A Hell of a Run

Today our lion cub participated in his first race ever. His uncle Bibi had signed up for the Hell Run here in Austin a few weeks ago and asked us if we would go cheer him on. We OF COURSE were ready to yell our lungs out for him until he crossed that finish line! 

 Only, once we arrived and were getting ourselves situated, Jack decided that he too wanted to run so he bought a course packet and joined in! Here he is starting the race...

 Jackson thought the countdown, starting gun and Dada running by were too funny. He started running after him but alas, was left in the dust...

 I told him Tio Bibi and Dada wouldn't be gone too long so we sat around and waited...

 and waited....

 And then Tio Bibi ran by! He was ROCKIN' it! 

 Jack was shortly behind--climbing, running through mud, and apparently a ring of fire...this Run really was Hell!

Tio Bibi and Dada did an AWESOME job and the cub and I are really proud of their time, endurance and overall tenacity.

 And I leave you with a proud Tio doing his best Tim Tebow impersonation...

Jackson goes Tagging

OK, not really--heads would roll if we even joked about tagging. We actually just admired the artwork. Thank goodness for Jack in our lives--he keeps us legal ;). 

The Baylor Street Art Wall is the largest outdoor mural in Austin. It is owned by my old boss and he in turn donated it to the H.O.P.E. Project for the next few years to raise awareness about their campaign. 

 Honestly I wanted to see what had become of his beloved 'Castle' (the castle at the top of this picture) because back when I worked for him, part of my job was managing the castle and the surrounding grounds. You better believe I kept this place in PRISTINE condition so when I found out the following had occurred my mouth dropped.

I can't complain too much though, the man did donate the space and eventually it'll become some pretty cool condos (initial plan for this space). 

Also--Jackson had a blast wandering the grounds and it made for some pretty colorful pictures...

 He was pretty scared of that giant rabbit structure and I don't blame him that thing is SCARY! Here he is too distracted by the thing to even look at the camera...

 BOO! 

All in all it made for an interesting and COLORFUL afternoon. Hope our cub doesn't get any ideas though.

Squished

Jackson thinks being squished by his momma is the funniest thing ever. He purposefully gets behind me whenever I'm up against something just so I can squish him. Jack and I think his laugh is absolutely infectious :)

Baby Disco

Baby Loves Disco is a nationwide event held at different venues across the country where babies (and their parents) enjoy some great tunes, open bar (milk and snacks), and the company of other babies.  The disco party takes place at a local bar and apparently these things usually sell out because they are that popular. 

When we told Jackson what we were doing today he was alllllllll about it. Him and I usually have dance parties in the kitchen so he really wanted to show off his moves. 

Austin's baby disco was held at the Rattle Inn. I put Jackson in what I thought was a rattlesnake shirt in honor of the location but Jack tells me it's actually a king cobra. Whatever....he's wearing a snake shirt. 

To say he was excited is an understatement. Check out this picture of him walking in! 

Once we got inside Jackson saw his friend Samaya and he said, 'Hi-yayaya (how he says Samaya) and told her she looked really nice in her dress. 

The cub loved the songs the 9-year old DJ was playing. A lot of the tunes are the same ones we listen to at home! 

He danced by himself for a little while...

 But he really prefers dancing with his momma, so we did our business on the dance floor...

 After a few songs Jackson was THIRSTY so he pulled up to the bar and ordered a drink...

We think he had one too many because he was walking around a little disoriented. We took this as a cue to head on home for a nap. 

 Jackson had one HECK of a dance party! 

An El Paso Easter

As you can tell from the title, we spent Easter in the West Texas town of El Paso. It was lovely. This was not, however, Jackson's first rodeo. If you recall, he's got the Easter thing down from past experience. 

What was new to our little cub is the whole Easter egg thing. He couldn't quite grasp why the things he eats in the morning were thrown all over Gigi & Abuelo's backyard. He didn't question us for very long though and just went with the flow when we asked him to collect them...

He very soon realized that they were confetti-filled eggs (GREAT job mami!) because being the destructive little boy he is, he enjoys throwing/smashing/crushing things on a regular basis. It just so happened these things were actually filled with something fun (other than yolk)!

He searched long and hard, and near and far...

and stopped to eat some violets (which are actually edible. Did you know? He is a foodie after all so Jackson of course knew)

and this boy found his eggs. Here he is in front of his garden. My mom planted it, cultivated it, added woodland creatures, a bench and a St. Francis statue just for him. She did it all when I was still pregnant. He LOVES sitting on his bench under his tree and smelling his flowers.

We won't tell my mom what he really thinks of St. Francis though, she may have a heart attack...see I told you, destructive...

but back to our Easter post...Jackson got a little tired of running around and looking for eggs so he asked his daddy to wheel him around instead.

They finished off the hunt with a bang, of the eggs that is. All over our boy's head. It was perfect! Easter numero dos--HUGE success...

My Birthday

For my birthday/Easter/just another excuse to go home we decided to spend the week in El Paso. Jackson and I left Monday and Jack met up with us on Thursday. 

The cub and I had a GREAT time with my parents--relaxing, eating, playing and swimming. For my birthday I thought we'd have another day of the same but Jackson told me we were going to the zoo for my special day. 

So, to the zoo we went! 

 

 This time around Jackson was definitely more in tune with his surroundings. He LOVED looking at all the animals and pulling my mom and dad around the park...

 His favorite part about the zoo however? The 'AGUA' or as he says, 'agua, agua, agua, agua'. This kid LIVES for water. We didn't realize they had a splash pad so we weren't prepared for him to jump in, but jump in he did. We were barely able to get his clothes off before he ran into the water.

When we got home he wanted more 'agua' time so we took a dip in the pool and what do you know? Cub found another broom...

He spent all week fighting with Maximus over the broom (Maxi is also a fan of brooms). Jackson usually won though, he's one tough guy. 

 

My birthday concluded with a lovely dinner where the boy ate the majority of my sea bass (his favorite fish). He was an absolute doll all day/night so I happily shared...

Thank you sweet Gordo for making my day so special. I love you more than words and you are after all the best gift this momma could ever ask for. Gracias tambien Mami, Papi y mi adorado--Jack. Love you guys!