May Days

After my birthday weekend and Mothers' Day, our celebrations just kept rolling. The weekend of the 18-19th, Jim's mom came for a visit.
On Saturday, we headed to the San Diego Safari Park. It's a lot more wide open than the zoo, so you don't end up seeing as many animals, but I love all the lush trees and bushes and nature all around you.
I took my nifty new camera our for a test drive, and even though Jim made fun of my touristy appearance, I had fun snapping lots of shots. I'm not sure they ended up any better than my little Kodak point and shoot, but I had fun feeling like they were better! :)

 (Jadon's favorite animal, the lion, aka "rawr" aka "Simba". It was so cool how close you could get to them behind the glass!)

 (Last time I had come to the Safari Park, the splash pad hadn't been open. Note to self: next time bring a change of clothes! Jadon LOVES water and WILL get wet!)

On Sunday, we did the normal church routine, and then in the evening, Sue encouraged us to go out on a date while she bonded with Jadon. They had fun going to the park and stuff, and we went to see The Great Gatsby (Jim's choice!). Baz Luhrmann did a great job of recreating Fitzgerald's classic story, even if it wasn't purely tied to the text, and we enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you Grandma B!

The next weekend was Memorial Day, which we celebrated on Monday by going to the zoo with friends from our small group, George, Kristen, and Molly, and Jon, Lindsey, Emma, and Jeremiah and Lindsey's sister Bethany. Now that we all have passes, we moms look forward to many more of these trips...and the guys were sure troopers along for the ride.

Celebrating...Me!

The month of May begins a 2-month long string of parties for the Britts household. (Seriously, Jim counted, and 7 out of 8 weekends we are celebrating something. And the one weekend without a celebration, Jim's mom is coming down for a visit. So we'll call that a celebration, too!) Our schedule of Festivities this year looks like this:

Sunday, May 5: My birthday

Sunday, May 12: Mothers' Day

[Sat/Sun, May 18-19: Jim's mom visits]

Monday, May 27: Memorial Day (yay for long weekends, although for a pastor's family where Monday is Jim's usual day off, I guess they don't really mean that much, ha!)

Saturday, June 1: Our 11th anniversary

(Sat/Sun, June 1-2: Senior Weekend at church, meaning Jim will be there ALL WEEKEND helping our graduating seniors put on an awesome service for the whole church.) (No, he didn't forget that this was our anniversary weekend.) 

Saturday, June 8: Jadon's 3rd birthday (we're going to the county fair with friends)

Saturday, June 15: Jadon's birthday party (we postponed it so that my parents could come.) (Spoiler alert: it's a tractor/construction theme, and my dad just bought a tractor...)

Sunday, June 16: Father's Day

Sunday, June 23: Jim's birthday

Whew! Nothing like packing it in!

For my sister's and posterity's sake, I'll try to keep the blog updated with pictures (those are really the only 2 reasons I even try!) :)

Here are some pictures from our first two weekends, the ones celebrating me :)

Since becoming a mom, something has kind switched in my brain, and now my idea of a great celebration in my honor is simply a fun day with my boys (as long as Jim takes care of all the discipline and poopy diaper issues, ha!). I guess I waited for motherhood for so long that whenever I think about it, Jadon is the best gift I want. 

Of course, this year, I did want another big gift...and since I still don't have a new car because we invested my car fund in hiring a script writer that Sony wanted and then Sony turned us down anyway (no, I'm not bitter!), Jim was very accommodating. So, a month before my birthday, I ordered my beautiful Canon T4i camera, and I love it! (That doesn't mean I totally know how to work it yet--still trying to figure out how to use flash!--but I'm learning...)

Then, for my actual birthday, I got a bunch more super special treats (on the more sentimental side). Jadon slept the entire night in his own bed (1st time in months...which he then followed up with 3 more in the past 2 weeks!). That means he ended up waking up really early, so then Jim "helped" him make me breakfast in bed. (Jadon was SO excited about the eggs he made!) Then, we all got to go to church as a family (1st time in years?) because Jim was preaching at a little church plant that our church has helped. That was great! Then, per my request, we had Pizza Hut for lunch (a very special treat when you're trying to eat healthy!) and brownies and ice cream that Jim and Jadon had made for me the day before when I was out at a bridal shower. And as if all that wasn't enough, then Jim gave me a card and an inflatable inner tube, with the note that he is finally acquiescing to my nagging hinting that we should look into putting a small pool in our back yard. Wahoo! You have no idea how long I've been working on that one!!! (The only catch is, he said "when we have more money"...which at our rate might be awhile. But I am NOT letting that deter me!) :) 

Then we went over to my parents' house to feed the turtles, and it started raining. And while I am usually a solar-powered person who hates cloudy, gray days, the damp weather did not dampen my spirits at all. I had a perfect day with my wonderful family, and I felt SO blessed.

So much so that it felt weird to get celebrated again a mere 7 days later. Once more, Jadon slept straight through the night in his own bed (I have to admit, I miss the cuddles!)...which meant he was up at the crack of dawn (and tired later!)...but I seized the moment and we made banana pancakes and a new cookie recipe before church (Jim was back to his normal at-church-before-7am mode). Then Jadon crashed for an early nap, and then we went to the beach with my parents. While it was sunny and hot at our house, a mere 7 miles west at the beach it was cool and foggy, but we still had a great time. 

Then we came back and I took a bubble bath...with Jadon :)

while my dad barbecued filet mignon steaks. Mmmmm...It was a laid back day that was another perfect way to not only celebrate me but also my own mom.

Life is good!