Fourth of July Weekend!

We started our long holiday weekend with a little time in the pool. The weather was amazing on Friday, so we hoped in when Daddy came home early from work. Liz really loves swimming with Bryan!

After a nice swim we headed upstairs to have some popsicles- Lizzie's first popsicle ever! It was a hit..

 I just had to include this one, look at that tummy! We had to upgrade to a bigger suit!

 We went back to the pool the next day. We drove the kids all the way to the Woodlands to look at houses in the morning, so we thought that they deserved another round of swimming that afternoon too!

 More popsicles- this time bomb pops to celebrate the fourth!

 On the morning of the fourth we headed to a couple of parks to play. The kids were really liking being outside! This is the second park of the day- it had a splash pad for the kids, but Liz was too small to play (it had LOTS of water) so instead she and I ran around and played. She wasn't sure about this big hippo.....

 But the "wings" (as she calls them) were super fun. I think she was in this swing almost 30 minutes, and she cried when I took her out to go home!

 Henry requested Old Mcdonalds for lunch, and being that it was a holiday, he got it! Yum!

 After some much needed naps we took the kids up to Cinco Ranch in Katy. They were having a big holiday festival. We got there nice and early and we were able to wander around, eat and play before the fireworks.

 Henry went into the bouncy house and did the big slide. I was a little surprised he wanted to do either, but it was fun! (all except getting attacked by fire ants while waiting in line- me, not henry! Ouch!)

They were playing some music in the center of the shopping area, and Henry was really getting down!

 It was HOT, so we let Henry play a little in the splash fountains.... he thought that this was pretty cool!

 Then we got some ice cream, which Liz thought was cool! Ha.

 After a couple hours of wandering around playing, looking at the firetrucks, dancing and eating treats we found ourselves a place to sit to and watch the fireworks. We thought that they might both freak out with the noise of the fireworks- but surprisingly both did very well!

We had a great weekend, we were sad that our families couldn't be here to hang out with us though! We both remarked at the end of the night that going to an event like this one is something we normally stay away from- with two kids it seems hard, but we broke out of our comfort zone, and boy are we glad we did!

Park Time!

A quick trip to the park, one HOT afternoon. Henry loves this park, it has so much to do... there isn't really a small play area for Liz so one of us always has to be chasing her around, but she likes that part too!

 Henry was a little worried about this bridge, it moved so he was afraid he might fall (my cautious baby!)

 They road on the boat......

 Bryan and Liz liked it too!

 But it was HOT. Like really warm. And after a little sweet tea it was time to head home and go to the pool!!!

Swim!

Since there is a pool at Bryan's apartment we decided it would be worth it to try and teach Henry to swim this summer. The last two summers were spent playing at Nana's pool and he was always doing well by the end of the summer- never actually swimming alone, but comfortable in the water and with his abilities.

This year we noticed that he was a little more afraid of the water and the pool in general. He wanted someone to hold him the entire time he was in the pool- making it difficult for me to take the kids alone. After some research we found the Puddle Jumper at a local sporting store and snatched one up. Henry picked the color he wanted and we came home to try it out! He couldn't wait.

Bryan took him down to the pool after work, and although I was able to catch this photo, I am told it took him nearly 45 minutes to leave the steps. It's ok. Small steps. Right?

 He was so proud of himself, he kept saying, "Look at me mommy! I can swim now!"

 Once he was comfortable in the new life vest I was able to take him to the pool with sister in tow. They have been having such a fun time swimming here. We think that we will enroll them both in swim lessons for the fall and winter months, we don't want to lose any ground this year!

 Of course, sister loves the pool too. She likes to go underwater, she likes to jump in off the side. But mostly, she likes daddy (she says "daaaay") to swim with her. It is pretty amazing to me, Henry NEVER liked jumping in or going underwater.

 Love her little smocked swim!

Our first trip to Texas

Bryan moved to Houston in March and we stayed in Denver. At first, it wasn't too bad. We had family and friends who were there to visit us, invite us to dinner and help make our transition a little easier. Daddy came home every 2-3 weeks for the weekend. It was great, we got to spend time with each other as a family and it seemed like old times. But come Monday morning it was heartbreaking- both for me and for my kids. Henry would wake up and ask where Daddy had gone, and when we realized he had gone "to work" he would breakdown. It was awful. To top it off he was reverting back to his pre-potty trained ways. We knew how upset he was, so we planned a special weekend in Texas. We left sister at home and had a GREAT time.

We left on a Friday, we got to the airport nice and early for our flight- Henry hadn't flown in almost 18 months, so I wanted him to feel comfortable and have a couple minutes to have a snack, watch the planes and run around. We got a little more that we bargained for, however. Our flight was delayed 2 hours (just before we were getting ready to board, boo) so we sat in the terminal, had "Old McDonald's" and played with a couple of boys the same age- they were having a great time. Until we were delayed ANOTHER 2 hours. Henry did so well, he never cried or complained- I was so proud of him!

On Saturday morning we got up bright and early (ha! 10am. We didn't get to daddy's until midnight, so we all slept nice and late!) and headed to Kemah boardwalk. It was a warm, overcast day and there was a big festival going on. We walked around first and Henry decided that the train was the first thing he wanted to do!

 Then we went to drive the boats- he loved this and even though we never actually paid to drive one (he just thought he was driving it!) he played for almost 30 minutes!

 He was so not interested in taking photos- but this fun old police car was pretty cool!

After another train ride and some lunch we let Henry run in the fountains. It is one of his favorite things to do in Colorado and we thought it was just the right time of day to let him get soaked! He had so much fun, but he was worn out!

 We wandered around the boardwalk- we saw baby crabs, played some games and had an ice cream. We headed home, and Henry was too excited to sleep. We had a nice night at the house- watched a movie and had Henry's favorite dinner- chicken nuggets!

 Sunday morning we got up and took Henry to play at the playground then headed over to Hermann Park to walk around and ride the train. Yes, another train! We had to wait in line for almost an hour, but it was worth it. He loved seeing the park.

 (he only smiled in this photo because I promised to buy him a train at the end!)

 After a nice lunch in Rice Village we headed home to swim in Daddy's pool. It really liked having a pool in the backyard (like Nana!) Lucky for us, we were the only people at the pool all afternoon, so we were able to relax and enjoy for a couple hours.

 After the pool we headed to dinner and came home to pack our bags- we had a VERY early flight the next morning so Henry wouldn't miss school. We were sad to leave Daddy in Houston, but we knew that we would be back to see him soon!

(watching a movie with Parker!)