Pumpkin carving and Trick or Treating

We had a lot of fun celebrating Halloween!!! Jackson gets into the holidays more and more every year. Last week we went over to Bobby and Pa's to carve our big pumpkin. Bobby and I usually decide what to carve and Pa is the one who does the carving. He is very good at it too!! This year we decided to carve Mickey Mouse into the pumpkin. We got the pattern and idea off of a plastic light up Mickey pumpkin that Aunt Jane sent to Jack earlier this month. Jackson enjoyed picking the "guts" out of the pumpkin. He kept calling it seaweed.

 

 

Last night we enjoyed  Trick or Treating with some friends and their kids. We had quite the cute group! Jackson was a Jack in the Box. Toby came up with the idea a few months ago. We have always loved the idea of homemade costumes. Toby made the costume entirely by himself with very little input or help from me. I think he did an excellent job, if I say so myself! Jackson was very proud wearing his box.

I left my heart in San Francisco (this one is for you Cyan)

My beautiful nephew, Cyan Arom Reid, was born on September 21st. Even though this is a blog about Jackson I had to dedicate a post to this little sweetie since he is such a big part of our lives. Last Friday I had the privelege of flying out to San Francisco with my mom to meet him. I had such a wonderful time and now miss him terribly. Our visit was spent going for walks around the neighborhood as well as dowtown, a picnic in the park, and visiting our family in Napa. One afternoon Chris gave me a tour of San Francisco, which was wonderfu! We spent lazy mornings cuddling with baby Cy. I cannot wait to go back to visit with Toby, Jackson, and baby Emily.



Proud grandma!

 

Auntie Lindsey with Hannah and Cyan

 

The view from our picnic in Crissy Field

 

Enjoying a snooze in the park

 

On top of Bernal Hill during my tour of the city

 

A very proud daddy giving Baby Cy a bath

 

Crossing the Golden Gate bridge on the way to Napa

 

Uncle Ron with his newest great nephew

 

Cousin Cassie

 

The girls giving Emily some lovin'

 

The whole gang minus Dad, Toby, and Jack

 

Resting after a long outing

 

Cable car in downtown San Francisco

 

Taking a snooze on the baby bump. I was in heaven...

 

 

Pacific Ocean sunset on my last night in California

 

I couldnt help but include a couple of Jackson with the "prizes"

that mommy brought home for him...

 

 

 

 

Disney Magic

This past weekend we went up to the Orlando area to visit our good friends the Snyder's, who are there on vacation. It was also sort of an extension of Jackson's birthday. We think he is now at the perfect age to enjoy Disney and wanted to take him before Emily's arrival. We all had the best time! Not only was it wonderful to catch up with some great friends and watch the kids play together but to see the joy on Jackson's face at the Magic Kingdom was priceless. It was a day we will never forget!

Jack and Camden watching Toy Story

 

 

The boys got their faces painted at the resort

On the way to Magic Kingdom

 

Carousel ride in Fantasyland

 

Jackson loves meeting Jessie and Woody

 

A classic Disney souvenir

The three cuties posing with Dumbo

 

One of Jackson and daddy's favorite rides

 

The three Mousketeers

 

 

Celebrating Jack's birthday with Mickey pancakes

 

 

Buddies!

 

Opening his present from the Snyders

 

Best buddies!

 

 



Our little fish

Jackson's 3rd Birthday weekend

As always, Jackson's birthday was bittersweet. Our "baby" is growing up incredibly too fast! Toby and I both agree that between the ages of 2 and 3 are about as good as it gets. Our little boy is so incredibly sweet, witty, and handsome. He keeps us laughing every day. His language skills have sky rocketed, saying just about anything imaginable. He is just now into watching movies which makes his daddy very happy. He loves to swim and is a little fish these days. He is mastering swimming and jumping in the pool without his swimmie. He also enjoys the beach and digging in the sand. Anytime we are out on the road, he will spot an ambulance, fire truck, or police car from a mile away and gets excited every single time. I love to hear him sing either songs from the radio or ones from his favorite Disney shows. I cherish the times when he wants me to carry him down the stairs when he wakes up in the morning or his big hugs on the couch. I know these things wont last forever so I'm trying to soak it all in while it lasts.

His birthday weekend was spent with both sets of grandparents. We spent Saturday cooking out, playing cornhole, and watching the Gators. On Sunday we rented a boat and cruised around the back waters looking at all of the big houses before anchoring up at Keywadin Island for a bit. Monday, Jackson's birthday, we had a Mickey Mouse party. It was just a small family party but still very fun and memorable. Jackson had a huge smile on his face the entire day. My goal was to make his day as special as possible. I'm pretty sure we succeeded! Below are many pictures to recap the wonderful weekend that we had.

Playing on the iPad with grandma

Eating game day snacks with Papa

 

Little Gator fan

Playing cornhole...

Relaxing on the boat

Driving the boat with Pa

The party set up...

 

 

 

Seeing the decorations for the first time...

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's party time...

 

 

 

Feeding his new beta fish from Bobby and Pa. He named it Dorothy after a fish in one of his Elmo books.

 

 

 

 

Time for cake!

 

 

Group photo using the camera timer

 

 

Putting together his new pirate ship with daddy and Papa