Rain, Rain, Hurricane

Jackson was overjoyed to hear about Irene coming to the east coast. Rain is so nice and warm back here, which makes for great puddle jumping and playing compared with my North West home.

Of course, Jackson didn't get to play much in the hurricane. He and I were driving through Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania on our way back from a beautiful wedding. But he did plenty of practicing in AZ with the rain he could find.

(Leftover water coming from the A/C unit totally counts doesn't it?)

The prop umbrella in this picture was just chosen by Jackson randomly out of the many lego props, and carried outside for its use in this photo shoot. I don't think he had any idea how logical his choice of prop was. Lucky!

The wedding was for a dear friend of mine from elementary school.

Jackson was adored by all, and loved the drizzling rain that came before the hurricane.

(These cute pics are from my friend Shanti since I was terrible at keeping the camera handy)

Irene left a much smaller trail than expected, but boy howdy! It caused much mayhem for all the wedding guests. Most had flights delayed until Tuesday or Wednesday! Jackson and I decided to leave really early Sunday and drive clear around--going through Scranton PA (yes The Office) and Harrisburg before heading home via Hagerstown, MD.
We still had quite a nice flavor of Irene's potential. I saw more water on the ground and falling form the sky than imaginable, and then the wind! Hopefully if we're here for another,I'll be in a house--not white knuckled to the steering wheel of a car.
A small sacrifice, but well worth it for such a lovely couple.

Dress-a-thon

This stud just got back from a massive party.

He loved every minute and brought home 3 molars as a party favor.

Mark's little sister Jenny pulled off an amazing 6 week engagement to marry her own stud.

Thereby joining the official sisterhood of the traveling dress.

So far, all weddings associated with Mark's immediate family have had a bride wearing that gown.

I can't believe how relieved I am that others like it as much as I did, and that it somehow fit all of us girls of various heights and sizes.

We'll see if the tradition holds with the last 3 siblings.



It is a timeless classic (in my eyes), but in 10 years???
That might be a stretch.

My guess is that it might take a breather for a few years and end up at one of these two's weddings.



Kind of like this timeless classic ;)




PS: For those hungry for some live action [g'ma/aunties] here are three clips to link to-->

Jackson w/ the Addies
Dancing Feet
Mad Ramp Skills

Jackson--with some Michael in those Feet

Our church has this awesome tradition of setting aside Monday night as family night. Mostly it's an excuse to all be together when our lives are crazy in the future, but right now it's our best excuse to sing a hymn, have a spiritual discussion and enjoy an activity together. We were enjoying ourselves a little Family Home Evening this past Monday, and during the opening hymn (Praise to the Man in Spanish), Jackson busted out the moves. This kid was going all over the room with his feet and hands obviously moving to the distinct rhythms of that timeless hymn. Mark and I barely kept the music going (it's really difficult to laugh and sing at the same time), but immediately concluded we need movies of these amazing moves.

Though these little snippets have the piano providing some nice classical music, they emphasize the brilliance that must come with this boy's given name.

I love how when he falls down, his feet keep moving

This one exemplifies his ability to keep the beat even with a toy rake in hand.
(Impressive I know.)

If only we could film in the chapel! A couple weeks ago he was hula-ing (i.e. swaying his hips very distinctly) out in the middle of the isle during the closing song. Oh my precious blackmail stories!

Monkey See Monkey Do

Hmmm... Where did you pick this one up???

Luckily there was no food inside. That would have been as messy as meal time is.

Jackson is happily at the stage of copying. He enjoys exploring, but often in a new place he needs a little coaxing to start.

Like this cool fountain in the children's garden at Longwood Gardens. He looked at it for a while,

but with one little example, he took off and had a blast getting totally soaked.

Onward to the stage of wanting everything someone else has (including knives, scissors, our wallets, phones) and imitating how we use them. Learning is so brilliantly natural.

Civilized Society

Since this kid insists he's coordinated enough to use a big spoon by himself,

(Notice his mad skill of placing the food on the spoon. Effective eh?)

I decided it was time to to give the mane a trim.

Who better to do it than Aunt Mitzi?

With a little help from youtube's Sesame Street,

(I can't believe how effective the laptop is for pointing the head in the perfect direction. Tip head down? Place laptop on floor. Brilliant!)

We've got ourselves a trimmed, independent, less savage like creature.

I'm sure the large purple shiner on the forehead and the food and snot stains will definitely help his chances as a civilized person.



Welcome to society kid.

Dragon Training

#1: Determine if child is ready.

Does he/she:

-growl spontaneously?

Check.

-try to climb on everything that is high and try to fly off?

Check.

-play with matches or show an interest in fire production?

Check.
(Side Note--not sure how he got those, but they make a great rattle when shaken and apparently they are fun to chew on. Mother of the year again)

#2: Teach potential dragon how to fly.


Gravelly Point Park--a stone's throw away from Reagan National Airport. The planes come in every 2 min or so and are amazing for trainers and trainees.

#3: Eat Dragon Fruit

1.29$/lb at my favorite Asian Mart. Taste? Not superb. The texture is similar to a kiwi, but it definitely needed some sweetened yogurt to be palatable--I don't think it has very much natural sugar. Health Benefit? Immense. According to this website and the lady at the store, they're packed with natural vitamins, antioxidants and seem to help any health problem. Too bad the little man wasn't too fond of them. One piece was good enough for him.

#4: Practice uninhibited exploration

Jackson was tickled pink at his capability for figuring out how to climb onto the couch (toy box-->blue chair-->couch). Brilliant.

Now if it only this dragon training didn't make me so nervous, I might be able to take a decent video.

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

This is a tribute to all the times in primary (children's sunday school) my dad made us come up with new words to this fabulous summertime song. If you're unfamiliar with it, you can find a copy and listen to it here.

Oh what do you do in the summertime

When all the skies are blue?

Do you get stuck with the flu

Or go to Barbeque

Or make the car sparkle like dew?


Is that what you do???

Hey! Us too.



Oh what do you do in the summertime

When all the world is green?

Do you climb down with a scream

Get leaner than lean

Or bounce balls up into the sky?

Is that what you do?!

So do I......

We did get sick with the flu, wash the car, and strap Jackson to my back so we could BBQ. Props go to Mark for finagling a way to let Jackson watch youtube without destroying the computer while we were sick.

The movies are long, so if you choose not to watch, I'm not offended. As usual, they are really for the Grandma's. I love how slowly Jackson turns around to go down the stairs (I know they're creepy gross, but they're well worth having a basement), his cute jibberjabber in the tub, and his solo ball playing [he had been playing that game for 5 min. before I filmed, and continued for another few rounds afterward].

What do you do in the summertime (with a one year old)???

[Because we're starting to run out of ideas in the hot humid weather!]