Bowline Knot - The Ultimate Knot

We recently bought Hampton a kid's swing for the tree in our front yard. Ben went out to hang it one night and came in after only a few short minutes. "I need you to look up how to tie a bowline knot," he said. "Papa taught us how to tie one with one hand and our eyes closed when we were little, but I can't figure it out." We found a great knot-tying website and practiced a few times before we climbed up the ladder. It was a little different trying to tie it around a tree. After lots of laughs we hung the swing, and it's even level! Papa would be so proud and Hampton is LOVING his swing. He bangs on the front door wanting to go outside and if he hears a door open he kicks it into high gear to make it out before it closes. The weather has been beautiful and we have truly enjoyed being outside.

Check out those bubbles he's blowing :)

We have a blue bird nest in our backyard. The parents always attack Sydney when she goes near it. The other day, Ben called us into the office to look at one of the babies. This was Hampton's first experience with a wild animal...and this one was WILD. He was very interested, but probably would not have been very gentle. I love that he is so interested in animals!!! He's like his mommy.

Spring

Over the past few weeks we have had some fun outings. The weather has been pretty so the park and the Dallas Arboretum have been calling our names. Here are a few pictures from our spring fever.

Getting some exercise with Caleb

The Dallas Arboretum

Such a big boy standing up

Fresh cut grass...yummy!

Any tips on using photo shop to get rid of those orange cones?

He loved the soft green grass (unlike at home)

Look at me!!!

All that fun wore him out

He is CRAZY about his Daddy!

Playing tough with Caleb

1st baseball hat...

"Get this nasty OU thing off my head"

I've put this off long enough!

I would like to blame my blogging absence on our super crazy busy life, but the truth is...I just haven't had the desire. It has been a long time since I posted about our family, so I'm sure this will be a long one.

In March, we went to South Carolina with Gran and Poppy. Hampton and I flew out on a Wednesday evening. Our flight was quite a challenge since we were crammed into a 6 inch seat next to a man who was trying to sleep. Hampton did not want to follow his example and squirmed the ENTIRE time. Needless to say, we spent most of our flight "playing" in the isle and in the front by the cockpit. Hampton and I got to spend 4 full days at The Cliffs outside of Greenville. The Cliffs is a golfing community with great restaurants and wellness centers. The first night we had a wonderful dinner with white table cloths and everything. This was Hampton's first fancy dinner. I was a little nervous about how he would behave since we had been traveling all day and he hadn't napped well. His behavior was great, but he threw up all over Gran and the fancy white table cloth. We managed to catch most of it, but it was still an embarrassing mess. The next day, Gran and I got massages while Poppy watched Hampton. Just before we left, I put Hampton down for a nap and told Poppy that we would probably be back before he woke up, so it should be pretty easy. He assured me that Hampton would have a dirty diaper while we were gone and he would end up changing it. Sure enough...before he fell asleep he had a dirty diaper and cried until Poppy cleaned up. He never naps with dirty britches. Ben joined us Thursday night after his meetings. All 5 of us played golf on Friday morning. It was overcast and cold, but Hampton was a trooper. Gran and I played alternate ball for the first 9 holes. Let's just say I didn't contribute much to our journey to the hole :). Hampton and I spent the afternoon resting while everyone else finished the round. Saturday the boys played golf while Gran, Hampton and I went to a small town for a "funsie" lunch. We strolled along main street and ducked into a few little shops, but ended up spending our money on treats from a bakery and a few toys for H. Gran bought him a wooden shapes puzzle and magnets that spell his name. He loves the magnets!!! When he is in the kitchen he always plays with them. His new found trick on the trip was waving. We have been trying to get him to wave for awhile, but for some reason he loved waving at Gran...and eventually everyone else.
Hampton was a trooper!!! We went to some fancy restaurants and he was perfect. On more than one occasion we were at the dinner table for more than 2 hours and he remained content. We have been blessed with such a precious boy...I'm a little nervous about his future siblings ;). He has spoiled me!
Before Hampton and I flew home on Sunday, we went for a nature walk. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the scenery. We all talked about how much fun it will be when our WHOLE family gets to go to The Cliffs. Hampton and I flew home Sunday evening and it went much better than our flight out. We had 2 seats to ourselves on the front row with lots of room to play on the floor.

Thank you Gran and Poppy for such a great trip!

Downtown Greenville

Sweet Poppy

Golf Course with Gran

Not a Huge Fan of the Prickly Grass

The Boys

The Waterfall on Our Nature Walk

Our Sweet Family of Three

His Newest Trick...Waving

Ridin' on Daddy's Shoulders

Playing Like a Big Boy on the Plane

At Home, Playing with His Magnets