This Boy...

He is all mine. I love him so...

Keeping Cool

 In case you haven't heard...it's HOT outside. How are we keeping cool? Everything we do lately revolves around water. Guess who's a happy camper?

 

Recently we've started going back to Barton Springs because it's hot enough to. I'm usually too cold natured to enjoy the water, (it's FREEZING {for me} at a constant 68 degrees) but it feels fabulous when it is 102 degrees++ outside. 

This cub doesn't mind the cold water either. We scream at first, but then we start moving around and get used to it. 

And Jackson's dada? Well he says we're babies (some of us are) and dives off into the sunset...

Jackson's Entourage

  

As you can tell from the picture above, Jackson has A LOT of friends. I'd be worried if they were always all pretend but we've talked about the cub's real-life amigos on this blog enough that you all shouldn't worry about that. 

These are the fake kind. His entourage if you will. He really wasn't into stuffed animals at all until a few months ago and now he can't seem to get enough of them. 

They go out to eat with us, to the grocery store, to chase guinea hens, and recently they even ask to drive....

Sometimes Chaucer gets a hold of one of them and tries intently to tear them to bits and pieces... 

Then I have the pleasure of washing/drying them. Elmo was hung out to dry because I recently made the mistake of machine drying Jackson's beloved Boo (you better believe we have the book) and now he doesn't look as cute... 

Regardless of their crazy texture though, this cub loves them just the same. I wish he only loved the cute ones (puppies, zebra, tigre, etc.) but he seems to really LOVE the Sesame Street characters. 

My mom isn't a fan of Sesame Street (and frankly neither am I) but she is a fan of Jackson so she "reluctantly"(as she put it) bought him ALL of the characters. 

And as you can tell they pretty much go everywhere with us now...

His absolute FAVORITE stuffed toy though are still his mai mai's and this makes me happy as they are my favorite as well. Every morning he brings them downstairs with him to drink his 'coffee' (aka milk) and snuggles and loves on them. He would take these everywhere if I let him but I don't like them to get dirty so we put them back in his crib so they are ready for his nap time. 

Isn't he sweet? Please don't get any ideas though. Jackson's entourage is full and he tells me he's not accepting any more 'members'. This cub is exclusive...

One FAB Father's Day

 This father's day was extra special because Jackson's not the only one who got to spend it with his dada...

I got to spend it with MY dad as well! And in our pj's no less! Actually, this was the only picture we took of the both of us all weekend so it'll do!

We had a great weekend full of food, wine and lotssss of playtime. As I said before, Jackson is OBSESSED with 'abuelo' so my dad and the cub were in joint heaven.

At brunch this morning, we toasted the dads at the table with a lovely 'salud' (Jackson's favorite table game) and ate some pretty amazing east/west coast oysters. 

After the meal Jackson insisted on showing off his city so we walked up and down South Congress...

And he remembered there were puppies on the other side of the street. He ran over to them and rattled their cages...

...he also remembered one of momma's favorite places Bootleg. It's a mobile shoe store with some beautiful inventory. But alas, it was Father's day so no shoe shopping for me :(

We then had dessert at The Driskill (check it out we're still on the website!). If y'all recall this is where Jack and I got married almost 6 years ago! I thought it was very touching for Jackson to visit for the first time on Father's day. He got to see where it all began for his dad and I.

Needless to say, he loved it. Running around an empty, haunted hotel, --this cub's dream come true...    

 

The day ended with a yummy chocolate cake, some pretty happy dads and one TIRED little lion cub. 

Lost Again...

Jack was recently asked to attend a conference in Bastrop, TX at Hyatt Lost Pines. I'm not gonna lie, I LOVE conferences. When we were little, my dad used to go to them all the time and it's how we got to travel the world. Now, Jack gets to go them pretty often and it's how we get to tag along on some pretty neat adventures. 

Jackson was ready to go as soon as we said 'vamos' and when we got there he was so excited to take in all the sights. Last year he really enjoyed his time there but this time it was a whole new ball game. He reveled in the Colorado River (which lines the property) and it took everything for him not to jump into the pool as soon as he saw it. Since we got there so late he couldn't swim but guess who was ready-to-go at breakfast?! 

This cub was ENAMORED with the pool. So much so that the first day out we were there from 9:30am-5:30pm with only an hour nap in between. Oh, and he stopped 10 mins for lunch...

                    

After swimming ALL DAY you'd think he'd be tired but he decided to take a stroll in the butterfly garden...

 And then attend a luau with his dad and I. The older kids LOVED him and he LOVED those 'niños' as he calls them now...

      

The second day out dada got to join us for a bit in the pool and he thought it'd be fun to take the cub down the slide. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

 Jack did a great job of not scaring him by not dunking him. I was not that safe. He was dunked with me, but he didn't mind it. I'd like to tell y'all that he really enjoyed the slide, but the truth is he didn't hate it but he didn't love it either.

 We decided the lazy river was much more up his ally...

His preferred water feature however, was the splash pad...

Where he thoroughly enjoyed lounging on the chairs in between runs...

 Cool kids in our shades.

 Jackson's favorite part about this trip however were the 'burros' on the property. We discovered them on our second day and thank GOD we didn't discover them sooner. He was INFATUATED with them.

 He got to feed them, pet them and love on them. He only asked about them about 80,000 times and every time he'd run over to our bedroom door and want to see them again. And Again. And Again....

We had so much fun on this trip. This place is so great for kids and adults. Jackson enjoyed it more this year than last. We will definitely be coming back year after year and who knows what newest obsession Jackson will find next year!