The Rest of the Story

The rest of our trip to Ky was a lot of fun. Jackson enjoyed it so much this time and really put on a show for everyone!

Mom and dad have a pug puppy named Callie which Jackson has not dubbed Calliou and he loved to torment her! The played tag night after night running around the house like maniacs...it was adorable!

Jackson was tractor crazy in Ky too. Dad got out a lot of Brady's old tractors and trucks for Jackson to play with which was fun. Except for the fact that after dad played with him the first time, no one could every play right which resulted in Jackson being aggravated with all of us because we didn't do it like Pop!

We were very lucky in that my grandfather, uncle, aunt, and cousin were able to come from Iowa to see Jackson while we were there. Jackson loved them all but especially Uncle Ken, who he now calls Uncie Fishie, we are not sure why!!

Cow Crazy

We really did not think Jackson could be anymore cow crazy than he already was. Turned out that our trip too Ky made him even more so! He had so much fun on the farm with the cows it was amazing. He got right in there and tried to help clean out stalls, get the cows out of the parlor, and feed the babies. Mom and Dad made the mistake of teaching him to say get out of here cows when they were leaving the parlor so now that is his favorite thing to say. The proof is in the pudding though!

Happy Anniversary

While we were in Kentucky we decided to go ahead and celebrate our anniversary for 2 reasons. 1) We had mom, dad, and Brittany there to babysit and 2) I was going to be in Ky and Chad in Va for our real anniversary on the 1st. Anyway, we decided to go to Beaumont Inn and had a wonderful southern meal of fried green tomatoes, crab cakes, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, lima beans, and the most wonderful chocolate trio for dessert. We had a great night of adult conversation and no food being flung. Happy 3rd Anniversary Chad!!

June 27, 2009

July 1, 2006

The Simple Things

As I said before, we really wanted to take Jackson to do some fun things while we were in Ky. Come to find out no matter how cool what we planned was, it was still the simple things that made him the happiest. Mom bought Jackson a little pool with a slide and sprinkler. He loved it and spent hours and hours in it until the weather got chilly late in the week. Here is my little fish!

Jungle Jump

After hours and hours of discussion we decided that Jackson was still to young to go on a "real" vacation this year. I mean, who wants to clean sand out ot a diaper, or pay $50.00 a day to go to Sesame Place only to discover Jackson is afraid of characters, or any of the other hundreds of ideas we came up with! Instead we decided to visit mom and dad in Ky but make it really fun for Jackson.

One of the "brilliant" ideas we came up with was taking him to this place called Jungle Jump for a fun afternoon. Jungle Jump is a huge building filled with inflatable slides, jumpers, etc. Jackson had a pretty good time although a lot of it was a little to big for him. Chad, Brittany, and I however got quite the work out taking Jackson up and down the rope wall to go down the slide...my legs are still sore!!!

King of the Jungle Gym

Since my quality time with Jackson is short-lived before our brief seperation while I am at State FFA convention I decided to take him to the park for the first time today. He loved it so much, I think it will definitely be a routine activity for us.

We started at the big kids playground but quickly discovered that other than the steering wheel it was a little advanced for Jackson!

The smaller jungle gym had slides that were much more his size. He had a blast going down the tube slide!

Swinging was by far his favorite activity...as long as I was pushing him high and taking his picture. When I stopped taking pictures because I had taken plenty, he started yelling cheese and pointing at the camera, I have created a monster!

Summer

Even though my teaching contract isn't officially over yet summer is slowly starting to begin. We have had some nice lazy evenings hanging out as a family which is a welcome change to to hustle of the school year.

Jackson had his 18 month check-up today. Chad took him so I don't know the full story but I do know he weighed 23 lbs. 8 oz....he is going to be lucky to make it to 25 lbs. for his second birthday! He made up for it tonight by eating a good dinner so I wouldn't feel so bad!

I leave for State FFA convention Monday which means Jackson has to go to Nana and Poppy's for a couple of days. I am dreading leaving him already!! On a bright note I do plan on spending so quality time with him this weekend to make up for it so hopefully lots of pictures will be forthcoming.

Down by the River

We Chad's niece Kelsey's birthday party this evening at the Shenandoah River. Jackson was such a well behaved gentleman and was on his best behavior which was great! He had a big time playing with all the dogs that were there, eating cake, and playing with the beach balls. Happy Sweet 16 Kelsey!

Check out Jackson's new hair cut too. We had Miss Jessica do it yesterday and he was such a good boy. He sat so still the whole time and even let her use the clippers! As cute as it is it makes me a little sad, it makes him look like such a grown up boy.

Yesterday was also Jackson's Little Gym showing. He did so great. This was the first time he walked across the balance beam by himself and he even followed the directions most of the time. The Little Gym has been so good for him in so many ways, I can really see how it is improving his listening skills, motor skills, and most importantly his sharing skills! We are looking forward to starting the summer semester Saturday!

The one and only picture Jackson let me take with his hat!

Fish

We have spent the weekend at Paul's pool with Reese, Regan, and Laura. I was worried about how Jackson would do this year with water...would he love it or hate it? Fortunately he loved it! He is turning into such a little fish. He LOVES jumping in of course and today even braved swimming on his own with his arm floaties. My hope is that he is a MUCH better swimmer than Chad and I!

Also, a big thank you to Laura to taking these great pictures for me since I was camera-less!

Finally!

A couple of weeks ago we went to Chad's mom and dad's for the weekend and accidentally left my camera there! Tragic I know!! So be prepared for an overload of catching up now that I finally have it back! Here are a couple of random things to start.

Chad saw Jackson step on something strange in the yard one day so he went over to check it out. Turns out it was a big old black snake! Check out Jackson's first catch.

Sweet sleepy Jackson ready for school one day, can you tell we have to drag him out of bed?