Day At The Park

(HT: Cheri)

boys of summer

One of Jackson's favorite activities is going to daddy's softball games. The season is now over now. We joked that one of our team's strategies was to distract the other teams with our noisy children. Cheri managed to catch Ty, Jackson & Gabe at their finest! That night was the hottest and we were all soaked with sweat!

More of Willow Run

That's Mike and Jackson on the Red Shark. Just before they got on a little girl got off bawling that she was terrified the whole time... Jackson whooped and yelled with delight when he rode. (Click on any picture to enlarge it)

Cooling off in the boxcar

Jackson's favorite activity by far is swimming. He LOVES jumping off the dock. (See video at the end of this post)

Fishing with Mr. Kevin. Daddy caught a bass, crappie, and he and Kevin caught lots of brim. Jackson helped with each one - wanting to hold the fish and throw them back in.

Daddy on the Giant Swing

Does it get any better than this?

Mommy and Jackson joined Daddy at Camp Willow Run today. We've been here less than 24 hours and Jackson just told me, "I lub it here! I lub Camp Will-wo Run!". Me too! He always has such a good time here. Read last year's account here.

Some highlights so far ...
1. He got to hand out the honor boxcar flags with Eli AND bang on the table for the "drum roll". He looked at me as if to ask if it was ok... I have a feeling he'll be trying this at home next week!

2. Jackson just gets it so much more this year. We went on a walk and toured camp. I took him to the outdoor chapel and when he saw the large cross he said, "It's a cross... just like for Jesus". adorable. He saw the high ropes and immediately begged to climb "up to da clubhouse". He comes by that honestly!

3. He already has the camper girls' attention in a big way. And he's hamming it up for them.

4. He got to sing "River of Life" and the "Papaya Song" - two of his absolute favorites. It was so fun to watch him sing and do all the motions with all the big kids.

5. We went swimming at the lake. Jackson will now jump off the dock and into the water (in his life jacket) without mommy or daddy to catch him. He simply jumps off, goes under water briefly, and then doggie paddles back to the ladder to do it again. And again. His bravery scares me!

Hope to post some pictures soon!

Pirate Play

A few weeks ago mommy found this great foam sword at the Target Dollar Spot (a family favorite!). Once getting home with it, I instantly regretted only getting one! We've searched a couple of Targets and never found them again. (If you see them, please buy us several and I will pay you back!)

Jackson LOVES to play pirates and/or muskateers with Daddy. Since daddy didn't have a sword of his own, Jackson has determined that he could use a plastic Indiana Jones spoon (a toy from a cereal box) as a sword. It's quite comical to watch! Jackson will "wound" daddy with his sword and then call out "Are you ok, Pirate?" and then kiss the boo-boos.

Tonight, we scored a great foam set of pirate hats at Target (just $1!). It's the icing to the cake!

Check out the video below!!! The first thing they are saying is "All for one, and one for all!".