Highs & Lows {a.k.a. A Sleepover & A Dog Bite}

Ben's parents have been wanting to have Jackson over to spend the night for a few weeks now, and this past weekend, we decided to take them up on it.  As much as we love spending time with Jackson and having fun as a family, there really is something to be said about taking time to concentrate on our marriage -- and get some things done around the house, too.  Kyle and Steve came over on Friday shortly after he woke up from his nap, and he and his Thomas the Train backpack were ready to go.

And he already knows exactly what it takes to keep his Grandma happy, too -- a quick pump of hand santizier for the road.

Ben was a little more hopeful {and persistent} about getting a hug than I was, but like I said, he was ready to go and not in the mood to hand out hugs.  He did give him a quick one though, which I only caught the tail end of and therefore didn't look nearly as awkward in real life as it does here.

Once we were kid-free, we headed down to Tacos & Tequila to meet up with some friends from Sunday School.  It was small crowd this time -- us, the Crisps, the Battles, and the Greshams.  I think everyone else was worried that traffic would be crazy due to the fact that it was the first weekend of SXSW, and it was a little hectic, but we had a great time regardless.  Meanwhile, back at the grandparents' house, a certain little someone was also having a great time -- staying up past his bedtime and then sleeping with his grandparents.

That evening, while reading books in their bed, a transformer blew behind their house, and the power went out.  They didn't want Jackson to be scared, so they let him fall asleep in their bed and then moved him into his own room around midnight.  

Saturday morning, Charlie and Rory also came over, and the second cousins had a great time eating ice cream, playing with some new water squirters, and all sorts of other crazy adventures.

One of mine and Ben's main goals for this weekend was to paint Jackson's new room while he was gone, so after we got home from dinner on Friday night, we "Kilz"-ed it, and then after sleeping in a bit Saturday morning, we got the entire room painted.

Before

Kilz-ed

After

We painted through lunch, so as soon as we finished, we headed over to P.Terry's for burgers and shakes.  We thought about getting cleaned up and going somewhere nicer, but it was already 2 o'clock, and we were starving, so pay no attention to the paint between my eyebrows.

Kyle and Steve brought Jackson home not long after that, and although we were super excited to see him, I'm fairly certain he didn't miss us quite as much as we did.  Josh and Catherine came over, too, and the weather was beautiful so we spent the evening outside while Jackson played and even got a few things done, too.

Washing Annie and Amos is quite the family affair...

...but the water was cold so Jackson wasn't interested for long.

A warm bubble bath and a Milano cookie.  Sometimes I think this kid is living MY dreamworld.

Sunday morning, we decided to skip church and spent the morning together as a family instead.  As much as we love starting our week off in worship, Ben has to go out of town for work tomorrow and will be gone all week, so we just wanted to get in as much QT together as possible before a week of single parenting.  Thankfully, Jackson slept in for us {relatively, that is} and then we spent the rest of the morning just hanging out in our jammies.  Jackson loves playing in his new room, and he and Ben even spent a little bit of time trying out his new bed, too.

Sunday afternoon, we met up with the Armstrongs for a picnic at Ramsey Park.  Harper and Evelyn {and even baby Graham} are much better eaters than Jackson is, so I was a little worried about how it would go considering he wouldn't be strapped to a chair and there would be a playground nearby, but thankfully, it went well.  Granted, I'm pretty sure the only food that he consumed was a rice cake {that had been slightly filed down on the tennis court...see the picture below for evidence}, but we had fun, and it really was such a great day for a picnic.

After Jackson's nap, we headed to The Domain to do a little shopping.

Ben wanted to get some new shoes to take on his work trip, and while we were there, we picked up an Easter shirt for Jackson, too.

These boys are high maintenance, but I love them anyway.

Before going home, we decided to stop by El Arroyo for dinner, and after filling up on chips and salsa instead of his dinner {these are the reasons we don't usually go out}, Jackson got to play his first ever arcade game.

We got home just in time to take Annie and Amos on a quick walk to celebrate Annie's 8th birthday.  Long gone are the days that I would throw a party complete with a dog cake, so I figured the least we could do was take them on a loop around the block before the whole bath/bedtime routine.  I had both dogs, and Ben had Jackson in the wagon, and things were going quite well until one of our neighbors and his dog came up right behind us.  Long story short...Amos broke off his leash just as our neighbor decided to go around us, and while I trying to break up the fight, the other dog bit my chin.  There was a lot of blood, which worried me that half my face was gone, but thankfully Jackson didn't seem too phased.  It wasn't a horrible bite {just two little flaps and one puncture}, but unfortunately, after talking to Cheryl {my most trusted parenting/nursing consultant} who was concerned about me getting an infection and it getting into my blood stream, I was on my way to the nearest urgent care.  Unfortunately, they wouldn't see me because I didn't have a copy of the dog's shot records, so I drove to a second, which had recently stopped taking our insurance.  At that point, it was getting late, and all of the other urgent care places were closing, so my only other option was the ER.  Thankfully they were able to get me in really quickly, and after getting my wounds cleaned up and bandaged along with a prescription for an oral antibiotic, I was on my way home with my new chin.

A dog bite to the face and a trip to the ER weren't exactly what I had planned for the night {especially since I already had a headache and wanted nothing more than to go to bed early}, but I'm just so thankful that my face is indeed still intact and that it was me and not Jackson that got bit.  Hopefully everything heals up quickly and completely, and in the meantime, I just need to decide if I'm telling people that I had a chin job or that I fell down at the playground -- because let's be honest, either one of those sounds a heck of a lot better than saying I got bit by a "Chiweenie" {a Chihuahua/Dachshund mix}!