May 2011 - Adam turns two and other great stuff

May rolled in and it was all trains at the Sobczak household as a crowd of friends young and old gathered here for Adam's 2nd birthday party where a neighborhood trackless train took everyone for as many rides as their hearts desired within the contracted one-hour period.



TRAIN!




Around the bend



The end of a fun ride around the block



Evelyn watches the train depart



Everyone gathers for cake and smiles



Gung Gung and Adam travel by train through the remains of the cake



Audrey loads up on cake



Audrey and Adam test the horsepower of the 2 mph Quad



Aunt Lara catches up with Adam while he catches up with her smartphone games



Paw Paw and Audrey dance while Adam plays keytar and the camera struggles to maintain focus



GIFT TRUCKS!



Evelyn helps Adam with his new toys



Mowing a walking path in the carpet



Helping Dad get the yard looking nice



Yard man



Hanging out at the Hermann Park reflecting pool



Quick rest on the bench



In the shade of a tree



Disappointed to learn we wouldn't be taking this toy train home



Hanging out at home just playing some 'smush face'



European beach fashion



8 ball, corner pocket



Most pool hall hustlers got their start standing on indoor trampolines



Adam and Mommy enjoy some delicious cake



Audrey welcomes new cousin Mary Elise to the world



Double flip!



Fearlessly into the foam pit



Gung Gung and Adam enjoy some rough-housing




Post-bathtime storytime

April 2011 - Spring is here

Great times this month with Easter egg hunts and more gymnastics fun



Paw Paw introduces pudding popsicles to Adam in order to bring truth to his "Monster Mess Maker" t-shirt



Good down to the tongue depressor stick



Eating and cleaning up all on his own




Adam doing some funky breakdancing



Breakdancing part two




Easter egg hunting made faster with a turbo basket



Paw Paw and Gung Gung pose with the kids after the egg hunt



round and round they go



Happiness in stride



tumbling down the triangle



Audrey takes off



Daddy does some much needed stretching with the kids



up up and away!



the boys pose for a picture



Adam and Audrey bounce. and bounce...and bounce



Adam learns that stretching can be fun too





The kids go for a (balance beam) walk

March-ing on : 2011

Lots of fun stuff this month - helping Dad wash the car, going to a farmers market, strawberry farm picking, hanging out with the McGuires when Uncle Dave came to town for a soccer tournament, the list goes on. Good times aplenty!



Mommy and Adam - Funtime at Froberg Farms



Adam running with "Cake" (Kate) down the strawberry lanes




Selecting only the finest strawberries (left after the Spring Break families came through)




Hand in hand



Later the Bartsches joined the party - Audrey and Adam go searching



Adam and out-of-town friend Olivia get in just a little more playtime before bed



Adam, Olivia, and Uncle David get some soccer practice in...



...before Adam takes his skills to the field



looking sharp in his Houston Dynamo jersey



soccer player in motion



Adam shares some strategy tips with Uncle David at halftime



Picnic time for the Chows, Bartsches, McGuires, and Sobczaks in Sugar Land



bubble time!



chasing the bubble



Gung Gung takes Evelyn for a ride



Evelyn in her summer sun dress



"Woo-ah!" the battle cry of the pool floaty fencer



Keeping the ears super-clean



Helping Dad wash the car like a big boy



Adam loves the water, whether at work or at play



Ready to wipedown Dad!



Belly!



Farmers Market - great place for kids to get out their energy with some soccer dribbling



The kitchen - great place for kids to work on their hockey skills



Slide time at the Farmers Market



Adam saw some breakdancing on TV and decided to give it a try



Dancing to the Thomas and Friends theme song

"Sorry for the inconvience"

If there is a universal truth in the world, it is this:

The person in charge of providing the public with notice that a normally accessible and usable facility(bathroom, water fountain, ATM) is currently not usable, the person who wrote the paper sign affixed to that out-of-service facility, is not familiar with how to spell the word 'inconvenience'.


"Sorry for the inconvence, the inconvience, the inconvenice........ Sorry for the hassle. - MGMT"

February 2011 - A Happenin' Month

So much going on each February - Valentines' Day, my birthday , Grace's birthday plus a bejeezus-load of year-end work for myself and Grace. Free time in the first few months of the year is always in scarce supply but we still made time for the good stuff in life.

As Adam gets on the home stretch toward his second birthday, he has been ramping up his collection of sentence fragments - conversation is getting diverse and even more interesting! "I help" "Adam fall down" "Daddy Ipod please" and so on. Getting into some wholesome family mini-traditions; settling for Sunday morning breakfast watching Thomas the Tank Engine is a current favorite.

Over at Sugarland's open-air mall, running out the post-lunch energy

The building blocks, they go kablooie

Round and round, goes the whirly-basket

Adam and Audrey work together (?)

Uncle William helps out with Ipod monkey game fruit puzzle section

Cruisin' the living room with daddy power

Adam literally hanging around with yoga-like spinal flexibility

Adam and his friend "Cake" (Kate) make the swingset scene

Adam and Mommy do some soccer-gymnastics

Adam's Tower of Babble

D.J. Monkey Choo-Coo Train

Sneak Peek at Adam & Dad Storytime

Audrey!

Evelyn!

Daddy has "1" birthday this month!

Rockin' the shades

Load up the delivery ATV

Adam is fascinated with the neighbors' ceramic dog

What a great photo of mommy and son!