Halloween 2013

For Halloween this year, we had a few different festivities.  Jackson kicked off Halloween by insisting that he wear his new tiger costume to the dentist on Tuesday.  Then on Wednesday we had trick-or-treating and a Halloween party at mommy's office so we could introduce Vivian and so Jackson could get some loot.  Daddy and Jackson came home to pick us up to go to Philly and Jackson was crying and saying he didn't want to be a tiger.  So, I grabbed the Thomas costume that Honey brought him last year that he refused to wear.  Success!  Perhaps next year he will be a tiger.  The next day was Halloween and Jackson's parade and party at school. And then of course trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood. While Daddy and Jackson went out trick-or-treating for a bit, I stayed home to hand out candy.  It was pretty quiet though, so Vivian and I joined them for the last half.  All in all, we had a great time and got way too much candy.  For more pics, click here.

Proof that even tigers get their fangs cleaned.  A priming really, for a nice coat of Halloween sugar 

"Daddy is under my spell"

Thomas and our little witch at TW

Thomas making the rounds in the office

Day care parade

Jackson's teacher serving cupcakes 

The school owners get in on the fun

Getting ready to go trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood

Fourth of July

We had a local, pretty low key Fourth that included a trip down to the riverfront to watch fireworks. Since he hasn't seen any real big boomers since 2010 when he was just a baby, I wasn't sure how he would react.
This is pre-fireworks.......
And this is him after the fireworks started and he jumped into his stroller, pulled the sun shade up, and covered his head with his dee dee with his little eyes peeking out

After a great show, he said "that was fun!"

Memorial Day

This year we went to Rehoboth Beach for Memorial Day. We love going down there and even though we took a chance that the weather wasn't going to be warm enough for the beach, it all worked out in the end because we filled the cooler days with go-carting, a movie and Fun Land!

Mother's Day 2013

I had a great Mother's Day that included a trip to Longwood Gardens, lunch with Andy, Kate and Anne and playing outside with Jackson and Joey.  

Easter 2013

This could very well be the longest amount of time I've gone without a proper post.  So, let's rewind the clock to the end of March when Grandpa and Grandma Porter came for an Easter visit.

We went to Mr. Bill's music class......

And made chick eggs (at least Momma and Grandma did), colored Easter eggs, went on an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, had Easter dinner with Katie, Andy, baby Anne, Amanda and Paul and of course played baseball with Grandpa!

More pics here.

Christmas in WI

I'll get to excuses about why this is so late in a later post, but for now, I present Christmas 2012.  All pictures here.  

                                        

Milwaukee 

We arrived in Milwaukee on the evening of Friday, December 21.  We did the Hardt Christmas on Saturday, mommy met Aaron and Jamie's baby Lorelei and then we were on the road Sunday morning heading up to Chippewa.  

Chippewa Falls

Christmas Eve was spent with Uncle Josh and Cousin Jason hanging out, eating Christmas cornflake wreaths (Jackson's new favorite) and watching movies.  On Christmas Day, Grandma Great Amundson and Uncle Josh came over.  Uncle Josh, being the HILARIOUS (and unsanitary guy) that he is, taught Daphne the dog to eat a dog treat out of Jackson's mouth.  And I got a surprise with a birthday cake that my mom made me.  

Tomah

On the 26th, we headed to Tomah so Jackson could take his requisite nap in Grandpa Bob's lap.  We also took a trip to La Crosse for dinner and to see Christmas lights and then we went to the Yogi Bear water park for a morning of tubing and water slides.  

Milwaukee
It was back to Milwaukee on the 28th.  On the 29th, we got some fresh snow so took advantage of it and put Jackson in his "snow car" and played in the yard and then eventually made our way to the sledding hill.  Jackson had a few good runs, but on the last one he got a massive face wash and it was all over.  We were in Milwaukee until Jan 1, seeing friends, sleeping, going to movies, eating and just all around being lazy.

Jackson had a great time on this trip.  He got way too many presents (but kept asking for "more more presents"), but enjoyed all the play time, movie time and overall just being loved on time.  It's always such a treat to be back "home."

Christmas 1.0

This past Sunday, we did our (little) family Christmas.  We ate homemade donuts, looked for our Elf on the Shelf, Stickers (he was in Jackson's potty which he thought was hilarious), watched a video that Santa had sent to Jackson, opened presents, went to the pre-opening at Noodles and got a free lunch, took a nap and then opened stockings.  

Jackson got way too many presents from Santa, but his two favorites were.....a cash register and karaoke machine!  He's took to it right away - the first video below is his first time at the mic and the second one shows him saying "here we go" but then being a true musician and getting all of his hits confused.  

Was a great, rainy Christmas in Delaware!