ACL & Other Fun

On Saturday, we took the boys to ACL {Austin City Limits}, which is an annual music festival that is held at Zilker Park.  Ben had been talking about taking Jackson ever since the tickets went on sale last year {my boys love their music!}, and as luck would have, he ended up getting a couple of VIP tickets through work, so all four of us got to go since kids get in free.

Because we knew parking would be crazy, we decided to catch the bus at the stop next to HEB.  It was Jackson's {and Dean's} very first time to ride it, and he was so excited.  

It didn't take him long to realize that the seat at the back had the best view, so he quickly abandoned me and Dean and sat by Ben instead.

We laughed that if anyone asked Jackson what his favorite part of ACL was that he'd probably tell them that it was riding the bus, but I'm not sure our joke was too far fetched.

 The bus dropped us off about a mile from the entrance, and after a quick walk, we were finally there.

Since it was so early, the place was pretty empty.  Apparently all the hipsters missed the "come early, leave early" memo.

Austin Kiddie Limits is where we spent the majority of our time, and it was pretty fun -- although I'm not sure the typical ACL goer would agree.  Painting, lemonade, tattoos, colored hair spray, frozen yogurt, bubbles, drums, karaoke, little boys rapping, and little girls belting their hearts out to Taylor Swift...a little something for everyone.

 

The only "real" part of ACL that we enjoyed was listening to William Clark Green while eating lunch.  Of course, Jackson wasn't interested in trying any of the fried chicken from our Mighty Cones and instead ate as many fries as he could and washed them down with an enormous strawberry lemonade.  Lunch of champions, for sure.

We kept a blanket over Dean's car seat the majority of the time to keep him out of the sun, and security had me laughing when they asked, "is there a baby under that blanket or a fully stocked bar?" Definitely a baby, but not just any baby.  A baby that slept the ENTIRE time that we were there, and that's almost as good as a fully stocked bar if you ask me.

We left shortly after lunch and grabbed a couple of smoothies/juices for the bus ride back.  Note to self {and to Ben}: Jackson's memory is like a steel trap these days, so don't ever promise him something on the way there that you don't fully intend on getting on the way out.

After nap, Jackson headed over to Kyle and Steve's house for a sleepover, and the rest of us went to a neighborhood barbecue complete with brisket, beef ribs, coleslaw, mac and cheese, beans, and an adorable/hilarious fashion show put on by the girls.  I only got one picture of Jackson while he was away, but considering it wasn't even 9 a.m. yet, and he already had a bag of chocolate chip cookies sitting next to him, I knew he was having a good time.

The rest of us went to church this morning.  Ben and I signed up to teach Sunday School this month and are leading our class in the churchwide stewardship program "Earn. Save. Give.: Wesley's Simple Rules for Money".  Thankfully everything went well despite the fact that we realized that we had forgotten the diaper bag as soon as we pulled up and therefore didn't have a pacifier to help calm him down when he got fussy in the middle of class.  Ben ended up having to step out with him, which left me to finish up the lesson on my own, but in the end, we were both victorious.

And after eating a second breakfast while watching the worship service from the cry room, he was all smiles again.

This afternoon, we headed up to Round Rock.  My dad and Patty are in town, so we invited them and Nelson {Holly is in New Orleans for work} to join us.  Jackson, of course, had a great time showing off for so many of his favorite people, and as usual, Kyle and Steve cooked up a delicious steak dinner for all of us, too.

So many ducks...there are over 100 now!

Every friendship has a bossy one, and it's safe to say that Jackson has claimed that role!

Tomorrow is my first day back at work, and although I know that my mom will take just as great of care of Dean as she did/does Jackson, I can't help but be sad that my 12 weeks of leave are already over.  I have loved my time with this little guy so much!  Even on his fussy days, he really is as sweet as they come.

Sweet dreams, y'all.