Staycation

I don't know how he did it, but Lee managed to take a week off from work when the weather was perfect every day.  We've had a wonderful week of sun, warmth, and productivity.  With both parents at home, it is much easier to get things done around the house so we traded off 'shifts' to complete all of the yard work and while one of us was on our 'break,' we played with Jackson and kept him occupied.

We weren't sure how many dry and sunny days we would be granted, so if it was nice, then we worked as much as we could outside.  Since it was nice all week, we managed to plant all of our new flowers, lay down mulch, stain the shed and fence, weed, mow, and prune, thus creating a beautiful garden once again.  (It's amazing what a winter of neglect will do to even a small yard.)

In between all of the work, we also had fun eating good food, walking along the Sefton Coastal Path, shopping, and touring some local garden centres.  One highlight of the week was finding a family of ducks with newly hatched ducklings that were paddling about and exploring the intricacies of water.  We went back to see the family again with bread crumbs and a camera.

The sunshine also inspired us to get a swing for Jackson.  Now he can enjoy the sunny days with us and it's an activity that doesn't require him to be held or carried the entire time.  Out of all the brands in the world, the swing sets at our local garden centre were all Hedstrom!  (A company that started in Ashland, Ohio--my hometown.)  So now we have a little bit of Ashland in our backyard.

Ultimate relaxation pose while watching Curious George

Jackson held the bread for us and watched the little ducklings nipping at the crumbs

The mother and her babies

Enjoying his new swing

Soaking up the sun

Developmental updates:  Last week, I forgot to mention that Jackson is now on level three (the last level) of his jumperoo.  This week, he started showing signs of waving by holding his arm out to the side when someone waves to him first.  Jackson has very strong vocal chords and has started babbling in sentences--very long sentences.  He is also working on his singing skills because he seems to be holding out notes and changing the pitch from high to low before he stops singing.  Also, Jackson now weighs 20 pounds 15 ounces.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.