Memorial Day Weekend: Camping

Our Memorial Day weekend was jammed packed full of fun! So much fun, and so many pictures that I have to divide it into a few different posts. Tonight's post will be about camping!!

First, we had to put up the tent! 

Jackson was the crew leader

Hhmm.... that's not quite how it works! 

Once he figured it out how the poles, he was a big help!

 There was a big fallen down tree behind out campsite so Jackson and I went to climb and explore!

Grammy stopped by and here and Jackson went "fishing" in the puddles of water.

It's a nifty fishing rod, isn't it?

Julie found this awesome stick. First, we chuckled because it looked like the middle finger. And then she thought it looked like an L, and then she figured it could be used as a nose picker too! It was used as a Derek-poker once too... before he snapped it! Ugh!

Jackson "helped" with dinner... by helped, I mean, made more work for me, but he got to be involved.

Aunt Laura visited too!

Roasting marshmallows 

Jackson likes his well done!

 Belle enjoyed chillin' in her little area! She loves the outdoors.

Two goofballs

Hanging out by the fire!

Jackson LOVED his headlamp!

He got super hyper with it on. His face may not look all that rambunctious, but check out the sock in the air. He was throwing it around the tent.

Julie enjoyed some nice Belle cuddles by the fire.

The next morning, we woke up to find that the raccoons enjoyed all of our capri suns. They opened the cooler, took them out, and left them scattered all around. But hey, at least they closed the lid!

Jackson was a big help when it was time to pack up!

And he helped load up the car!

Jackson seemed to enjoy himself. If you were to ask you about camping he would mention that we built a fire, had hot dogs and marshmallows, and that he shared a bed with Julie. He really enjoyed being outside and having the freedom to roam. Belle did really well too! We had a pack-and-play type thing, but she ended up in the bed with us. Jackson woke up with the sun, like 6:15ish, and talked non-stop for like thirty minutes until we all got up because we'd given up on getting any more sleep. 

We had a great time camping. The weather was cool, but that beats super hot any day. I would like to have been able to stay longer, but the scheduling just didn't work. Hopefully we will be able to take another trip sometime this summer!

Visiting Derek, part 4: The rest of the weekend

After graduation from basic training, the soldiers then go head off to AIT (advanced individual training). Because the post that Derek was being transferred to was within a certain amount of miles, we were given the opportunity to drive him there instead of taking government transportation. This meant that instead of Derek having to check back in that night at 8pm, like he did on Family Day, he had until noon the next day to get him from Fort Benning to Fort Gordon.

Before we headed out of town, we made sure to visit the National Infantry Museum. You should really check out the website as I will fail horribly at making it sound as cool as it really is. Jackson behaved so well for a little guy. Having lots of things to touch and look at really helped! But, I'd like to go back to visit someday to spend more time.

Not only is it cool on the inside, but it really is a beautiful structure on the outside too!

Down in the kid section, they had a cool room with all parts of the ACU uniform to try on!

For kids of *all* ages, not just the little guys!

The rest of Thursday was spent driving up to Atlanta to drop Forrest off at the airport and then driving over to Augusta. It was a long day in the car! Linda and Julie were taking Jackson for the night and Derek and I were able to have a date night! It was nice to spend alone time together, though it would have been nicer if I hadn't spent a majority of the time crying because I wasn't ready to say good-bye again. We had only just saw him for the first time the day before!

Friday morning we made a quick run to Wal-Mart to get a few last minute things and drove him over to Fort Gordon to check in at lunchtime. I did finally pull myself together so the commanding officers and fellow soldiers wouldn't think Derek was married to a psychotic mess! We were told that we could wait around for orientation, so we did and I witnessed the most interesting orientation speech I have ever heard. More time was spent discussing STDs, condoms, alcohol, and sexual harassment than any other topic. But more importantly, we found out that because it was Columbus Day weekend that Derek could leave the post and wouldn't have to check back in until Monday.

OHMIGOODNESS, I WAS SO EXCITED!!!

It was a total God-thing how we had planned the rest of our trip ahead of time to perfectly work out this special blessing! Unlike other families who had booked flights for later that afternoon or the next day who couldn't spend extra time with their soldier, we had booked our flight for late Sunday night!! Our hotel was already booked in Atlanta, so we hopped back in the car and drove the two and a half hours back to Atlanta. I booked another room not even caring how much it'd cost! 

The next morning, we headed out to the Atlanta Zoo. Derek's aunt Judy drove down from North Carolina to join us.

Julie may be smiling in this picture, but she was freaking out.

Unlike Jackson, who loved petting the goats and the pigs.

Taking a break to sit down at the zoo! I love this girl.

We stopped by Chuck-E-Cheese's later that afternoon, to get out of the hotel for awhile (while Jackson was thoroughly entertained by going up and down in the lobby elevator, we really needed him to get out!). Saturday night at Chuck-E-Cheese = bad idea. We stayed for a little bit but it was waaaay too crowded.

Julie showed us some of her basketball moves

And it was Julie's first experience with Skee Ball!!!! (Derek tried adamantly to beat her score, but couldn't do it-- and so he pouted about being beat by a girl).

Per our friends demand suggestion, we were sure to stop by for a meal at The Varsity.

Derek enjoys an Orange Cream Slush, which Jackson drank some chocolate milk that I shared!  (this was after Jackson made "watches" out of tomatoes- where does he come up with this stuff?)

We checked out of our hotel around 9am to start our drive over to Augusta/Fort Gordon. The goal was to keep Jackson awake, so that he would in turn sleep on our drive back to Atlanta later that afternoon. Once we got to Augusta, we grabbed some sandwiches from Subway and enjoyed a nice picnic at a park before it was time to drop Derek off so we could make it back in time for our flight. We said our good-byes (with really minimal tears this time!). Derek went to get settled into his room and we started our long journey home. 

It was a fabulous (albeit exhausting) trip. Spending the extra two days with Derek was simply wonderful. There was time just to hang out, for him to play with Jackson, and every moment wasn't scheduled! I will be forever grateful of Christopher Columbus and the fact that we have a national holiday to celebrate him!

(I know this was soooo long, but I wanted to fit in all in one post! I'm all done with lengthy vacation posts now.)

Jackson's new 'do

Well, I finally did it. Yesterday, I took Jackson to get his first haircut.

I was just so nervous. I love his little curls and I don't want him to look too grown up!! And just sometimes little boys look weird after their haircuts-- with the perfectly straight line across their foreheads (think Jim Carey, Dumb and Dumber). But though his curls were super cute, they looked super ridiculous half of the time. We get to see Derek in just 8 days and I couldn't risk a bad hair day for him, so we went to get it cut.

Check out the length of those curls by his ears. Definitely time for a cut.

He sat perfectly still (for serious... my son... still. Who knew?!) 

 Here's my handsome little guy sporting his new 'do. He still has some little curls. This makes me happy!

Look at these two-- a good lookin' bunch!

He seriously did great. I went to the store with a purse full of tricks to entertain him and to keep him still-- suckers, M&Ms, books, his blanket, his daddy doll... you name it! He took a sucker and was so compliant. I'm so glad I did it, but I don't regret waiting so long to do it!

Bubble Bath Time

Tonight was Jackson's first bubble bath. I'd like to claim that it was my ultra cool mom-ness that likes to create fun activities for my little one to partake in. However, it was really just an attempt to entertain Mr. Cranky-pants so he'd stay awake until bedtime! And it worked- he played in the bath for just over thirty minutes. Talk about grandma fingers!

My brown-eyed cutie pie!

Nothing tastes better than some bubbles and hippopotamus!

This is right before he peed on my carpet.

A surprising reaction

I will avoid using any lame puns to describe how much fun we had at Worlds of Fun yesterday. We had a great time. As soon as we got there, we took Jackson to Camp Snoopy and he had fun riding all the rides, jumping in the big moonwalk thing, and playing in the big ball pit too.  After about two and half hours (nap time!), my wonderful Mom came and picked up Jackson so that Derek and I could go back to the park and ride the roller coasters and stuff. It was an exhausting day, but fun.

Jackson and me getting ready to ride the Wacky Worm

Derek and Jackson on the choo-choo (aka, the train)

 

Once he figured out that the steps made noise, Jackson had a lot of fun stomping his feet like crazy. It was cute.

Jackson responded differently to the rides differently than we expected. He just acted differently than normal. This is how he rode the Wacky Worm (an actual "roller coaster"). Hands on his lap, just enjoying the ride.

 

 He never smiled or laughed... he just sat there!! But as soon as the ride stopped, he'd sign "more, more" in an instant.

This video is a good representation of the day. He was just in his own world when he's on a ride. He wouldn't look at us and he wouldn't wave or smile, but he definitely wanted more when it was over. Check out that good signing!! He'd even run up to the rides and climb in the little cars (planes, horses, ladybugs- it was all basically the same ride). I guess he just didn't know how to process it all, but he was still super cute!