Jackson's Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Jackson's 5th birthday at the beach. He woke up that morning to one of his favorite breakfasts, powdered donuts and strawberries (from xmas) and opened presents.

Brady enjoyed the morning as well:

Then, we headed down to the beach where Charlotte enjoyed some hummus.

The Watsons joined us to play and celebrate Jackson's birthday...

Dustin made a sea snake on his cake since that is what Jackson asked for. I think Jackson had a great birthday celebration with family and some friends.

Happy 5 Years, Jackson

Jackson, Wow- five years old. You are growing into such a little boy. There are many times I would like to freeze time and make you stop growing. There are also days that cannot pass quickly enough! You are such a wonderful little boy. However, you are also very strong willed and love to challenge mommy and daddy. You still love all things related to animals of any kind. You love to watch animal centered movies and shows (Wild Kratts is one of your favorites), read any book about animals and do anything where you can explore the animal world. You love to go to the zoo, museum and aquarium. You can recite most facts about most animals, it is quite an amazing skill. Brady shares your love of animals and you two love to play together. You created the "animal guessing game" and we play this constantly. You are frequently changing the rules and the specific animals that we can think of, but you and Brady both love the game, so we play, a lot! You also love Charlotte. I think the two of you have some special connection. You are always in her face talking to her and helping her, sometimes it can be a bit much. But, she adores you as well. When she is crying in the car you always try and make her stop, sometimes you will ask her questions to distract her from tears. You also love Brady and the two of you play so well together most of the time. You are very demanding of Brady and pretty bossy with him. You are lucky that he is an easy going kid. Brady almost always follows your lead when you two play. But, you are brothers and you will fiercely protect Brady as well. It is one thing if you pick on him but if anyone else tries you are right there to stick up for him. It is very sweet. You love learning and we are excited for you to start kindergarten this year. I know it will be difficult at times, but I think you will thrive! You also have some dislikes. You do not like it when you cannot achieve something right away or you are not the best at something. You hate to lose. We are working with being a good sport and a graceful loser. You also don't like it when you don't get your way. There are times when you don't care at all, but other times that it will send you into a fit. You are a born negotiator and will negotiate anything, I mean anything! Overall, you are just a sweet, special, wonderful little boy. You love kisses and hug from mom and dad every morning before we leave and every night before bed. You love to for us to rub your back and sing songs right before bed. You are not the snuggliest kid, but I soak up any opportunity for the two of us to cuddle whether that is while watching a movie or a morning you are up too early and climb in bed with us. You are our first blessing, Jackson, and you are five! We love you! Love, Mommy

The Beach!

Our last stop on our "Tour De Texas" was the beach. We went to Galveston with my mom ("Grancy") and Mr. Dan. The boys had such a great time. Charlotte really enjoyed playing in the sand. Jackson was in the water most of the trip. Brady ventured out to the water a couple of times, but preferred to be on the beach- playing in the sand, and chasing birds and crabs. The only disappointment was the amount of seaweed- it was incredible and pretty much built a barrier between the beach and the ocean. That did not stop Jackson and Dustin from going out and playing and boogie boarding. We all the love the beach so much. Here are some fun photos of us that hung out on the beach:

Jackson and Daddy boogie boarding:

Each night Brady would disappear and we would find him on the deck in deep conversations with Mr. Dan. It was so funny!

Brady loved crawling inside Grancy's bathing suit coverup. He wanted to be a baby. It was fairly amusing!

We had so much fun. We were there to celebrate Jackson's 5th birthday, but that will be another post. I always wish I had more pictures, but with three little ones, it has become increasingly difficult to capture all the fun. But, we had a blast!

African Safari...in Texas!

Before we headed to the beach- we stopped at this safari place right outside of Houston. Mom and Charlotte getting ready for the tour:

Jackson and Brady sampling the animal food:

Checking out the animals:

Feeding the camels:

Zebras:

This was such a neat place- although it was already REALLY hot! The boys had a great time. Now, we are off to Galveston!