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! 

Boots n' Brooms

Sorry for the lack of posting, it's been a pretty crummy week and to top it off our little cub has been sick. we've been homebound for the majority of the week and while Mr. Jackson has been down, he certainly has not been out.

As of late, Jackson likes to hand me his cowboy boots and asks me to put them on. Usually we just hang around his room and wear them (they are still too big). Today however he wanted to wear them around the house and LOVED the noise they made on the tile:

He did this ALL afternoon and wouldn't let me take them off.

 Here he is correcting my 'botas' and insisting they are in fact 'zapatos'. He is right also so I can't really argue...

Dandelions

 Jackson LOVES dandelions. I showed him that when you blow on them all of the seedlings flutter away. He took that lesson to heart because now when he sees a dandelion he sprints towards it, plucks it and blows on it like mad.

He looks for them everywhere. These weeds are our new best friend...

Pretty Park

We recently discovered a new park that has all the makings of a perfect 'summer spot' for our little cub. I took him there very briefly a few days ago but Jack wanted to see it as well, so we went back today--prepared to conquer. 

Jackson seems to be really good with directions as he led us down the path towards the water. 

 He was soooooo happy to see we were back and even remembered to NOT go in to the water. I told him he was ok to splash around because this time he had his bathing suit on...

 He and Jack dove right in...

 This place really is beautiful and the water is perfect baby height so Jackson can walk around in it, sit and even throw rocks (his favorite).

 There were butterflies, flowers, herbs, and even wild onions everywhere. I pulled a few onions and herbs to take home with me but Jack made me leave them behind because he's convinced they aren't safe?!!! I know, I know, he would definitely not survive in the wild.

 All in all we had a lovely time and the boy had the BIGGEST smile on his face the whole time we were there. Just look at this sweet kid :)

Bonjour!

Jackson asked to be Parisian for the day so I did my best to make him look 

très français... 

Kite Festival

The Annual Kite Festival in Austin is the nation's oldest Kite Festival. This year marked Austin's 84th year and Jackson's 1st! (Well if you count outside the womb).

I of course bought him a lion kite for the special occasion and he LOVED it! 

He ripped it out of the packaging and helped Jack put it together....

 

And watched in utter amazement as it flew with the hundreds of kites in the air...

Our friends Kari and Dillon met us out with their sweet son, Gage. Dillon is a tennis pro and has promised to give Jackson lessons once he's old enough. Jackson and Gage have some serious court time in their near future, but for now they can just enjoy being babies...

It was a GORGEOUS day out--perfect day to fly a kite and just be outside. Jackson truly enjoyed himself. We can't wait to bring him back year after year...

Franklin BBQ

I don't always talk about the places we go eat, but Franklin BBQ was an EXPERIENCE, so it is deserving of it's very own post.  

Franklin's has become a famous place to go eat BBQ here in Austin and when I heard the wait to eat there was 2-3hrs I HAD to try it. Apparently they open their doors at 11am everyday (except Mondays)  but if you want to eat there you have to start standing in line around 9am AND they sell out around noon! 

After mapping out our plan of attack all week (yes all week people) we decided it would be best if Jack waited patiently in line while Jackson ate, slept, and did his business. I dropped Jack off at 9:30am and Jackson and I met back up with him right before 11am when he woke up asking for 'Da-deeee'. 

As you can tell the line was already ridiculously long...

Jackson didn't like the long line at first. Here he is yelling at EVERYONE...

But then we told him about the food at the end of this line and he walked around high-fiving the crowd.  Seriously, he high-fived this man about 5 times...

We had some time to kill because even though they open their doors at 11am you don't necessarily sit and eat until 30 mins after that. We finally ate at 12:30! Which is why I took SOOOO many pictures. 

Jackson made a lot of friends that day but one in particular was a little girl named Adele. She LOVED Jackson. She held his hand, gave him kisses and hugged him endlessly. 

Once inside we said 'buh-byyyyeeee' to Adele and 'hi-yayaya' (hello) to David the gnome...Jackson was TERRIFIED of him. To the point of tears. It was sad/hilarious.

When we FINALLY reached the Holy Grail of BBQ we decided that it was in fact worth the wait (or maybe we were just starving?). The brisket and sauce were to-die-for. The ribs fell off the bone. The pulled pork was perfectly moist. Just ask Jackson--the boy went to town...