Jackson Turned Three

 April 10th marked Jackson's third birthday. I can't believe our little guy is 3. He is so grown up now. It makes me a little sad, seeing the baby melt away into a little boy. At the same time, I love seeing him learn, stretch, and grow. He's such a big boy. We sure love you Jackson!

Jackson's big day was full of exciting activities. We started out the day joining Stacy and Graham Serafine at the zoo. They had some culture passes and they offered to share with us. So kind of them. We had a great time. The adventure began with Jackson opening a present from Graham at the zoo entrance. Jackson was thrilled. He loves his new blocks.

 Arizona "snowfall," also known as a nice thick layer of cotton on the zoo floor. ;) 

 It was quite difficult for us to get this picture. It was hot and Jackson was not in the mood, but at least we got a shot! Thanks Stacy. ;)

When we got home we found a birthday package on the doorstep from the Francis family. A Cars backpack with Cars fruit snacks?! Jackson was in heaven. He loves the backpack. He's been using it for preschool, and of course, he also wears it around our house. It's so cute, I love it.

For dinner, Troy made Jackson's fave: waffles. And because it was Jackson's birthday, we made them extra yummy with sprinkles in addition to the syrup. He also got to drink chocolate milk with his dinner. (Disclaimer: we didn't try to limit his sugar intake on the day of his birth. :) 

After dinner we took a family trip to Yogurtology to get some ice cream. Jackson loooved this activity. I think it might have been the first time we'd done this as a family. We let him pick out his ice cream and his toppings which were definitely representative of a 3 year old. (Sour gummy worms and chocolate chips together.) He kept saying, "Mmm. This is good, mommy!" After his face and shirt were sufficiently messy and he had licked every last drop out of his cup, we went back home to open his present.

I found this little Captain America doll on clearance at Target and I knew the minute I saw he would love it. And love it he did. When you push the red star on his chest he says, "I'm Captain America!" Jackson has been pushing it over and over while running around the room and repeating in his most heroic, super hero voice, "I'm Captain Merica!" Watching his little face light up when he opened it and then watching him fly around the living room was pretty priceless.

{Friend Bday Party}
The Saturday after Jackson's birthday we had a little party at our house. We kept it very simple. Just friends, ice cream, and cake. I felt great about how it turned out. Jackson was so excited his friends were coming to his house for his party. The presents didn't hurt either. Jackson's friends sure spoiled him!

He had a hard time blowing out his candles this time for some reason. Ironic since it was his third time blowing out candles that week. Ha! He had them by the third try though. So we were good.

My original plan was to buy a bunch of dollar store water guns and let the kids go wild. Even though we roasted at the park on Jackson's actual bday, the day of his party was rather chilly (in Arizona terms) with a high of 69. Jackson ended up coming across the water guns he got in his Easter basket and wanted to play with them anyway. So they got each other wet, even though they were cold and they had a blast.

It was a pretty fun birthday week for our whole family. We love you Jackson and though we're happy you turned 3, we think maybe you should not turn 4 for a few more years. Stay little please. Love, Mom and Dad.

Easter Sunday

We had a great Easter Sunday at our house. The Easter Bunny showed up and brought baskets for both Jackson and Clara as well as yet another egg hunt for Jackson. Jackson was thrilled with his little Easter toys. The Easter bunny was able to get some steals of deals from Target to put in his basket this year. ;) His favorite was the new "Binn McKiss-ile" aka Finn Macmissile from Cars2. He was thrilled about that one. He still tells me, "Mom the Easter Bunny give to me! Was behind the tree, huh mom?" Ha ha.

The Easter Bunny also brought water guns. Jackson hasn't really ever played with them before and  boy did he have a blast. Troy broke them out that morning while my mom and I were preparing dinner. They were having a blast outside and then all of a sudden Jackson was inside shooting me. It scared me and I screamed, which made it all the more fun for him. Troy took him outside but then gave him the idea to shoot Grandma. I got that one on video and it was Hi-larious. You can hear my ugly shriek-laugh on the footage. I only laugh like that when something is really funny. ;) A few minutes later Jackson had climbed up on the couch in the kitchen and leaned over the counter to shoot my mom right in the face. He is one tricky little dude! So you know 3/$1 squirt guns are worth waaaaaay more than a dollar, they're good for hours of entertainment!

The rest of the day was spent going to church together, eating a lovely ham dinner, taking Easter outfit pictures of Clara by herself because Jackson wanted nothing to do with it (side note: Clara's cute headband was made by a friend: Brooke Stevenson, in a neighboring ward-- she was so sweet to offer to make Clara an Easter headband! I absolutely love it.), playing group games of Solitaire on my dad's ipad (which actually didn't work so great, but was still fun) and doing a fun craft-- stamping quotes onto dollar store dishes. It was a great end to a lovely week. That evening my Dad, Jer, and Linds flew back to Utah. The next morning my mom and Ashley headed out on the long long drive back. But before they left my mom did laundry, cleaned the bathroom, emptied the dishwasher and vacuumed. I couldn't even tell company had been in my house. So amazing. We love you family. Thanks for coming to visit, we can't wait to see you again soon!