What I did on my Summer Vacation.

Welcome back blog fans. It's Labor Day. Summer's officially over. So, I figured I'd fill you all in on what Jackson has been doing all summer.



I Ate.

I Drank.

Went to some baseball games.
(w/ Dad & Grandpa)

(with Mom & Dad and The Mullins')

(shared a drink w/ Katherine)

(Free Hat!)


I spent some time in the Pool. Even had a few swimming lessons.
I "helped" paint the TV room.


We went to the beach a bunch of times. I even tried a little skimboarding.
Soaked up some rays.
Took a picture of my own shadow.
Told some fish stories.
Peed outside.
Checked out the new Asian gardens at the Zoo.

Pretended to be a veterinarian.
Removed a thorn from Mommy tiger's paw.
Won two slide races.

And I learned to read!!!!
(just kidding)

Of course we did lots and lots of other stuff this summer and It sure was fun. We'll keep you posted on all the fun stuff we do in the Fall.

Potty Trained.

Hopefully I didn't just jinx it, but Jackson has been doing awesome without diapers. As a reward for his potty excellence, his Momma got him a well deserved toy.

He got to pick it out. He's still on a super hero kick and I think he chose wisely. Spiderman mask and web slinger!

In other news. Jackson got to hang out with Katherine on Saturday after the Mullins' joined us for the Jacksonville Beach sandcastle contest.

Here they are going for a drive.

and screaming in unison just for fun.

Dancin' Machine!

Jackson gettin' down at Lily's Birthday Party.

Growing Up.

Jackson is growing up fast. We've made incredible progress in the using the potty department. Took about a year longer than I expected, but I'm thrilled that we are getting there now. We didn't use a diaper at all yesterday. Jackson slept in a diaper last night but it was still dry when he woke up and he told us he had to potty. He's already used the potty twice today and sporting some very cool Spider Man underwear.

As if that wasn't enough, now he's shaving.

Don't worry. The plastic blade guard is on the razor.

Three Years old!

Who'd 've thunk it?

Jackson's party was a great success despite Mother Nature trying her best to blow us all away. Just like last year we had wind gusts in the neighborhood of 30 mph and it was a little chilly for early spring in Florida. The kids had fun despite the less than ideal weather. The parents had maybe less fun thanks to the weather. As always, everyone was over generous with their gift giving. Jackson is a lucky boy to have such friends and family. Our household supply of toys is now in the red and threatening to take over.

Here come the pics.

First picture of Jackson at age three.
Betsy was already out of bed and I woke up to Jackson whispering in my ear "Daddy! Can I open my presents now?"





Jackson and Hunter having a swinging time at the start of the party.

Kool-aid mustache.

Cake Time! Thank goodness we had a sparkler candle in the shape of a three. There was no way we could keep regular candles lit in that wind. Thanks to Geoff for getting the sparkler lit.

Hunter and Gabe.

Katharine Stayed at the table until every morsel of cake was gone.

Opening presents was a challenge. We didn't get too many pics of the opening of the presents. Betsy and I both had to be Johnny on the spot with every scrap of paper torn off, lest it be immediately blown into the lawns of the surrounding houses.








Aunt Bunny gave Jackson a Spider Man Easter basket (among loads of other great Spidey stuff). He refused to believe that it was a basket. Jackson insisted it was a mask.

After all that sugar and fun, there was now slowing down for Jackson. At around 11pm we had dinner. So what do you have for dinner on your third birthday? A corndog and birthday cake. Why not? You only turn three once.

The next day, was Betsy's birthday. We let Jackson blow out Mommy's candles to make up for his lack of candles.

Finally, on Monday, his Power Wheels Jeep arrived. We ordered it online and it didn't arrive in time for his B-day. He was thrilled. Here is the inaugural ride after he helped me build it.


So far, Jackson's driving skills are shaky at best. We'll keep practicing.

That's it for the big 3.0. Thanks for reading.

Finally! A Haircut.

We had to bribe Jackson with the promise of a new DVD, but he finally agreed to getting a haircut. He did great. He was a little squirmy but we got it done with no tears. Then we went immediately to Target to get "Scooby Doo meets Batman".
Here's the result. A very handsome kid with his new movie.


We are one week away from Jackson's third birthday. It's hard to believe it's been three years since this all began. We hope to see you all next Saturday for the party.

In other news. Jackson continues to amaze us with the things he says and does. He has a Spanish lesson a few times a week at preschool and he really picks it up. He's always singing songs in Spanish and asking how you say different things in Spanish. If I don't know, he'll ask that I look it up either on the computer or my phone. He's learned more in a couple of months than I did in four years of high school Spanish. What a kid... err.. guy. He insists that he's a guy. Definitely not a kid or a boy and absolutely not a baby.

He can't be referred to as a boy, but he likes to pretend he's the Dad and Betsy is the Mom and I'm the "boy". I would ask him if he could call me John or son or something, but he insisted that I was the boy and that is what I would be called in this little make believe drama. I have finally gotten him to at least call me John-boy when we play this game. He takes his dad role very seriously. It's really funny.


We went and saw the monster truck show a couple of weeks ago. Jackson had a great time. He especially liked the tailgating beforehand. He wore earmuffs to protect his ears from the loud trucks. He liked wearing them so much that we had a hard time getting him to take them off after the show.
Here he is "tailgating" with Lily and Kendall.


Checking out the action.


And here's the three of us.



The weather has been pretty nice here lately so we've had quite a few trips to the park and even a trip or two to the beach.
The Mullins' visited for a trip to the beach. The weather wasn't so great that day, but Jackson and Katherine managed to have a ball.




Jackson and hunter played at Tall Pines park. That's where the party will be next week.





Jackson and Hunter also had a fun day at Jarboe Park. Betsy and I played at this park when we were kids.
This kid was recently afraid to swing at all. Now he like to go "super duper high".



Hunter with a bucket on his head. Why Not!?!



And Finally, we had a trip to the beach last weekend. The weather was perfect. The water was still cold but Jackson was not phased. He loved it.



Next week is the Birthday party. So come on back after Saturday for a full report. Bye Bye