturday night we all slept well. Man were we beat. We got all packed up and headed home mid morning. I read almost the whole way home (man that book is long). We got home, unpacked and put the boys down for a nap. After they woke up, we headed down to Kristen's for pizza and more birthday celebrations (her niece Aly was turned 7 on Sunday). We're so glad to have the kids back in town. It's been an awful quiet summer. The boys were so happy to have their friends back. We left when it was bedtime and I continued reading until midnight. The book was so great!!

I took a waterproof camera to Schlitterbahn and will post pictures as soon as I get them developed.

Adventures in Potty Training

It has officially begun!! John is all done wearing diapers and is now in Pull-ups. I've been trying to sit him on the potty each morning this week and today he finally peed. At first it was kind of an accident. I asked him if he had any more and he said yes. Then he made an effort to actually go. He did that two more times before he said he was all done and flushed the toilet. I was so proud of him!! Hopefully it won't be too long before he's consistently using the potty throughout the day.

John's favorite summer treat

John's new favorite treat is ice-cream. Below is a picture of him after he's finished. He insists on feeding himself so it gets everywhere. Thankfully we had vanilla from Sonic that night and it wasn't hard to clean up his car seat. I must make a mental note not to let him have chocolate ice-cream in the car.

Super Busy Weekend!!

This was a super busy weekend for the Hadleys. It was Brian's first weekend home so he spent lots of time with the boys. We went to see Kung Fu Panda as a family Thursday evening. Then Friday we celebrated the 4th of July with a BBQ at our house. We had lots of family in town and the boys had a blast playing with their cousins Julia, Jayna, and Gino. We stayed up to watch some neighbors doing fireworks in our neighborhood.

We had a pretty low key Saturday. The rest of the family hit the beach but neither Brian or I wanted to risk a sunburn (well mainly Brian) before our anniversary dinner at Perry's. We took the boys to the pool for a bit in the afternoon so James could show off his new swimming skills. After the pool, Brian and I got cleaned up and headed out to dinner. Perry's has a great atmosphere. It really reminded us of the steakhouse at the Bellagio where we celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. Granted, there was no view of the fountains but the food was still fantastic. It's so nice to have a really nice meal once a year without the kids.

Sunday was super busy. After church, we made a quick stop at Katy Urgent Care to have someone look at John's eyes. We suspected he had pink eye and were right. Thankfully there was no wait and the pharmacy was really fast. After that, we headed up to my parent's house (our old house) for breakfast. We let the boys play with their cousins until lunch time. We picked up some food on the way home and then put the boys down for a nap (there's no way they would have napped with all the excitement at Mom and Dad's). Once they got up, we headed back up to Mom and Dad's for dinner and swimming. Our friend Will came down for dinner and showed us all the stuff for his new house. After we finished swimming, we drove up to see where Will's house was going to be built. We got there just before the sales guy left and got to walk through the model. We think it's going to be a perfect house for him. A lot bigger than his apartment but not too big.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures to share. I know I should have taken at least a few but I was just too busy to whip out the camera.

Swimming pictures and video

As promised, here are some photos and a from yesterday's class. James can jump into the water, swim to his teacher, swim back to the wall and them swim to the steps. I was so impressed and he seemed to be having a great time. His teacher has been doing an awesome job with him.

James jumping in


James swimming to his teacher


James climbing out of the pool


Video of James swimming