O'Hana

We arrived at Joel and Lacey's house around two or three o'clock in the afternoon.  We stopped in Macon, Georgia, the night before just to break up the trip.  When you travel with an eight week old baby, you try to be super laid back and have no expectations of arrival times and such.  After hanging out with the Ball's for a little bit, we changed clothes and got ready for our dinner reservations at O'Hana at 9:40 that night.  O'Hana is at the Polynesian resort, so we let the kids play on the beach while us adults relaxed in the lounge chairs and caught up for the longest time.  There wasn't a beach movie playing on this particular night, like there was on our last trip.

Hadley has been convinced that we weren't going to take a "big" vacation this year, with Merritt being so small.  In fact, we intentionally waited to tell the kids our big plans just to make sure Merritt stayed as good and healthy a baby as she seemed.  

We love Ellie and Chloe so very much; they are unbelievably precious girls.  I'm so glad Hadley has them as role models to look up to.  Chloe is just a year older than Hadley and I will get to have Ellie in 4th grade this year!  Everywhere we went for the entire week, people assumed these four were siblings because of their very blonde hair.  In fact, if one of us adults happened to have all four at one time, we would get strange looks followed by, "Are they all yours?"

Joel and Lacey had been preparing us for the amazing food at O'Hana for some time, but you can't really even imagine it until you see it.  Servers dash between tikis and tropical greenery to bring skewers of sweet and sour chicken, oak-grilled shrimp and steak to your table, as well as dumplings, stir-fried vegetables, lo mein noodles and salad.  Did I mention you can have all you can eat, too?

On our trip down to Orlando, the kids watched the movie "Lilo and Stitch" several times.  In the movie, one of the characters says, "O'Hana means family and family means nobody gets left behind."

At O'Hana guests also enjoy games during dinner, including coconut races in which children armed with brooms sweep coconuts across the restaurant’s hardwood floors.  Hadley and Canaan probably wouldn't have gone on their own, but having Ellie and Chloe around makes our kids feel much bigger.

I mentioned that our reservations weren't until 9:40 that night.  This made for a couple of tired littles.  But the fireworks out the glass windows, overlooking the lagoon were magical, to say the least.  And the food was beyond worth the wait.  I really cannot even describe how incredible the food was.

Then came dessert.  Chocolate cupcakes for the kids and bread pudding with banana caramel sauce for the adults.  Yep...there are really no words for how amazing the bread pudding was.  Worth every dime, I tell you.

We couldn't have kicked off our Disney trip a better way if we wanted to.  Hanging out on the beach, storytelling and games at dinner, and food to die for.  Plus, the company was the absolute best.  Oh, I can hardly wait for the rest of this trip!

School's Out for SUMMER!!

The calendar may still say it's Spring, but we are now officially celebrating Summer break at our house!  We couldn't be more excited to get this party started.  Since I've been on maternity leave since March 29, I'm ready to get people home with me that I can actually carry on conversations with; not that I don't adore Merritt.  I've been busy sprucing up our house for Summer with decorations here and there.  

 Our family bucket list has been created and we can't wait to get started checking off activities.  We might not get to all of them, but we won't go down without a fight, by George.   

 On the last day of school, we celebrated with Hawaiian Shaved Ice, a Glasgow favorite.  I love snow cream and now they even make snow cream shakes.  Wow!

We officially kicked summer off by leaving for our family vacation the day after school was out.  We went to see Mickey Mouse with the Ball family again.  When we stopped in Chattanooga to eat at Sugar's Barbecue, Lacey surprised all the kids with matching Mickey jammies.  How fun is that?!

  Summer Break, I can smell and taste you now!  I am SO glad you are here!

Kindergarten Graduation

And just like that, Hadley is graduating from Kindergarten.  I cannot believe that she has already finished her first year of school.  Will every year go this fast?  I shutter to think of the answer to that question.  

We are just so proud of Hadley and how she has grown this year both socially and academically.  She has shown such growth as a reader, writer, and mathematician.  I loved getting her writing journal, when Miss Feese sent it home.  They did some sort of writing every day of the year and to see where she started out and where she ended, her progress was just so exciting to see.  Now Hadley writes us persuasive notes asking for pets or makes checklists when packing for a sleepover.

Our music teacher, Mr. Shep, had rehearsed a few songs with the Kindergarteners for several weeks leading up to graduation.  They were so adorable with their hand motions and sweet, innocent voices.

Each child got to walk proudly out to his or her teacher and receive a Kindergarten Diploma.

We were also so proud of Hadley for receiving a Citizenship Award for her classroom.  Being the child of two teachers, Hadley is fully aware that her parents expect her to behave and listen to the adults in charge.  The PE teacher, Coach Riley, also awarded Hadley the only female PE award in the entire Kindergarten.  She also made a note to mention that this award didn't go to the most athletic students, but to the students who listened, followed directions, and made overall good choices.  We were so very proud of her, needless to say.

My mom was able to make it to Hadley's big day, as well as Justin's parents.  We so appreciate having them there to support Hadley.

Oh my, we have loved Miss Feese and Mrs. Mills so very much.  We couldn't have hand picked more perfect teachers for our girl.  They have inspired and guided her so much this year.  We just can't get over how much she has blossomed.  Hadley Jewell, our first born, we are so incredibly proud of you.  We can't wait to cheer you on and be by your side each and every day of your life.  Oh the places you will go!

Talent Show

Hadley has been taking piano lessons for the past couple of months from one of my co-workers who is an incredible piano player.  She had a Thursday afternoon slot open and Hadley was able to ride home with Mrs. Woodward after school, enabling me to stay at school a few extra minutes and get some things done before leaving to pick her up. 

When I picked Hadley up from her lesson one day and she announced that she was going to be in the school's end of the year Talent Show, panic slightly swept over me.  Hadley had never seen one of our talent shows before so she had no idea how many people are in attendance for these things.  We're talking 600 people at least. 

Hadley played "Yankee Doodle" and "Old MacDonald" and Mrs. Woodward played a duet part with her to make the songs a little more exciting since our girl did only have two months worth of experience.  We practiced a ton leading up to the big day. 

When it was Hadley's time to perform, she walked up to the piano like a champ and played her little heart out.  We couldn't have been prouder of her for just being brave enough to go through with it, much less correctly hitting all her notes.

May continues to be a big month for Hadley, from tee ball to dance recitals to her talent show.  We just picked up tee ball and piano in March and April.  We are so proud of her for just being willing to step out of her comfort zone and try something new.  Super proud of our budding piano player!

MADS Recital

The sixteenth recital of Miss Adrienne's Dance Studio (MADS) was was appropriately titled "Sweet Sixteen." Any little girl who takes dance is enthralled by the sound of tap shoes; Hadley is no different.  So it came as no surprise to us that she would want to explore the world of tap dancing.   Hadley's tap class danced to a jazzy number recorded in 1936 called "Goody Goody."  I thought their costumes fit the song and choreography perfectly.  

The yearly recital is always very eventful, with dress rehearsal early in the week and then two recitals, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.  The entire recital is a good two hours long and each routine is less than three minutes long.  But just as any parents, we still sat through those four hours to see the entire six minutes of our girl dancing that weekend.

  Hadley had the biggest smile on her face during the entire performance.  Let me tell you she really came out of her shell for this year's routine.  I loved seeing her have so much fun and just really come alive on stage. 

 Merritt and Canaan both made it through Saturday's performance but when my friend, Lacey, offered to keep Merritt during Sunday's performance, I was more than happy to take her up on it.  Granna and Grandad came to the Saturday recital and Hadley is always so proud to have family present to cheer her on.

We tried a family of five shot numerous time but it seemed that someone (Canaan) was crying in every photo.  The recital was right at nap time, though, so the poor guy was struggling by the end.  So we finally decided to just take a picture with Hadley and call it a day.  Besides, she was the star on this day.

 After Saturday's performance, Granna and Grandad came with us to eat at Hadley's favorite Italian restaurant in Glasgow, Gondolier. We figured such a special occasion called for a nice lunch.  Plus, we were absolutely starving by the time the recital was over, we located our dancer, got her things together, and snapped pictures.  Hadley's routine was number 37 out of 40 so we packed her Leap Pad and a few other toys for her to enjoy during the long wait.

I have a love/hate relationship with this picture.  I do not like that my six year old looks much older than six, but I absolutely love the picture.  Lacey took this picture of Hadley when we went to pick up Merritt at their house Sunday afternoon.  I do believe I will be enlarging and framing this one.  As we wrap up our third year of dance classes, I am thankful to see Hadley coming out of her shell and finding her voice through dance.  I don't know how long we will stick with dancing, but right now I do think it's a great activity for her, and in the end, that's all that really matters.  Proud of our "Goody Goody" girl!

Diamondbacks

Year two of tee-ball was much more productive from a skill development standpoint than was year one.  Hadley played on the Diamondbacks and got great fielding experience at several different infield positions.  She loved playing first base or standing on the pitcher's mound, as those spots always got the most action.  

Justin helped coach Hadley's team again this year and when he wasn't picking up the younger kids when they laid out on the field or threw dirt in the air or straight on their heads, he was able to actually teach kids some helpful tips.

The players got two pitches from the coach before having to use the tee.  We were so proud of Hadley for how she improved with her batting.  She had to use the tee a few times, but also got lots of hits this year.  

I didn't make it to Hadley's first couple of games since Merritt was only a couple of weeks old and it was still quite cool outside.  But after that, we managed to make every game.  Granna and Grandad came to all the games and helped us tremendously, just as they always do.  Canaan loved running wild and free at the ballpark.  Next year we will get to cheer him on.  I just hope he's not one of the kids pouring dirt down his shirt or on top of his head, but I'm not counting anything out with that boy.

Yes, that third child really just has to go with the flow.  Luckily, she is one laid back baby.

Hadley's kindergarten teacher,  Ms. Feese, came to watch her play one night and overheard Coach Corey giving Hadley such a nice compliment.  He announced in front of everyone that Hadley was the best listener on the team.  Ms. Feese even mentioned it to Hadley the next day at school.  How awesome is it to have such positive role models in our kid's lives?  Coach Corey didn't have to say that and Ms. Feese didn't have to mention it to Hadley, but she did, and it meant the world to our girl.

We couldn't be prouder of Hadley's progress this year in tee ball.  I can't believe that next year will be the transition over to coach pitch softball for her.  Sigh...they just don't stay little long enough do they?  We had such a great season cheering on our little Diamondback!