Summer Begins

Here is a cute photo of Jaron with his little toy dog, "Charlie." In case you can't tell, Charlie is wearing half of an Easter egg on his head (secured by a rubber band) as a helmet. Jaron came up with this idea so that Charlie could wear a helmet just like Jaron does when he rides his bike!

Before it got too hot outside, Cary and I took the little boys to the Dallas zoo. Here is Jaron with a giraffe.

Here is Elijah riding an elephant statue.

We got to see a gorilla trying to take a nap.

Of course we played at the kids' playground.

And took pony rides!

Elijah really liked this baby lamb statue.

Yes, we actually did see some real sheep and goats!

The highlight was when Jaron and Cary got to take a camel ride!!

Of course they rode the merry-go-round too.

Here are Jaron and his stuffed panda bear, "Cutie Bear," both wearing batman masks. One day I came upstairs to get Jaron after his quiet time, and he and Cutie Bear were standing at the door just like this, waiting for me!

I don't often get to post a lot about trips we take without the kids, but here are some photos of a GREAT trip Cary and I took to Sonoma this June. This was our 4th trip to Healdsberg, and it was beautiful as usual! The trip was for a Jackopierce destination show on a beautiful vineyard. It was such a wonderful time!

Jack and Cary

Krista and Cara

Cara with friends Krista and Leith

Cary with Aaron and Jack

I thought these 2 postcards were beautiful. They are advertising the 2 Jackopierce destination shows coming up...one in Aspen (September 2011) and one in Asheville, North Carolina (October 2012). We would love for you to join us!

Cary and Jack playing outside at the Arista Winery.

Cary and I after the show at Hanna Winery.

My Dad and I took Jaron and Elijah to Legoland in Grapevine, TX last weekend. It was so much fun! The boys loved it.

Grandaddy with the boys in front of a Lego cement mixer truck.

They had tons of legos to build with.

Jaron rode some rides.

Here is the AAC made of legos.

Also the Ballpark made of legos.

Of course we went to get ice cream with Grandaddy afterwards!

Jaron's 4th Birthday!

This sweet boy turned FOUR!!!! Can you believe it? I am so proud of him and how sweet and precious he is. We had planned his birthday party at the park on May 20th, but rain was looming the entire day. At the last minute, we switched the venue to the Frontiers of Flight Museum, and as soon as we did, the rain poured down outside! The party turned out GREAT!

As you can see, it was a Toy Story theme birthday party. It sort of fit with the Museum...air, flight, space, Buzz Lightyear....you get it. I decorated the tables with some of our Toy Story stuffed "guys," plus some photos of Jaron and Elijah dressed up as Woody and Buzz for Halloween, and some pictures of us with the Toy Story characters at Disneyworld. Turned out cute!

Here is Jaron with my Mom. Of course she made 2 amazing cakes, again!!

There were even alien cupcakes!!

We had the kids decorate their own party favor bags with markers and stickers. They got to fill the bags with candy from the pinata later during the party.

Here is the pinata!

Jaron with big brother Jordan.

I thought the kids looked so cute in these alien hats!

Here are some of the kids decorating their bags.

Jaron's buddies in the little movie theater they have at the museum.

Jaron with his friend Lucas

Cary and I with my Mom, my Aunt Joa and Uncle John

Here we are with my Dad (Grandaddy).

Elijah with his cousin and buddy, Hudson (my cousin's baby).

Elijah and Grammy talking about "Buzz."

Here is Hudson in the bounce house!

This is another really fun part of the museum...we got to use their bounce house! Elijah loved it!

The pinata was a little dicey, but it was super fun. Each kid got 3 hits at Buzz's space shuttle.

It was Jordan who, on the last turn, finally busted the thing open!

Candy! And excitement!

Elijah, Grandaddy, and Buzz...thanks to Dad for taking care of Elijah for a big part of the party!

Jaron blowing out his candles!

Mimi helped :)

The cake was awesome! Thanks Mom!

My cousins Jenna, Casey, Whitney and baby Hudson

Cary and I with Cary's parents, Dick and Sandra (aka Baw Paw and Grammy)!

To infinity! And beyond!!

On the way home, after the party. Incidentally, it was pouring down rain on the way home...took us at least half an hour....But Jaron fell asleep holding the Buzz Lightyear candle and his new toy Evil Emperor Zurg (which he calls the "evil embazor").

Elijah and Jordan

All 3 boys celebrating Jaron's 4th Birthday together! I love it! We came home and had tortellini, cake, and presents!

Jaron got a trumpet from Grandaddy and Gigi. He had specifically asked for this, so it was cute that he was ready to play it!

A Rex toy!

Jordan gave Jaron some cool Toy Story sunglasses and some army men!

Elijah gave Jaron some "Bob" books.

Here are some of Jaron's "guys" that he got from us. He got a set of good guys and a set of bad guys.

Elijah liked playing with them too!

For the next week, Jaron and Jordan spent most of their time playing with this Lego sticker book. It had stickers of everything from Batman to Harry Potter to Sponge Bob. He loved working on it with Jordan.

The next day (Saturday) was Jaron's actual birthday, and we went to Jordan's track meet. He did a great job at the high jump, the 50, the 100 and the relay!

Fortunately, Jaron's buddy Marshall was there, and they played all over those bleachers.

Jaron's favorite present was probably this cool Buzz laptop. Thanks Kim and Jim!

Here are a few pictures from the little party we had in Jaron's preschool class. Jaron and I had made some cakeballs the day before, so we brought them to share with his preschool buddies.

It was a GREAT birthday and a great year!! Jaron, I am so proud of you! You are growing up to be such a big boy and we all love you so very much!