Jackson's first haircut

Before.....

And after.....

• We finally did it. On the spur of the moment (which 50% of our decisions end this way) we decided to take Jackson to get his first hair cut. He sat in the chair all by himself and he was such a big boy. He only got upset once when the stylist pulled out the clippers. It only lasted a few seconds and then he was rewarded with a blueberry sucker.
  
• I guess now the hair saga begins. It's off to the hair stylist every 4-6 weeks from now on with my buddy boy. Riley is 3 1/2 and she has only had two hair cuts in her life. Campbell has only had four. This will definitely be a new experience for me.

• (you can view more pictures to the right under the link, "our pictures")

A wonderful time

• What can I say, Disney World was a magical place. We are already looking forward to going back someday. Next time we'll take Jackson with us so he can live the dream just as we did.

• We rode all the kiddie rides in the Magic Kingdom as much as possible. Some of our favorites we rode at least twice. Riley's favorite ride was the roller coaster. Campbell liked them all. Brent and I just enjoyed watching the pure joy all over our girls faces. Considering school isn't out yet, the crowd was manageable and the weather was beautiful.

• The girls loved getting their picture made with all the Princesses. Riley was a little shy, but ironically Campbell stepped right up and had the biggest smile on her face every time. She was also very eager to give out hugs. Even the breakfast with Cinderella and the other Princesses was a huge hit. It was so sweet how each Princess would come to the table and really spend time talking with my girls and address them as "Princess Campbell and Princess Riley".

• The girls did great the whole time we were there. Even though Riley didn't have a nap for three days in a roll, she hung in there like a champ. Thank goodness we took the stroller with us or she would have never made it. By Thursday, she was done and only wanted to get out of it long enough to get on the rides.

• It was the best three days of our lives. Come Friday we spent all day at the house just catching up on our sleep and taking it easy.

• Be sure and check out our Disney pictures on the side including our day trip to Clearwater Beach on Monday.

• I am so thankful my kids are great travelers. Family vacations are the best!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Counting down the days until we leave for Florida. I can't wait. I don't know who is more excited, me or the girls. We are planning on taking our laptop, so we'll keep you posted on pictures as much as possible.

We are not exactly sure how Jackson will do on the flight there, but we are hoping for the best. We'll just have to bring lots of snacks. Thankfully, Grandma will be flying down with us and we'll have another person to hand him off to just in case he starts getting a little bored. If worse comes to worse, maybe I'll give him a pair of shoes and let him roam the isle of the plane. (just kidding.....) I'm not worried about the girls. They will be content just looking out the window.

Once we arrive at the airport, we'll rent a car and head to the house. Thankfully, Grandpa drove down on Wednesday with all of our luggage, so we don't have to worry about that minor detail.

We hope to make this trip as stress free as possible. Our goal is to watch at least one show, eat breakfast with a few characters and catch a parade. Maybe get a few autographs and take lots of pictures. I'm sure we'll ride a lot of kiddie rides in the meantime as well. All the other stuff we'll play by ear.

Poor little Jackson will not make it to Disney World this trip, but he will have lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa and the puppies. We'll take him when he gets a little older.

Thanks everyone for all of your advice and suggestions for our trip! We can't wait to share it with you.

Q & U Wedding

• The Kindergarten Classes at Bonsack Elementary performs the Q & U wedding each year at the last PTA meeting of the semester. It was Campbell's turn this year and she represented the letter "R" for Rainbow Ribbons. She absolutely loves rainbows so this was the perfect choice for her. She has been looking forward to this event for some time. She was especially grateful that she could share it with her best friend, Ida.

• The kids were able to choose which letter they wanted to be and the parents created a costume to reflect that letter. I have to admit, some of the costumes were so adorable and very creative!

• When we arrived, we were handed an actual wedding program and took our seats. At first all the "letter people" came down the isle and then the wedding party made their grand entrance for the wedding of the year.....the marriage celebration of Q & U!

• All the kids did such a good job singing , "Going to the Chapel" and "Stop in the Name of KWA". I have to admit, it was so funny to hear the little kids laughing when the minister told the groom to, "kiss the bride".

• Don't worry....they didn't actually kiss each other. The entire ceremony was G rated. : ) The bride and groom were holding a stuffed Q & U doll that went through the motions. Unfortunately, I wasn't at a good angle to get a picture of them.

• After the performance was over, everyone left the exact opposite they came in for the wedding. I'm hoping Brent will post the video up sometime this week before we leave for FL. In the meantime, check out the pictures when you get the chance.

• I just love Kindergarten and so does Campbell. This has been a wonderful experience for all of us.

Favorite Past Time

Jackson loves shoes! Oddly enough, he even loves them on his hands. It keeps him entertained for awhile and it makes him happy. He will crawl around the whole main level this way as long as we will let him.

Who needs toys when you have shoes, right?

Wild Flowers

We have a bank that slopes down at the edge of our back yard. We have been puzzled exactly what to do with it. It can be an eye sore at times. Brent does his best to keep it trimmed with the weed eater as much as he can.

I can't remember exactly when, but at one point Brent planted some wild flowers hoping that they would spread and eventually take over the whole bank. This year the daisies have taken off with a vengeance and they look beautiful! I picked some last night after the kids went to bed and put them in a vase for us to enjoy.

I'll be sure and post a picture of the flowers on the bank once we complete our patio. The crates (or whatever they are called) that once held the pavers are taking over our back yard at the moment. Once we dispose of them it will make for a prettier picture.

Strawberry Festival

We had the best time as always at the Strawberry Festival on Friday. Campbell wasn't completely thrilled that we went without her this year, but it didn't take her long to get over the disappointment after she saw the chocolate covered strawberries I brought home for her. She had permission to eat them when she got home from school. And what a treat that was!

Once we arrived at the festival, we set up for our picnic lunch before we dug into the yummy strawberries. We were joking that this is the only time we ever have a picnic together as a family. We will have to change that because we really do enjoy the change of scenery from time to time. Not only did grandpa and grandma join us, but we had some new friends join us this year. They recently moved down from Michigan and her husband works at NS as well. It was fun watching them experience the festival for the first time. I'm sure they will make it a family event going forward.

The strawberry festival is famous for their strawberry shortcakes. We are not that crazy about them because we prefer pound cake with our shortcakes instead of the old fashioned biscuits. Therefore, we usually stick with the strawberries and ice cream and the chocolate covered strawberries. This year I actually tried a strawberry smoothie. It was really good!

Unfortunately, I brought my camera, but didn't take any pictures this time. Oh well, maybe next year.