Trains and Boats

This morning Sharon and I headed to Panera for breakfast and over to get pedicures. The boys went out to breakfast as well. We met back home within 2 minutes of each other; perfect timing! We then headed downtown to have some fun.

His face says it all! He couldn't be more excited to ride on the train. 

We rode Henry around the park. The sun was out, but the wind was chilly when we first arrived.

(The wind is the reason for my non-coordinating outfit.)

 Love my sweet boy!

Next, we rode the paddle boat. Grandma Sharon soaked up rays as we cruised around the pond.

Jackson loves to help steer too!

Grandma Sharon, Jackson, and Papa Mel

Our tummies were hungry once again, so we stopped by City Centre and ate lunch at Ruggles. Jackson must have been worn out because he never sits and cuddles anymore.

 LOVE spending time with family!

Date Night

Last night was a gorgeous evening, and we spent it beneath the night sky. It was in the high 50's, perfect for ice-skating.

Downtown is an outside rink. While we were walking up the rink looked small and crowed, but it really wasn't bad once we were out there skating. We haven't been ice-skating since our freshman year of college. I was still able to skate and didn't fall once, but enjoyed Brian pulling me around the ice too!

There was no need for hot chocolate after skating though. We had a lot of fun!  Thank you Groupon for hosting a deal for ice-skating otherwise we might not have thought about going and missed a wonderful time together. So thankful for a night out with my love!

The Aquarium

The Saturday before Brian's parents left we took Jackson to the Aquarium. He had been asking to see the sharks all week. We arrived right when the Aquarium opened. Good choice because it was not busy at all.

 My sweet family!

 Even though it wasn't that busy the tickets line moved very slowly. We tried to keep Jackson entertain while the guys bought the tickets.

 Our first stop was the shark tunnel on the train. Jackson thought this was the coolest thing ever!

 We went up next in the Ferris Wheel. This was Jackson's first time on any kind of ride other than the train and carousel.

 Looking out over the edge with Daddy. I think he enjoyed it!

 Of course, he had to ride the carousel.

We then went inside to walk through the Aquarium. Jackson loved seeing all the fish swimming around.

He took the picture of this fish all by himself!

He wasn't afraid to touch the fish or the string rays.

I was bummed we didn't get to see the tigers. The White Tigers were unavailable due to a drainage leak. We rode the train one more time. Then we went into the restaurant for lunch.

Jackson had a bit of a meltdown at lunch, so I took him outside to play in the fountains. He wanted to take his shirt off, so I let him. Then, he started pulling his shorts off. I told him couldn't do that, and then he didn't want to run in the water. Eventually, he went in and couldn't get enough.

We were all wiped by the time we left, but I loved experiencing all of these things through the eyes of a 2 year old.

Not What We Expected But Fun Nonetheless

All morning we were talking to Jackson about going to ride in the boat and on the train. He was beyond excited! We put him down for early nap so we could get him up by 3 o'clock to head downtown and get to the park before everything closed. We had the Jeep all packed and headed off "on" time. All was going well until the temperature in the Jeep started rising and we started to smell something burning. We pulled off the highway to check things out. Once we opened up the hood we saw smoke and I proceeded to call AAA for a tow back home. Jackson only cried for about 1 minute and then spent the rest of the time talking about the broken Jeep:) We spent the next 45 minutes at this gas station waiting for the tow truck. In the meantime, Brian called his dad and came to the conclusion it was probably just something to do with the AC and it would be safe to drive the Jeep if we kept the AC off. So, we cancelled the AAA tow and quickly got back in to the Jeep. With windows all the way down, 100 degree heat we drove and hoped we would make it to the park before they closed the pedal boat rides. We hit every red light and when we did finally park the back window was stuck and wouldn't go up! We laughed as we locked the doors and headed into the park.

Thankfully the pedal boats were still open! Jackson was our captain!It felt great to be on the lake and feel the cool mist of the fountain on our sweaty skin:)
Jackson was beyond himself the whole time. He loved trying to catch all the ducks.
It was so relaxing just pedaling around and the sky looked beautiful! After our 30 minute trip all around the lake we headed back in to ride Thomas (aka the train).
Jackson got a special treat while we were waiting for the train. We were so proud of how well he behaved through everything on the way to the park.
He is ALWAYS excited to see a train and it never gets old seeing the joy in his eyes!

As we were board the train we started hearing thunder and lightening. Now, we were hoping we would make it around the track before it started pouring.

After the train ride we took Jackson over to the water fountains and let him go WILD!

He was not shy at all and loved running through the big fountains.

Quick pic with mom:)

We watched the ducks for awhile and wished we would have brought some bread to fed them. I guess we will do that next time!

I think he had a pretty good time:)

All three of us after a wonderful day together!

I think we were all pretty exhausted by the time we made it back to the car. (Sidenote: Brian did get the window up before we left the park. HA!) Jackson just chilled the whole way home.

Since it was around 7 by time we made it back home we swung through Sonic to pick up dinner. I told him to say cheese for this picture. Well he did, he just didn't take his eyes off Cars:)

The Jeep is now in the shop awaiting a diagnosis. Yeah, the afternoon may not have gone as we planned but we made the most of it and ended up really enjoying ourselves!