Trip to the Country!

Yesterday I packed up the kids and headed to Cleburne, a small town about an hour outside of Dallas.
My good friend, Lizzie Dalley, moved to Cleburne from Dallas several years ago. She and her 2 unbelievably adorable girls, Emma and Grace, showed us a wonderful time out in the country!
After a tour of their beautiful home & a delicious stop at Chili's (the fancy restaurant in town!), we headed to the stables where Lizzie, Emma & Grace keep their horses & take their riding lessons. The horses were all beautiful & gentle & we had a great time getting to know them. Will was beyond excited about the horses. He just kept laughing & kicking in his baby bjorn. As much as she enjoyed the horses, nothing was more exciting to Savannah than the 3 baby kittens she got to play with. Thank you, Dalley family, for such a nice day!

Words that start with "L"

Savannah's little 2-year-old voice is one of the most precious sounds on earth & we just can't get enough of hearing all that she has to say.
Currently, we get a BIG kick out of hearing her say anything beginning with the letter "L", which she pronounces with a strong "Y" sound.
So, we smile when she says, "I Yove You", or when she talks about her favorite show, "Yittle Bear", and, most of all, when she eats spicy food and complains, "My Yips hurt!" She sure keeps us yaughing!!!

Family Day

We had such a great Memorial Day, spending time together as a family.
Rod got up early to play tennis & then we all headed over to the University Park pool for the big opening day! We love our neighborhood pool, and we are so excited to spend many lazy hours there over the summer! Scattered showers were looming over Dallas all day, so Savannah was the only kid in the pool! The water was really cold, but she was so excited about swimming that she held strong. At one point, she grabbed Rod's hands & begged him to come into the water with her. Rod said, "no way, it's too cold!", to which Savannah responded (through chattering teeth), "No, it's not cold. It's really really hot!" She loves being a little trickster!

Eventually, we had to leave the pool because of too much rain, so we headed up to the Mall to shop & play. Savannah & Will enjoyed the playplace. Will loves the attention he gets from all of the other kids & adults. He's too cute to go unnoticed!


Savannah went for a train ride in one of the Mall's toy stores. She loves saying, "All Aboard!"

Memorial Day Block Party

So, these pictures don't do the party justice, but we were so busy having fun that I forgot to pull out the camera until the end of the night.
We just came in from an all-evening and into-the-night block party. Our little neighborhood is just so quaint & so much fun. We have a ton of little kids on the block & the people really are just incredibly nice. Our street was officially blocked off from traffic for the neighborhood event . The party started at 4:00 with bounce houses, a professional folk singer/guitar player & visiting. Our house is in the middle of the block & we have the biggest tree (we love our Pecan Tree!) so all of the tables & chairs were set up in our yard. At 6:30, barbecue dinner was delivered & we all enjoyed the feast. Several people brought desserts & my triple batch of specially requested Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate Brownies quickly disappeared.
We dragged Will's exersaucer out to the front yard & he had a blast people watching. Savannah could hardly contain her excitement with all of the bouncing, running, swinging & bike riding.
By 8:00, Savannah could hardly keep her eyes open. I took her inside & she was literally falling asleep while I was changing her into her pajamas. In her sweet little tired voice she told me, "I'll . . . be awake soon . . . Mommy". Of course, she was sound asleep within minutes.
It's 10:30 now & I'm going to bed, but I can still hear the kids running in the yard & the guitar player going strong. So much fun & happiness here on Hanover!

Visit from Uncle Nate & Aunt JoLee

A couple of weeks ago, we had a WONDERFUL visit from Jen's brother, Nate & his fabulous wife, JoLee!
They live in Kansas & actually planned the visit way back in September when Dallas tickets for the musical, Wicked, went on sale. We bought the tickets & waited a LONG 7 months for the performance to roll around!
Nate & JoLee flew in on Thursday night & were able to stay until Sunday afternoon. Highlights of the trip included a trip to the Dallas Zoo, a visit to the Sculpture Garden, lots of fun with Savannah & Will (Uncle Nate always remembers to bring cool presents!), many great meals, and (most importantly) a viewing of Wicked! We all thoroughly enjoyed the show & found the wait to be well worth it. We had such a fun time with Nate & JoLee & can't wait to visit them in Kansas sometime!

Big Hugs for Uncle Nate:

An evening trolly ride:

Savannah personally requested "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" from the performers just outside of the Gelato shop we visited. They were so happy to accomodate her!

Savannah's Latest

A few of Savannah's latest moments...
On Tuesday morning we went to an adorable birthday party. Savannah was invited to wear tea party attire & bring her favorite baby doll. She enjoyed taking her baby around to different stations--bathing, rocking, feeding, etc.--and then taking a little break for "tea". How fun!

On Monday morning, Savannah woke up requesting waffles for breakfast. With just a little bit of help from me, she whipped up quite an impressive batch! Her arm got REALLY tired from all of the stirring, but I think she found her hard work to be worth it in the end!

Savannah watching her very favorite show, "Little Bear". She LOVES it & (obviously) gets very into it! (Notice Will in the background--so funny!)

Our Little Mover

Will is approaching 6 1/2 months old, and his days of immobility are officially over!
He does a pretty good job scooting around on the floor now, especially if a fun toy, remote control, bottle, or anything else he can shove into his mouth is within a reasonable distance! He is so so so so happy & just adorable. He laughs & babbles most of the day & he is such an amazing little sleeper. What an angel!

Uncle Tadd & Aunt Heather Visit Dallas!!!

On Monday, Tadd & Heather (Rod's brother & his beautiful wife) flew back to Phoenix after a fabulous vacation & were able to change planes in Dallas. They were here for 3 1/2 hours, so our time was limited but very well spent! We gave them a quick tour of Dallas, including lunch at our house & a visit to Rod's office. We love them so much & were just thrilled to have them pop into our little world for a bit!

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a great Mother's Day this year!
I feel beyond blessed to be the mother of 2 beautiful, healthy, "full-of-life" children & every day I am thankful for the opportunity to help raise them & guide them through this life.

Gymnastics Recital

Savannah has been taking gymnastics at our local YMCA for several months & today she had her very first recital!
Her Grandma Hinze sent her a sparkly leotard, which we pulled out especially for the big event. Savannah was VERY excited to wear it & kept telling us how beautiful it was.
Savannah did a great job tumbling & dancing to "Twist & Shout". She really got into it & we were so proud of her performance!

Big Enough to Play!!

Life around the Hinze home is getting even more fun, now that Will is big enough to play with Savannah!
Will just turned 6 months old, and he is such an amazing little guy. He is so good natured, so full of smiles & laughs, and so fun to have around! Savannah is a wonderful big sister & really loves him. They are just cute together!

8 Year Anniversary in San Antonio!

On April 29th, Rod & I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary!
It's hard to believe it's been so long, but even harder to believe there was a time we didn't even know each other! We have had so many fun & wonderful adventures over the years & we decided to celebrate this year by taking the family to San Antonio.
We stayed 2 nights at an AMAZING Hyatt Resort. Our room was beautiful & there was so much entertainment at the resort that we never even needed to leave the grounds!

Rod especially enjoyed making the entire family laugh by striking various poses while shooting out of the water slide:

Jen's favorite part of the resort was the Lazy River (Savannah, as usual, is being a drama queen!)

Savannah stayed busy on the little beach:

Baby Will stayed busy relaxing in his stroller:

Rod & Savannah taking a break on the swing:

We geared up one evening to roast s'mores at the firepit. Notice Savannah's "chubby bunny" cheeks--she is a HUGE marshmallow fan & slammed as many as would fit into her mouth at her first opportunity:

Jen & Savannah showing off their newly painted faces:

Daddy & Will--so cute!!

Serious popsicle concentration:

Jen & Savannah relaxing in the hammock. What a fun trip!

Kinda Crazy

Rod & I recently spent a Saturday morning at the Dallas Zoo.
Savannah had SUCH a fun time. Not so much with the animals, but just with runnng around & being, as she says, "kinda crazy."

She loved climbing through the fabulous water feature:

Jumping over the rainbow! (How cute is that?!)

We weren't prepared to get wet, so we stripped Savannah down & let her borrow my hoodie until we made it back to the car.
She loved the "new" outfit!

Texas Bluebonnets

Wow...I think I'll let these pictures speak for themselves!!!

Happy Boy

Will is such a happy boy.
I love this picture of him because I spend so much time holding him & he spends so much time staring at me--just like this. His blue eyes are so beautiful!!

Will loves to be in his exersaucer--it's his little command post. He spins around & plays with each of the toys while talking & laughing & having a great time! (His little expression in this picture cracks me up!)