Last Day of School & Day out with Thomas!!

What a wonderful week! It started with Jackson's last day of school. I can't believe how far we have come. It started off with tears from both Jackson and mommy to absolute love for school! He has made some great friends and learned so much this past year. I took a similar picture of Jackson at his first day of school. I can't believe how much older he looks now!! We celebrated the end of the year with a road trip to Chatanooga, TN for he Day out with Thomas!! Jackson was so excited and couldn't wait to ride his first train! We went down Friday night and made a weekend trip of it. We met some friends there Saturday and had an absolute blast!! Chatanooga is such a fun, family city with so much for little ones to do!! We had a swimming pool at our hotel, so we got to enjoy the afternoon swimming. Jackson is so much different than he was last year with the pool. He has absolutely NO FEAR!! He jumps right into the water and holds his breath. He kept saying he was swimming like a fish! We used arm floaties this time and Jackson loved the freedom, but was a little too aggressive. He didn't understand that if he just waded slowly, he would float. He just wanted to jump and swim!! We had such a wonderful trip and I tried to condense the photos as best I could!!

Handing the conductor his ticket.

All aboard!!

First train ride!

Jackon was so excited on the train. He kept running back and forth between Greg and I to look out the windows. He loved seeing the bridges and passing all the other trains. It was really cute to see his excitement.

Tennessee Valley Railroad

After the train ride there was so much to do!! This is Sam and Jackson at the petting zoo. The goats were a little aggressive and scared the boys.








The man of the hour....Thomas!! The only problem with the train ride was that Jackson wanted to do it again and again!!

First put put!






Magic show! Not only was this a magic show, but it also incorporated some dance. The kids loved it!

A real coal train! Jackson was so excited and ran as fast as he could to get close to it.







Popcorn break.

Jackson and Aidan playing with all the train sets that were set up for the kids. Jackson also got tatoo of Diesel 10 on his arm.

The hotel we stayed at was in the most perfect location. We were able to walk to all the restaurants and then to the river, where they had all these water areas the kids could play it. They actually liked playing here better than the swimming pool!

Walking along the rocks.

There was this huge waterfall steps that led to shallow pool that the kids could play in. They had so much going up and down the waterfall. Here is Sam and Jackson making the voyage trip down.

Waterfall!

We were actually able to get all the kids to sit for a photo!

And they are off!

Down to the shallow pool

We had such an amazing weekend in Chatanooga. There was so much to do and I am sure this will not be our last trip!

Mother's Day and Baseball Time!

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I know we are a week behind, but I still had to blog about my 3rd Mother's Day. It couldn't have been better! I got to sleep in and when I woke up, Jackson had already been fed and my coffee was waiting. My husband so sweetly bought me 48 tulips for the occasion. He placed them in the outdoor refrigerator the night before and unfortunately, they froze. We had 2 survivors and they were beautiful!! We then went to church, out to lunch, and bought my flowers for the outside. It was perfect! This first picture is Jackson and I with the present he made me at school. It was a bookmarker. I just love getting his little projects from school!! On a different note, our garden is flourishing! We planted 6 tomato plants this year and they all have multiple tomatoes! Our strawberry plants also survived the winter and are flourishing. Last year we did not get a single strawberry, and this year Jackson has enjoyed over 2 dozen! They are quite small but so sweet! Everyday after his nap, we go down and pick and eat the strawberries. It reminds me so much of working in the garden with my mother. He loves it!

Helping Daddy plant mommy's new flowers.

Let me dig the hole.

This is what you get when you ask a 2 year old to put his shoes and socks on. Jackson decided he wanted to wear Daddy's socks and wouldn't take them off all day!

First Brave's game! We took Jackson to his first baseball game this week. It started off rocky, but as soon as the food came, he was perfect! Here he is with daddy watching them warm up. By far his favorite part of the game was a little race that had with different home depot tool mascots. Jackson kept asking where the hammer went!

You gotta love that smile!







Family shot at the field! We had great seats 5 rows behind home plate!!

Jackson charming the people sitting behind us. By the end of the game, Jackson consumed 2 slices of pizza worth of pepperoni, a box of popcorn and an entire bag on cotton candy. Greg and I thought for sure he was going to throw up during the car ride home, but he kept it all down!!

Despite the game not starting until 7:10, we made it to the bottom of the 6th! Not too bad for our first trip to the ballpark!!

Spring Recital and Fun in the Sun!

Spring Recital! Jackson had his first moment in the spotlight on stage! It was the end of the year spring recital at his preschool. It was absolutely adorable! All the little kids wore white shirts and jeans and marched up on stage like pros. As they came into the auditorium, they were all clapping in a single file line and got on stage. It always amazes me how well they are at keeping all these little ones on track. The ones had three songs to sing. The favorite was by far Humpty Dumpty. They all sang the songs and did the moves like pros! It was so cute and I got some great video!! I still can't believe that the stage was filled will 2-4 year olds and nobody leaped off the stage! It was really an event I will treasure always!! This first picture is Jackson and his best friend Drew on stage. Jackson kept looking at this older Indian girl next him and copying whatever she did. Adorable!!

Making cat whiskers for part of the song. It was hard to switch back and forth between pictures and videotaping, and since Greg couldn't make it, I wanted to make sure I got it all on tape!

Jackson and Drew. They truly are two peas in a pod. It is amazing how well they get along and how much they enjoy spending time together!!

After the program, we went and took a look at all the art work. Each class had a wall with artwork the children have done over the year.

Jackson's class.

Jackson's art work!!









Neighborhood pool party! We were so excited to find out that Drew lives in our neighborhood! We got a few friends together and had our first of many pool parties this year. Jackson has really gotten good at riding his bike and is able to turn and everything. This picture is Jackson and Drew riding the bike an coaster car around the playhouse.

Pool!!







Unfortunately, as you can see from my son's blue lips, that Jackson was getting a little chilly in the shade! He loved it though!!

Anyone call for a firefighter?








Two sweet boys!!

Best friends.