Just for fun

I love him.

Glory Hallelujah!

This, my friends, is Jackson's potty chart. Notice, it is complete!!! After more than a month and a half since beginning this fun little journey, I dare say our little man is potty trained! Cue the choir....

Not going to lie, it was rocky. We are definitely not one of those "I trained my son in two days" phenomenons. I had no intention to start potty training until he was closer to 3, but Jackson decided he was ready, so I jumped on board.

Things were going well until we ran into the problem of him refusing to poop. I know there are all sorts of reasons and theories for this. Poor kid. All I know is after a month, my patience was gone and I am sure he was just as frustrated and sick of the whole thing as we were. I was ready to put him back in diapers. Problem was, he loved his new big boy undies and refused.

A few weeks ago he decided he was ready for #2. Sean and I had pretty much promised him the moon if he'd go, so when he did, we had to pay up in the form of a new Spiderman toy, lunch at Arctic Circle, ice cream, and a shaved ice. I think I would have bought him a new car if he'd asked.

We had a few hiccups after that, but last week (after we bought a new package of super hero undies) it all of the sudden just seemed to "click." No accidents for several days now and he is pretty excited about the whole thing. He is quite proud of himself, as am I!

And... he looks pretty darn cute in his undies :)

A much needed trip

With the bar in the rearview mirror, it was time for a vacation! A quick trip to Idaho Falls and then on to Island Park for some cabin time.

Raspberry picking and a ride at Nana and Papa's

First ride on a ferris wheel at Fun Land

No second rides because one of us might've had to sell a kidney to pay for it...

My 10-year class reunion (yes, I feel old) was last Saturday. We went to the family picnic in the afternoon and had a good time seeing some old friends. My friend Britney took this picture and I stole it off of Facebook. Thanks Britney! Especially because this is one of the only pictures we have of our whole family!

On to Island Park!

Jackson has been asking to go fishing for weeks now. I am not sure where the interest came from, but luckily grandpa knew a good spot where catching a fish was pretty much guaranteed.

Fish on the line!

Success!

His first fish :)

He was pretty darn excited and proud of himself. If you ask Jackson what the fish ate, he will tell you "gummy worms."

Upper Mesa Falls

There was a lot of ping pong on this trip. Jackson calls it "game ball" for some reason and wanted to play all day. The best part about playing with him is that he gets the ball off of the floor every time-- no bending over required!

I love how he has to stand on his toes to play

There was also a lot of pinball... we tried several times to dethrone the [alleged] high scoring champion (brother-in-law Dave), but alas it was not meant to be. Next time!

Whenever possible we go out to breakfast one day to Campfire Lodge. It is right on the Madison River and is one of my very favorite places. Plus, the pancakes are bigger than your head! It is not as peaceful now as it once was-- you know, with a 2-year-old running laps back and forth across the tiny dining room and escaping out the back door towards the river-- but still a good time.

We spent one day in Yellowstone. Hot pots and geysers, Old Faithful, ice cream, etc.

Sean fished in the park for a few hours. Had a couple fish bite and take his flies, but didn't end up landing any.

Bode was a champ. I took these pictures of him one afternoon when he was in an especially chipper mood.

Love this kid.

In true Sean fashion, we had to do some "off-roading." While he and the boys checked out the river, I took the chance to play around with the camera and take some pictures of the wild flowers.

When not playing "game ball," all Jackson wanted to do was ride the four-wheeler.

As usual, we made a trip to Big Springs to feed the fish. This year there were so many stupid seagulls all of the fish were hiding under the bridge. They are so loud and annoying!

One positive was we saw a mom and her cute baby ducks

Jackson didn't like the seagulls either and tried to chase them off

Howard Springs

It was a relaxing week!