Afternoon Adventure

Yesterday, Zach and I decided to take an impromptu visit to the Children's Museum in Gulfport.  We saw on the museum's website where they had a couple of trains, so we knew Jackson would be entertained, we just didn't know how obsessed he would be!

 The train had everything Jackson loves--a water tower for the steam engine, a place to transfer the coal, a passenger car, and a depot!

 We could not pry him away from the train or the huge train table that was set up.  We stayed there for at least an hour before he ever reluctantly agreed to see what else there was to do.  You would think he had never played with trains before!

 Pouting after telling him we were going to see what else there was to do

Katherine played with the crane that was a few feet over from the trains

 While Jackson was obsessed with the trains, I took Katherine to the smaller children's area to investigate.  This picture is on here mainly because I can't get over those skinny little legs! 

Zach was finally able to lure Jackson outside (where there was another train) with bubbles.  Not sure why, but this is my favorite picture of the day.

 Katherine even got in on the bubbles!

Jackson teamed up with another little boy while outside and they ran all over the place!  Shortly after, it was time to leave and this is what happens when a little fella is sleepy and told the fun has to end . . .

Jackson woke up this morning telling us he wanted to go see the green train!  I think he had a good time!

Hello Kitty and Thomas the Train

Last weekend we headed to Alabama to celebrate Emma's 4th birthday!  It's hard to believe Emma is already 4 and Jackson will follow in a couple of months!

{WARNING--LOTS OF PICTURES!!}

Hello Kitty land!

Emma has a small love for a certain white, bow-headed kitty, so her extremely creative and talented mom made almost all of the decorations for the party!

Jackson with the Birthday Girl

While the backyard was being transformed for a birthday party,

Katherine, Jackson, and Emma played and posed for me before family arrived for the party.  Of course, none of them would look at the camera and smile (at least Emma is smiling)!

Emma signaling the start of the party and in front of her cake table!

I laugh each time I see this picture!

All 3 crammed in

Katherine was fond of her great-aunt, Leslie!

While Jackson enjoyed a cookie,

Miss Independent enjoyed feeding herself some ice cream,

followed by her first dip in a pool!

Katherine really seemed to enjoy the pool, but the water was still pretty chilly, so she only stayed in a few minutes.  On her next visit, hopefully the water will be much warmer and we can also talk Jackson into joining her!

Katherine having a big time with the big girls--Emma and their cousin, Sunny

Daddy's Girl

The favor buckets Gloria put together for everyone to grab on their way out!

Emma's party was on Saturday, and on Sunday Zach and I headed to Atlanta to take Jackson to a Thomas the Train performance.  I had never been on Thomas' website until last week and saw where there was a performance in Atlanta while we were in the area.  Jackson has recently fallen in love with Thomas (yes, he's loved trains for almost 2 years, but only recently really discovered Thomas and all the characters.  It's amazing how many of the characters he knows!), so when I discovered the show even existed and we would be somewhat near it, I told Zach I really wanted to take him.  We were a little unsure how he would react since he would be "confined" for a couple of hours, but he seemed to enjoy it!

The show was pretty good and Jackson seemed to like it, but there were times where things moved a little slow.  There were scenes where the actors were on stage singing without trains in the background, and Jackson became a little bored during those scenes.  Also, there were only 3 character trains featured and Jackson kept asking where several of the other trains were . . . but for attending his first live performance, he did really well!

We had a fun weekend and hope Emma had a wonderful 4th birthday party!

Wobbly Steps and Big Climbs

Katherine had us thinking a couple of weeks ago that she was about to take off walking, but she decided she would rather crawl a little longer.  She continued to take a few steps here and there, but for the most part, she was still crawling.  We went to our niece's birthday party over the weekend in Alabama, and I had a feeling while gone that Katherine would really start walking since we were in a different environment, but once again--wrong!  Well, today, she woke up and apparently decided that the time has come to get off of her hands and knees!  Currently, she is still mainly crawling, but today is the first day that she has taken the initiative to just stand up and start walking around!  She has done this numerous times today, so if she keeps it up, I think we'll have a walker by next week!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not too pleased that she's growing up so quickly, but it's going to happen and it's exciting watching her!

On days that we're home all day, I usually keep her in long pants so her knees won't get so red from crawling on the hard floors (the hardwood isn't so bad, but we have brick floors in several areas and I cringe when her little knees go across that without pants).  I'm looking forward to putting her in more summer dresses also!

Also, over the last few days, our little girl has shown that she is going to be a climber.  While at her grandparents', she managed to climb several feet onto the platform that is around their bathtub; once we made it back home last night, Zach caught her climbing on a chair and reaching to get on top of the table; and tonight while outside, she managed to climb onto the wicker chairs.  The next video is a little longer and she doesn't make it onto the chair until the end, but if you watch it, you can see her walk and talk a little!

{Yes, I know her pants are filthy, and no, she doesn't hurt herself at the end.}

T-Ball!

Jackson had his first t-ball practice last night!  Like usual, he was a little shy, but he did fine.  I think he was ready to leave after about the first 20 minutes, but he hung around and made it to first base!  Here he is at bat and getting a couple of pointers from the coach.

Here, his coach is telling him to give it a good hit.  Rather than hitting the ball, he is just barely touching it and knocking it off, which is what he has been doing at the house.

He hit the ball a good distance (with a little help of course!) and is running to 1st base!

 1st base

And Little Sister doing what all little sisters do at ball practices

Here's hoping he has a great time and this will be the beginning of many fun memories!

First and Last

Last night I was reading a blog where the mom takes a picture of her childrens' first and last days of preschool of the same year and posts them for a comparison.  I'm glad I read it last night since today is Jackson's last day of 3 year old preschool, so I was able to get a picture of him this morning before leaving!

First day of 3-K

August 23, 2010

Last day of 3-K

May 19, 2011

 I had to try to get one of the two together!  This was the best I could do without Zach to help get them to smile and stay seated!  Jackson was upset since he scraped his arm on the chair (where's he holding it) and wouldn't smile, and Katherine just wanted to jump off of the chair.

Jackson has had a big year with the move to a new house and city, along with new preschools.  The first preschool we had him attending following our move just wasn't working out, so we made a change and he seems to really be enjoying going to school again and making friends!  Just by looking at the pictures, our little baby has quickly turned into our little boy.

The Zoo Was a Milestone

I had planned on taking Jackson and Katherine to the park today, but when I asked Jackson if he wanted to go to the park, he answered no, he wanted to go to the zoo.  Great idea, Jackson!  I really wasn't too excited about the park today, but just wanted to get him out of the house and the zoo was a much better idea!

The Jaguar!

We rode the train as soon as we arrived and Jackson and Katherine loved it!  Jackson was even content just riding it one time and never complained about not getting to ride again.

Katherine stretching her legs.

She still prefers crawling, so unfornuately she spent most of her time in the stroller.

Jackson going through one of the prairie dog tunnels.  He LOVED these tunnels . . . I think we stayed here at least 30 minutes just watching him run through the tunnels.

He wasn't tall enough to get an eye-level view of the prairie dogs, but he was fine with that,

he just showed me where they were!

Another thing he loved . . .

I had a time getting him away from the water fountain!

And on the way out, he spotted the railroad crossing.  He's still obsessed with anything train related . . . the engines, the bells, the tracks, the crossing signs, the funnel, the smoke, the wheels.  Everything.

This trip turned out to be a milestone for me--my first time, yes first, taking both Jackson and Katherine completely by myself somewhere like this (this doesn't count Wal-Mart, quick errands, etc.).  Before we moved, the nearest cities with any attractions were at least 90 miles away and by the time we got packed up and made the drive, no one was in a great mood, so I chose not to do long distance things like this by myself.  But, we're closer to so many more things that Jackson enjoys and I'm getting used to venturing out to places with both Jackson and Katherine.  I also think Jackson is getting better at understanding that he will get to go back to places he enjoys and the crying fits when we leave haven't been as common as in the past.  And, maybe there aren't as many fits these days since he can be easily bribed with french fries.  No, he wasn't bribed with french fries today, just a dry shirt since he had soaked his at the water fountain, and he hates wearing wet clothes.  :)