Kiddie Park

I have been looking for an opportunity to take Jackson to Kiddie Park in San Antonio.  This is an old amusement park for young children.  It opened in 1925 and claims to be "America's oldest children's amusement park."  The park was renovated in 2009, but they maintained almost all of the old rides.  I remember all of them from when I was a kid.  I even remember the feel of those silly rocks as they slipped into my shoes.  I recall my favorite rides to be the "Little Dipper" (an old school mini rollercoaster that is now just a memory) and the "School Bus". 

When we first arrived with Jackson, he was a little unsure.  He normally takes some time to warm up in a new situation and this was no different.  He has never been to an amusement park or been on any kind of ride, so I expected he would be a little fearful.  We had quite a few tears before I convinced him to get on his first ride, the School Bus.  In the end, we had to beg him to leave.  What fun!

Viva Fiesta!

Jackson and I had a blast at Fiesta this year!  Jackson LOVED the parade party, from the motorcycle cops to the marching bands to the floats to the clean up crew afterwards.  He enjoyed every minute of it:

I was lucky enough to have a number of friends join us at the party, including my awesome neighbors.  What a wonderful day!  Here are a collection of fun photos from the day:

   

BCC

A few weeks ago my doctor found skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma) on my left shoulder.  It was a spot that I had noticed last fall, it was always pink or red and a little scaly no matter how much lotion I applied.  I mentioned it to my doctor during my annual appointment and she sent me straight to a dermatologist.  Since that first appointment at my dermatologist's office, I have made a quite a few trips.  To date I have had three biopsies (thankfully all others came back clean), cyrosurgery on my forehead, and a couple spots being "monitored".  The spot on my shoulder had to be surgically removed, and since there were very deep margins they had to cut through all layers of skin.  The great news is that they were able to remove all the cancerous cells! 

Here is my shoulder just before the surgery started.  I was amazed with how large of an incision they were going to have to make to remove a dime sized issue.

This second picture is post-surgery.  I wasn't feeling very good and was in terrible spirits.  But I still had to pick up Jackson and feed him dinner.  I took him to his favorite fast food restaurant and he was an absolute angel.

Crazy Nap

Sometimes Jackson doesn't want to nap during naptime.  His school allows him to read books during naptime as long as he stays quiet and stays on his mat.  Occasionally Jackson resists at home too.  He is usually tired and needs the rest, so we stick to our routine and everyone in our houses rests after lunch on the weekends.  He knows he has to stay in his room.  And if he decides to read or play, then he must do it very quietly.  As a result, there are numerous occasions where I open his door after naptime and find him passed out on top of a large pile of books and toys.  On this particular day, he pulled out his old baby mattress and must have had a party before he fell asleep.  I think my favorite part of the picture is how he covered up some of his stuffed animals with a blanket so that they could nap too.

Growing Up So Fast

This is  a quick picture that I snapped of Jackson at the "blue tunnel" park.  He's growing up so fast!

Bon Jovi

Becca invited me to the Bon Jovi concert, probably one of the best birthday presents I can remember.  We had an amazing time!  He played for three straight hours, playing almost all of the hits that we know so well.  Thanks for an great night Becca!!

First Movie!

Jackson went to see his very first movie!  It was part of Austin's 7th Birthday Party celebration, and I think having lots of other kids he knew around him really helped.  We saw The Croods 3D.  Overall I think Jackson did great.  It was a long movie, so he got a little antsy towards the end.  And he didn't really understand the concept of being quiet throughout the movie, so the strangers behind us got a little upset with his talking at one point.  But all in all, it was fantastic.  He continues to talk about how much fun it was and can't wait for our next trip to the movie theater!

Easter Weekend

We had a really great Easter this year.  The weather was beautiful and we had a ton of fun playing outside and enjoying spring.  Here are a few fun photos from the weekend:

He rode his bike all the way to the park for the first time

His favorite park amenity: the blue tunnel