Visiting with Grandma

This past week my mom was in town which pretty much translates to a parenting Sabbatical for Zack and me. Jack totally loves her and asks politely if Zack and I will leave the room so he can have her all to himself. Grandma's visits always include donuts, parks, visits to the bagel store, sandcastles, playing cars, and whatever new thing Jack is into. This time the trip included a stop off at our local bowling alley and Jack's first Mini golf experience. Here are some sweet pictures from the week.

Ilich Beach Week 08

Despite the trip beginning with tears, we had a wonderful time at Ilich Beach Week 08! Jack quickly remembered that although he was suddenly cousin-less, he was surrounded by adults who were ga-ga for him. Some of my sweetest memories are of watching him with Baba and Deda. Baba wanted nothing more then to get to sit and cuddle with him on the big pillow...and finally the big moment happened and it was priceless to see! Jack decided it would be funny if he called Deda "donut" and so "donut" he became! The week included lots of well deserved surfing for Zack and Sean (and Jack too), long walks to the park, donuts, bowling, bike riding with Baba, Jack playing in Grandma Kari's BMV and asking to open the hood to inspect the engine, dinner at Dukes for Zack and me, Baba hating every show we watched, Tablici, and an introduction to chavut cici for Zack and Sean.

We had an easy drive home, until 30 minutes from home Jack threw up. Thankfully the clothes that Sarah donated were right on top in the trunk and Jack was thrilled to get to wear an over-sized Cars shirt and boxers. By the time we got home Jack had a 104.5 degree fever. The mysterious illness left as quickly as it came, and by the next morning he showed no sign of ever having been sick. He did however spend the next week insisting on wearing Brenden and Oliver's large shirts and no pants and kept telling me how cool he looked. :)

Zackrison Beach Week 08

A few weeks ago we spent a week+ down in San Juan Capistrano for the Zackrison Beach Week 08. The house was fantastic and right on the beach which made for a lot of beach and water time! Jack loved getting to be one of the gang and got a real kick out of hanging out with his cousins. When we were driving away the last day and he realized his cousins weren't going to be at the new beach house he started crying. He was so sad to be leaving them! Then he asked if Zack's cousins (sisters and brother) were going to be at the new house and cried again when he was told they had to go home with their kids.

Some highlights include...
*Jack pushing Zack and me up on the beach and saying "You two stay here, I'm going in the waves"
*Oliver teaching Jack how to pull his shirt over his head
*Finding Jack along the back side of the house. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me he was hiding from Baby June so he could eat his Fruit Loops
*Grandma and Grandpa Z finally arriving to join in the fun
*waving to Jack on the train with all his cousins and Grandma and Grandpa Z
*playing card games once the kids went to sleep
*Mei Li getting locked in my car (on my watch...yikes!!!!)
*Jack deciding thumbs up didn't express how awesome things were, so he decided that he needed to use his thumb and his pointer finger in the shape of an "L" and went around doing it and saying "Cool dude!"
*Taking Jack to his first movie. He was so excited about popcorn, but didn't make it through the opening credits because he was so overwhelmed and scared of the noise and hugeness of it all...
*tons of quiet down time with family and loved ones!

Moments

A moment I don't want to forget...

Jack gently grabbed my face and turned it to face him one day after bowling and said, "Momma, do you know that I like you and I'm having fun with you?"
Sweet, sweet boy.

The Apple doesn't Fall Far

I do not [HEART] hiking. Seriously.

For anyone who has spent any real time with me, that statement shouldn't come as a shock. As a kid, I had to be enticed up the mountain with the promise of "chocolate chip" cookies (only once I had made it to the top of the mountain did I realize I had been duped and they were raisin cookies which everyone knows are never ever good enough to climb an entire mountain for!).

Fast forward to today. Some good friends invited Jack and I to go to San Antonio Open Space Park. Since we really didn't have anything better to do (READ we postponed bowling till Wednesday) we decided to go. It wasn't until we got there that I realized pretty much the entire activity was a nature walk. Nature walks are too close a cousin to hikes for me generally, but the company was fantastic and I was actually happy to be there. Jack on the other hand couldn't understand what we were doing there. I was upbeat telling him we were going on a hike and an adventure, and he kept asking me if we could go to Target now. He saw lizards, ran over bridges, posed for pictures with bugs, walked on logs, saw a deer roaming free (despite the picture looking like it was caged in, it was on the outside of the cage and just happened to be walking down from the hillside near the fence), got totally dusty, gave himself a water bottle shower, played with his friends and saw tractors. Getting in the car I was proud that I hadn't let my hatred of hiking affect his experience. I said, "Wow that was so much fun getting to go on a hike with our friends! To which he responded, "Um, next time how bout I just stay in the car?"

Alas, all my hard work and he saw through to the heart of the matter. Hikes=long bug filled, dusty, sweaty walks!

*Notice that I am so silly and had flip flops on! My red polish was totally brown before the morning was over.

Let's Go Bowling!

Words cannot do justice to how much Jack loves to bowl. I have no idea where the obsession came from, but it is here and we are embracing it thanks to a free pass that allows Jack to bowl 1 free game every day this summer! We are trying to keep it to twice a week so that the bowling mystic won't wear off too quickly. He loves choosing his ball, trying to carry the ball with his fingers in the holes, rolling it down the lane and then shouting "HURRAY!" at the top of his lungs regardless of whether he knocks down 1 or 10 pins! Zack's game is improving as well (bumpers tend to help adults too ;)). I know some of these pictures are super lame, but to be honest, I love how totally lame they are. I love that every shot I tried to get of Jack his eyes are either closed or he looks like he's a gone off the deep end a bit!

28 is getting a bit too close to 30 for my taste

Jack with his Birthday Momma!



Here is a picture of the cake that Jack and Zack made for me. For weeks Jack had asked me what type of cake I wanted for my birthday...well maybe more accurately he had told me for weeks that I wanted a pink cake for my birthday. The day before I was instructed that I wanted a pink "Sally" cake. He and Zack made me this awesome birthday cake, complete with two tailpipes (thanks to Jack). So much fun!!



I instantly felt old after looking at all of the smoke from all of the candles in the picture...I guess I have to remember that it's 29 candles (times 2 people) = 58 candles

Happy 4th of July!

We had a wonderful 4th of July! Our day started with a trip over to one of our favorite parks where Jack got to be in the annual Bike Parade. He really got a kick out of being one of the big kids riding (okay so maybe more like using his feet to push) his bike. At the finish line Jack got his first medal! The rest of the day included playing in the pool, helping wash my car and Adda's car (once again, maybe more like spraying us all with the hose) and then a crazy long nap that ended at 6:45pm. Any other night we would have woken him up, but the late nap made going out to see fireworks possible. It was Jack's first time seeing fireworks,and because of our experience a few weeks ago trying to take Jack to a movie and him being terrified by how loud it was, we stayed in a parking lot a few streets back. We all lay on the hood of our car and watched a great fireworks show which Jack loved! He kept asking me if we could watch it again on Tivo (pretty much as soon as the show started). I tried to tell him to just lay back and enjoy them while they were on, but it made me think of how many times I have struggled to learn that very same lesson. Now I have to help Jack learn to be in the moment and not worry about the next step, the next task, the next stage. For now, the special moment of lying on the hood of my car wrapped up in blankets with the two loves of my life, watching fireworks, totally in the moment will be the picture that I remember in the years to come.