A Weekend Trip to Nashville

We picked Kenedy up from school early on Thursday and headed to Nashville to meet Maddie McPherson, my new niece!  The girls were so excited!  I was, too!  First, because I couldn't wait to hold Maddie and Second, because I've never been to Nashville, well at least that I can remember, and I've ALWAYS wanted to go to the Grand Ole Opry.  But first we had to survive the plane ride from SA!  We were a bit nervous, because Hudson had woken up from his nap at about 11 am and was supposed to take another one on the way... that didn't happen.  So, we thought for sure he'd sleep on the plane... that didn't happen either.  He was a good boy, though, just loud, hyperactive, and all over the place!  Did I mention that the flight was overbooked by seven people?!

Arriving at the Airport

Finally on the Plane - Can you tell they're excited?!

Hudson Flirting with the Flight Attendants

More Flirting (She would just come by, pick him up and take him with her!)

Technology Overload (Whatever works, right?)

It got a little crazy towards the end!

Hudson was delirious at this point!  (6:30 pm, still no nap)

We made it from the airport to the hotel, piece of cake, until the front desk told us that our reservation was mixed up.  Hudson goes to bed much earlier than the girls, so we have to have two connecting rooms so that we can separate them.  Well, they had two rooms, but they were not connecting.  The lady even had the audacity to ask why the girls couldn't stay in one by themselves!  She said that we could lock them in there.  I won't even get into my reaction or even the rest of the two hour wait in the lobby.  Long story short, we got in our room at 10:30 and Hudson finally went to sleep at 10:50 p.m.  We saw a side of him we had never seen before!

Off the next morning to see Miss Maddie!

Finally, I got to hold her!  She is a sweetheart!

We had lunch and then headed to the Adventure Science Center.  It was amazing!  I wish we had one here!

The girls lifted a car!  WOW!

John and Uncle John in the Flight Simulator

I don't think they knew what they were in for!

And guess who we found in TN?  Momo and Mop (John's Parents)!!!  We were so excited to see them!  We played the Glow-In-The-Dark Putt-Putt course.  Hudson loved it!

And Maddie enjoyed it, too!

I missed it, but they said Hudson escaped through the plants and they found him playing with the coconuts in the sand in the front window display!  That would've made for a great picture!

We then went to eat at the Aquarium Restaurant, which was a lot of fun!

Couldn't pass up the Carousel!

Hudson slept in the next morning and the girls enjoyed their breakfast in peace!

Saturday night Momo and Mop came over to our hotel to watch Hudson so John and I could take the girls to the Grand Ole Opry!

Sunday morning, we got up early to ride the boat through the hotel.  It was one of their favorite things!

Hudson thought it was a Dive Boat.

I have to include some photos of the hotel, the Gaylord Opryland.  It really seemed like we were outside!  The plants and waterfalls were gorgeous!  And the hotel itself was gigantic!  We walked around there everyday, and I don't think we saw all of it.

We then headed to Mary's for some pizza and cupcakes for my birthday!  Thanks, Mary, John, Momo and Mop!

Decorating my Cupcakes

Look at this sweet little face!

We then headed to the airport in Nashville.  I couldn't believe they had an indoor playground on our wing.  All airports should have those!

Hudson flew home in the lap of a Miller Lite girl.  Again... a little flirt!  I couldn't bring myself to take a picture.  It was a whirlwind trip, but we had a blast and absolutely LOVED getting to meet Maddie and see Mary, John, Momo and Mop!  Hopefully we'll see all of them again real soon!

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Hadyn's PreSchool Journey Begins

Hadyn has been wanting to go to school ever since Kenedy started.  She was always such a "Momma's Girl" that I thought I would have to homeschool her.  However, here lately she has become much more sociable and outgoing, almost more than Kenedy, which is saying alot.  I hadn't even thought about putting her in PreSchool because ONE, she's my baby girl and I would dearly miss her company throughout the day and TWO, because the nearest PreSchool is about 20 miles away, in the exact opposite direction of Kenedy's school, which would be a commitment I'm not willing to make.  Well, one day I spotted a flyer on our community bulletin board for "The Jabberwocky Journey," a PreSchool for kids ages three to five.  I called the number just for kicks and was super surprised when she said it was in OUR neighborhood, and actually on OUR street!  I thought that had to be a sign!  We went to the Open House and it was a huge hit for both Hadyn and Kenedy.  Kenedy was ready to transfer herself there!  Miss Ally has started this up this year out of her home.  It is a state licensed PreSchool, which is good.  And she is the absolutely the sweetest lady, has that high-energy personality that I'd pay good money for, she's an amazing artist, and just all-in-all super creative!  Hadyn signed herself up and couldn't wait for it to start!

A week later we found this on our doorstep early one morning.

I cannot tell you how excited she was to dig into that box!

Is she proud or what?!

So, this week the day finally came when she got to wake up in the wee hours with Big Sister, sit at the infamous TV tray in the master bedroom to eat her breakfast, and got to do what the "real" school girls do.  John and I were dreading waking her up that morning, because... well... to put it nicely, she's NOT a morning person at all.  (She comes by it naturally, though.)  But to our surprise, she woke up in the best mood ever and couldn't wait to go to school!  While she was eating her breakfast, she kept saying, "I can't believe it." We were just laughing because it was soooo not what we EVER imagined her first day of school to be like.  She kept reminding Kenedy that it was her first day of school, and Kenedy kept reminding her that it was her 16th day of her third year of school.  (How she knew it was her 16th day is beyond me... but it was.)

Here are the "FIRST DAY" pics.

I think this was the first, first day of school where I didn't shed a tear.  But I just couldn't be sad, because she was so excited!  And it helps that she's only two doors down!  Her first day went great!  She came home with cupcakes that she made (they have cooking lessons), and three different art projects, which happens to be her favorite thing!  I sure do miss her, though!  Hudson and I are getting some quality time together, but he's definitely the happiest when his big sisters get home from school!

Finally... RAIN!!!

It has been incredibly dry here in Spring Branch and all of South Texas.  Our lake at the ranch has been drying up terribly.  We decided in May to take advantage of the dryness and repair the base of the swimming hole.  It was rocked who knows how many years ago and was not in good shape.  But being the procrastinators we are, we didn't call someone until last Monday, and they started Tuesday morning.  Here are the before pictures:

Swimming Hole During the Cement Pour:

After:  The VERY NEXT Day

I told John that he should feel responsible for the lack of rain in South Texas.  God was holding it back so that we could fix the swimming hole.  It filled up 12 hours after they poured the cement.  The concrete held up for the most part, except for the last area they worked.  It's much better than it was, though, that's for sure!  The kids were having a blast playing in the water running over the dam.

Hadyn's the only one who stayed somewhat dry!

Here's Poor Hudson trying to walk in the water:

I wanted to get a cute picture of them walking towards me holding hands.  Here's what I got:

I love Hudson's face in this one!

No babies were injured in the production of these pics.

Our fun evening ended spotting these deer and turkeys on the way out.

Here are some more rain pics.  We're enjoying it while it lasts!