Higher Learning

Today marked a VERY special day in our lives... 

 St. Theresa's Catholic School will have their very own lion cub attending their program twice a week for the remainder of the school year! 

 As you can tell from these pictures, our boy was elated to get to his classroom with his 'backpack' in tow--ready to get educated! 

We were quite worried as to what his reaction would be, but Jackson ran up, ran in and ran straight to the class room without so much as a qualm.

He made immediate friends with another little boy named Jackson and they really enjoyed each others' company.

Today was just an open house so Jack and I got to meet Jackson's teachers, peers and parents. We also picked up lesson plans, instructions and school calendars. This boy is going to have some pretty rigorous activities in his near future! They already sent him home with homework!

 I don't think he fully understands what is going on (here he is sitting at a table waiting for 'pan con pollo') but hopefully he'll get the hang of things once school starts for him next week.

 Someone who isn't understanding? His momma. My sweet little baby is getting too big for words. Not gonna lie, I got pretty teary-eyed in the classroom. I think I'll have a rougher first day than our cub. I might even shed a tear. Maybe ;)

Tune in next week to hear how our first day went! 

Guido

Six Years

Today Jack and I celebrate SIX awesome years of holy matrimony. He is most definitely my soul mate  and together we can conquer the world.

 Counting our blessings one day at a time :)

Snow Cones & Trains

Hot summers call for snow cones. It just so happens Jack's friend, Aaron (Tio Aaron to our cub) owns a snow cone stand in Round Rock. If you're ever in the area I highly recommend checking him out!  

Rock-a-billy's is full of old cars Aaron has bought and turned into tables. Jackson was in heaven! He lovvvessssss driving!

 After a nice afternoon snack Jack thought it would be fun to ride the metro to dinner. Jackson had never ridden on a train before and we thought he'd love it....

 well, we were right! He thoroughly enjoyed his train experience. So much so that he didn't let his dada and I finish our dinner, or our drinks because he wanted back on ASAP.

 This is definitely something we'll be doing a lot more often! 

McKinney Falls

McKinney Falls State Park is located in Southeast Austin. We've been living in Austin for quite some time now and had never heard of this place before. I tell you, having a child has taken Jack and I to the most obscure places that we would never have visited otherwise. 

Clearly the cub brings out the adventurous side in us. Or maybe it's just that we have to find things to do to fill our day which now begins at 7am instead of the pre-child time of 1pm. But I digress...

The park is very expansive and has everything from hiking trails to multiple swimming holes. We packed a lunch and had a great time.

This gorgeous Irish Setter was Jackson's best friend. Her name was Maggie (perfect name no?) and he adored this 'puppy'. I tried to get a picture of the two of them together, but our boy is very hesitant about petting 'puppies'. He always wants Jack and I to pet them for him. We can thank/hate Chaucer for this behavior. I guess it's a good thing that Chaucer has made Jackson this way?!?

We had a nice time cooling off and I can't wait to bring this boy back for some hiking in the fall! 

Beach Blues

As previously posted we spent last week with my grandparents in Kingwood. Well last weekend we decided to crash my dad's conference in Galveston and take Jackson to his very first beach adventure. Sadly Daddy could not join us because he had a bachelor party to attend (poor guy) so it was just the cub and I. Oh, and Abuelo of course.

As soon as we arrived we unloaded our cargo and went to my dad's conference which took place in Moody Gardens. This place has it ALL from a conference center, to a hotel, a museum, an aquarium and even a water park! It was insane. My dad left us to attend his meetings and the cub and I decided to hit up the aquarium as we were a bit overwhelmed by all the other attractions...

He LOVED the seals...

 This tank had all kinds of aquatic life but Jackson was most interested in the turtle. He didn't even notice the shark that would NOT take his eyes off our gordo... 

 Abuelo showed up half way through our visit and Jackson just about lost it. As I've said in the past, my dad is this cub's most favorite person in the entire world. Even more than his own momma! So Jackson was elated to run around with my dad...

He was most excited to show Abuelo the lion fish. As soon as we told him the name of the species he started roaring at them...

 First day in Galveston, GREAT success. To say he slept well that night is a true understatement. He CRASHED. Which was good because next day was beach day!

 From the looks of these pictures you'd think this cub had a grand 'ole time. Truth is...he HATED it. We were there for all of 45 minutes and it was true work just to get him to touch the water.

I knew he hated sand because every time he comes across it--on his hands, clothes, shoes, etc. he runs up to us and says 'sucio, sucio' but I never imagined he'd hate the beach that much. He chose instead to let his momma run around in the waves like a crazy woman while he hung back and played with his toys ON the loungers and NOT in the sand...

 The rest of our stay was obviously spent poolside and as you can tell by these pictures the cub was in-his-element...