Plano Balloon Festival

It was our first time to the Balloon Festival here, and I knew Hazel would LOVE it.  Love it, we did - corndogs and all. 

Hannah's Baptism Weekend

Hannah's baptism was this Saturday, so the whole Hayes family gathered in Waco to support her.  It's been awhile since we've all been able to be together.  Usually at least 1 person has to work or something, so it was great to have everyone there.  On the way down to Waco, we stopped at the best Czech bakery.  They have the most delicious kolaches!  The bread is amazing.  

 

That night we just ate, played, and chatted.  I thought it was funny that Nat and James were discussing baseball so close to the screen.  Nat watches every Rangers game she can and tracks W's and L's on her refrigerator calendar.  Wow.  Super fan!  Now she's going to have to split her love since BYU football has begun.  

 

On Saturday, we went to the Children's Museum, and the kids had a blast as usual.  Hazel really loved the trains, so we took a picture in front of the display.  

  

Then we had Hannah's baptism.  It was so cute because Hannah was beaming the whole time.  She's such a sweet, happy girl.  

 

 We went out to eat afterwards, and they gave us the whole patio for our party of 24.  Nice.  

Then the girls had a slumber party that lasted about 5 minutes.  They were on the top bunk after all...

Gotta love cousin time.  It was a short but sweet trip! 

Baseball --> Football Season

Football season has officially begun!  I'm pretty excited because I'd much rather watch football than baseball (no offense, Rangers and Nat).  Plus, baseball just reminds me of the hot summer.  Look at poor sweaty Hazel at the Frisco RoughRiders game the other night-

Here were the rest of the sweaty (but happy and full of hotdogs and nachos) people-

 

Football, on the other hand, reminds me of beautiful fall weather!  The Cowboys got their first W, and that makes my man happy, which makes me happy.  We had all the boys over here to do their football fantasy draft the other night, and it's so funny to watch how serious they are about it.  James seems to think he has the best team.  =)  Then we've got the Cougars, and they've won their first 2 games, so we're pretty pumped over here!  Here are Hazel and Jones all excited about the 1st BYU game the other weekend-- it doesn't get much cuter than this. 

Birthdays

There are a lot of birthdays this time of year!  A few weekends ago, Hazel and I went to Waco for Isaac's 6th birthday party.  Hazel had a blast at the jump place.  Mom, Nat, and I had a good time trying to make Isaac's cake look like legos.  I wasn't very helpful in that department, but I did make the chocolate cupcakes.  Nat made the cousins matching lego shirts with bows, of course!

Then the next weekend, we went to Hannah's 8th birthday party at the American Girl store in Dallas.  Yea for us that it was close!  Hazel had a blast being at the party table with all the other girls and dolls.  It was the cutest little lunch ever!  They even had dolls you could borrow for the girls who didn't bring one.  I have to say that Hazel's favorite thing was probably the pink lemonade (see below). 

The next night we went to Jaxon's and Graham's 1st birthday party (they're cousins).  It was a "Little Man" theme with mustaches and a photo booth -- so cute.  Hazel really loved the bounce house outside.  

Last but not least, we had a late bday celebration at Benihana for Barbara and James since we got our bday coupons in the mail!  I love watching the chefs cook and eating the yummy fried rice.  So does Hazel, apparently.  I should have ordered her her own big bowl of rice! 

Farewell & Welcome Home

Last weekend we said goodbye (hopefully for only a few years) to our friend Donny, who is going to the University of Denver for a masters degree in religious studies.  We also welcomed back Clark, who is going to finish school here and hopefully start coaching at a nearby school!  The boys had to get in a good game of pool ball and some good tacos at Torchy's for the bittersweet celebration.
Here's my nerdy collage I made while playing around with a new app. 

Summer Haze-Olympics

Hazel qualified for 3 events in gymnastics.  

The floor routine:



The trampoline:



The vault (my favorite):



Side note:  I put Hazel down for a nap the other day, and she was playing for quite some time.  I heard a jump, jump, fall (as seen in 2nd video), and then I hear, "Okaaay!"  haha  She answers my, "Are you okay?" question now without me even asking it!  She cracks me up.

James 28

A few months ago, I was James's old woman wifey, but now he caught up to me!  We had a great birthday weekend celebrating his 28th.  Fuh-vuh (Grandma) and Papa came over to watch Hazel while James and I went to iPic - the best place to watch a movie.  We went to see the new Batman movie, which was really good, and we had some pretty delicious food and popcorn during it as well.  The chairs there are amazingly soft AND you can recline.  Ahh.  James said it was the best birthday ever.  Did I mention I made chocolate chip cookies and stuffed some in my purse for an after dinner snack?  That must be what put it over the top for him.  He's so easy to please.  I got him a pillow and a DVD player, and I think that went over well because the guy looves pillows and every boy loves a new toy.  Hazel got him a shirt from his closet with a few additions on the back.  I drew a map with common places he goes and streets connecting them.  Now Hazel can play cars on his back and Daddy can have a back massage at the same time.  Whoever thought of that was genius!  A few days later, the boys got together for pool ball as usual, and then we went to a Brazilian steakhouse for another friend's birthday.  Pretty great birthday week!  

  Manly men?  James started with his towel like that as a joke, and then this happened for the pic: