Grandpa come to visit!

Grandpa came a spent a few days with us in Carlsbad. Jack wasted no time making Grandpa his new favorite toy! I love the photo of them enjoying their "coffee" out on the balcony:) We took a great trip to SeaWorld, but Jack was really unimpressed with the splashing from the dolphins! We went to The Museum of Man and grandpa even volunteered to watch Jack so that Bryan and I could go out to dinner without him. Thanks Grandpa!

Tiny toes in the sea!

The day we arrived in Carlsbad for our first family vacation, we made our way down the coast and decided to take a break at the beach. Jack was a little anxious about letting the waves crash over his feet, but he sure loved chasing the seagulls! When we got back to the hotel, he enjoyed a strawberry shortcake bar and The Land Before Time to wind down a bit. Not sure which is sweeter...Jack or the icecream bar.

The Littlest Mouseketeer

We made our first trip to Disneyland and Jack couldn't get enough! His eyes were as wide as saucers all day:) We took a trip through Fairytale Land to hitch a ride from Dumbo the Flying Elephant, go round and round on the disney carousel and of course visit Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs and our other beloved Disney friends. Jack got his first pair of classic Mickey ears and ate a GIANT icecream and cookie sandwich. We had Monte Cristo sandwiches at the Orleans Cafe, visited Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean, but the best part was the Thunder Mountain Railroad. Jack just sqeaked in the to ride since the cut off was 40" tall. For those of you who have never been on this ride, it is a pretty amazing rollercoaster and Jack was a champ. We have quite the thrill seeker on our hands. As you can see, after 7 hours at the place where dreams really do come true, our little mouseketeer passed out for a long ride home!

"Udderly" Fascinating!

Jack and I had the pleasure of visiting Superstition Dairy Farm in Mesa today. They had a free event called Moo Moo Palooza honoring their 30th anniversary. We were able to tour their dairy farm, pet some animals in the petting zoo and Jack even got a pony ride. No smiles for mommy today as he was pretty stoic for pictures! We enjoyed some hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch and as a special treat, Jack got to try a small cup of the dairy's homemade icecream called Udder Delight. Yum! They also had a milk bar with 13 different flavors of milk. Jack's pick....lime milk! Eewww, but he liked it:) The best part was as we thought the day was through and we were making our way back to the car, we noticed a small gathering of children. They were gathered around a less than 24 hour old newborn calf. She was SO sweet! We were able to pet her and bottle feed another calf that was less than a day older than the newborn. I didn't get a picture of Jack feeding the calf because her 1/2 gallon bottle(yes, that is right...and she had several already for the day) was too heavy for him to hold. Hope you enjoy the pics! Oh yes...there is also one picture of Jack learning to hopscotch! Tell you what, teaching a kid to hopscotch is so much more fun than working(I almost don't miss the money..hee hee!)

Eye to eye, heart to heart!

The other night, Jack was being very rambunctious and gave his Daddy a really painful headbutt to the spine(I think Bryan's nickname of Bruiser came a generation too soon!). I told Jack how sad Daddy was about the headbutt and that he needed to march over to him, look him in the eye and apologize. Jack, being as literal as it can get, promptly walked over to Bryan and took his face in his hands. He then took his tiny fore finger and thumb and opened Bryan's left eye as wide as he could(maybe he will be an opthamologist), put his little eye right next to Daddy's and said, "I'm sorry Daddy." I wish I had this videoed because it was so literal and so sweet! Oh the funny things kids do....I could have laughed til I cried:)

Yo ho ho and a bottle of ....juice!

Today, Jack and I met some friends at the park and when we got home, his Halloween costume had arrived! Here is a sneak preview of our little pirate:) He loves this costume so much that I worry about making him take it off tonight. Do you think he will make me "walk the plank?" I couldn't believe that he actually wore the eyepatch. Can't wait to take him trick or treating!

Brought to you by the letter J and the number 2!

Today, our baby became a preschool student at Grow and Learn Preschool! He will go each Tuesday and Thursday from 8:10-10:30. They follow the Zoo Phonics curriculum, so he will be well on his way to reading and writing soon. He was so excited to carry his own folder and backpack into Miss Tara's bright yellow classroom full of new adventures to be discovered. He did really well this morning and only cried for a minute at drop off. After class, we got to hear about his new friends, Eric and Jacob and he also brought home several items he made at school today. He learned about the number 2, the color yellow and the shape of the week is a heart. The teachers felt that he was so smart(and tall) that he should go into the 3-4 class instead of the 21/2-3 class, so he is with kids that are more his size(sort of) and on his developmental level. I am excited for the field trips, parties and picture day, but I still can't believe this day has come so quickly. I was up half of the night thinking about how he has grown since the day he was born and how he is so much more than my wildest dreams. I look forward to posting much more about Jack: Adventures in Preschool. Stay tuned....