I'm pretty sure springtime is my very favorite time of the year. Between the flowers blooming, the warmer {but not yet hot} weather, and the sudden urge I get to do a little bit of spring cleaning/organizing {combine that with nesting...and wow}, I love everything about spring.
This past Friday, we went to Stroller Strides at Zilker Park and then headed over to the Austin Nature and Science Center with a few of the kids and their moms. I vaguely remember going as a kid and thinking that it was just okay, but Jackson loved it. I'm not sure if the exhibits have changed in the past 20+ years {probably} or if Jackson and I just have different interests {a.k.a. he loves getting dirty while I did/do not}, but we will definitely be going back.
We spent the majority of the morning in the sand pit digging for dinosaur fossils -- or in Jackson's case just digging in general.
A man can never have too many tools.
He wanted to fit in with the big kids so bad. He took his shoes off as soon as we got there {because apparently that's what all the "cool" kids were doing} and then tried to help them dig, too. The only problem is that he misunderstood the whole concept -- so while the bigger kids were uncovering the dinosaur fossils, Jackson was using his shovel to fill all the holes back up.
Taking a turn with everyone's favorite toy out there -- the wheelbarrow.
He was a filthy mess by the time that we left, but it wore him out, and I can already picture me and my boys spending some mornings out there this fall -- so that big brother can get some energy out while baby brother sleeps in my arms.
On Saturday, our church hosted an egg hunt and family picnic on the Capitol grounds and invited the community to join us again this year. We anticipated having even more than the 300 kids that we had last year and were thankfully able to fill nearly 6,500 eggs this year in preparation. Pulling off this event required a village, but it went so well, and I think all of the kids {and adults} had a great time.
Of course, Jackson had {almost} his entire entourage there -- Mimi, Aunt Holly, Uncle Nelson {behind Holly}, Opa, {Great} Grandma, Valerie, Patty, and us.
So many eggs, and this was just the preschool {under age 5} hunt!
Waiting {just a couple of minutes} to hung eggs is tough work, but thankfully he had the sucker that he had won at our Sunday School class's Thomas the Train bean bag toss game to keep him company.
The egg hunt was quick and lasted all of...um...about 2 minutes. Jackson wanted to open the first egg that he picked up, which had a little chocolate bunny wrapped in tin foil. As soon as he touched it, the melted chocolate filled his hand, which he then wiped all over his white shirt. During the actual "hunt", he only managed to get two eggs, but thankfully one of the volunteers came around and dropped a few eggs for each of the little ones to pick up and then put in their basket.
Showing off all his goods.
While we were there, Jackson also had his face painted...twice. He chose the same bunny face design each time and really liked it, but he also rubbed it off before it even had a chance to dry.
And as if all of the candy and face painting weren't enough, we also won the door prize. While filling out the card, I thought to myself: "You know you're a mom when you're filling out a card to win something that you really don't even want because you know your child will LOVE it." I definitely didn't expect to actually win it though. I mean, did I mention how little of storage our house has?
That being said, Jackson has since named him "Bunny Foo Foo" and sleeps with him every night, so it looks like Mr. Foo Foo is here to stay.
We decided to head out for an adventure post-nap and after finding next to no water {or fish} in the creek crossing near out house, we decided to venture a little further.
We decided to check out part of the Shoal Creek Greenbelt for the first time, and I'm so glad that we did.
A few steps into the greenbelt {and down into the banks of the creek}, and you'd never even know you're still in Central Austin. I used to love exploring when I was little, and it was so fun reliving those memories with Jackson.
He loved it down there. He fed the fish, threw in both rocks and acorns, and literally ran from one spot to the next.
We spent about an hour down there, and after promising Jackson that we'd go back again soon, we headed back home...in style, of course.
Sunday morning cheesin'.
On Sunday, we headed over to Kyle and Steve's house for dinner and to say goodbye to the O'Connells one last time before they made the big move to Ohio. Ice cream and gator rides -- the boys were in Heaven!
After the O'Connells left, Ben offered to help his parents fill the bottom of the veggie garden box with rocks, and of course, Jackson wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to help dig. He kept trying to hand me a shovel and would say "Mommy, dig", but I politely declined.
Tongue out = serious concentration.
Jackson would do his best to throw the rocks in, and if they were short {which they often were}, Ben would rebound them with his shovel. Such teamwork and talent.
I signed Jackson up to take swim lessons this month, and Tuesday was our first class. Overall it went well -- despite the fact that he accidentally squirted/hit two other moms in the face with his ball squirter toy, and then decided that it was time to run around the pool at top speed when all the kids got out to jump in. Needless to say, he wasn't really doing me any favors when it came to making new "mom friends", but thankfully class on Thursday went much better. When it came time for him to jump in, and he started to walk away, I reminded him that he had to listen or that they wouldn't let us swim there, and he came right back. Thankfully he seems to enjoy being in the water and has no fear of it, which is somewhat of a good thing and somewhat not.
After swim class, my helper and I headed to the grocery store. He was saying "heeeeaby" {heavy}, but what you can't see is that those bags only contain a couple of other empty bags. While shopping, he was bouncing in the cart and singing "up and down" {"the kids in the pool go up and down"} when a lady commented on how much energy he had to burn. I told her that we actually just finished with swim class, and she was amazed. Welcome to my life.
Since it was such a beautiful day, we spent the rest of the morning playing in the backyard and even ate lunch on the back patio.
At one point, he brought over a bottle of water for each of us while we were swinging, which was so sweet.
Telling Amos all about the garbage truck. Yes, really.
After nap, we headed back outside.
Jackson had a sucker from his recent potty trip and had also found the stash of sunflower seeds in the garage, so needless to say, he was quite a hit with the dogs.
Thankfully, he didn't seem to mind though.
Caterpillar hunting.
On Wednesday, Ben had a beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered to my office "just because". I was a little confused when I saw that the card didn't say anything but "no". When I called Ben to see if they were from him and to ask about the card, he said that the guy taking his order over the phone asked if he wanted to include a message to which he replied "no". Haha. Oh well, the flowers were beautiful regardless.
I choose my battles wisely, and sometimes it's easier to just ride the elevator back up to my office "just one time" than it is to say "no" -- especially when we still have to endure the traffic on the commute home.
Dr. Liggett will see you now.
This morning, after both garbage-truck spectating and swim-class dominating, we met up with the Crisp girls at the library for story time. For the most part, Jackson and I hung in the back where he did his best to be quiet and still, but at one point, he actually ventured all the way to the front to sit on the rug with Caroline.
In other news...at one point, I put the diaper bag on a table where he couldn't get into it, which upset him so much that he smacked his head on the library floor and began to cry. I made a comment to Kaycee about how I never understood why kids did that {even when I was a kid myself}, but later when I was telling the story to Ben, he admitted that he actually remembers doing that when he was little and followed it up with "I just don't think you realize how mad we get sometimes". Haha. Apparently not.
After story time, we took the kids to burn off some energy at Ramsey Park, which is always a good time.
I won't name any names, but one of these Crisp girls looks a little more terrified than the other.
After lunch today, Jackson decided that my "BIIIIIIG belly" was in need of some raspberries and would declare "Mommy tooted" each time. There is nothing more humbling than having a kid.
Ben ended up going to Corpus Christi today to visit a family friend who recently had a stroke, so I invited my mom to join us for dinner and for a trip to Northwest Park. Jackson loved showing Mimi all of his favorite spots -- the playground, the bridge, and especially the pond.
Lately Jackson has been insisting that we all get on the floor with his stuffies while reading books before bedtime. He'll say "Mommy, sit" and show me exactly where he wants me to lay, and then we all pretend to sleep. He also tells Hobbes {and his other stuffies} "night night", pretends to snore, and will then say "oh morning, Hobbes" when it's time for him to wake up.
This boy really does have quite the imagination, and although lying on the wood floor is not nearly as comfortable as sitting in his overly priced rocker with my feet propped up on the ottoman, but I love being his mom, and I'm a sucker like that.
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