I fought the LAW and the LAW won

Logan fought valiently for at least 30 minutes, but eventually Sleep knocked him out!

More from Jackson

In the car on the way home -

Jackson: "Mommy, when Daddy was a little boy was his name Daddy?"
Me: "No, his name wasn't Daddy until you were born."
Jackson: "Oh, I thought his name was Silly Pants."

Quotable Jackson

Whole family in the car . . .

Jackson: I LOVE cats. I think we should get a cat.

Me: We can't get a cat, because I'm allergic to them. Maybe you can visit someone else's cat.

LONG pause . . .

Jackson: I think we should get a cat AND a new mommy.

Me: Really? What are you looking for in a new mommy besides not allergic to cats?

Jackson: She'll be green.

Me: Oh, ok. Anything else?

Jackson: She'll wear perfume.

HILARIOUS! I can't make this up. This is who Jonathan thinks should be cat-friendly, GREEN, good-smelling Mommy 2.0

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This afternoon, Jackson was pretending to be a squirrel. A little odd choice in animal, but I personally think that squirrels are pretty funny vermin.

Me: Jackson, what do you eat when you are a squirrel?

Jackson: Nuts

Me: What kind of nuts? (Thinking peanuts, walnuts, round nuts, brown nuts)

Jackson: Chicken Nuts

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Jackson: We need another pet. Right now we have JUST a dog.

(Pause)

I want a squirrel.

Goodbye, July!

Twenty six days over 100 degrees. . . makes us a little wild.

Sayonara, July from the H2O Rambos.

Heat that no air conditioner can cool . . . makes us look cool in our ride.

makes us want to play some tunes . . .

makes us want to keep an emergency stash of cow brew in the kitchen towel drawer (!)

July is over. It has been one long, hot month. You, my faithful readership of 2, have survived a month of mindless blathering from me. Daily posting was a little harder than I anticipated - there's just so much awesomeness we can pack in around here, but we made it! Thanks for taking the time to read about all of our crazy adventures. I hope they made you smile. The goal of posting constantly for back to back fortnights was to increase consistency for a blog that had no new content from December to July. Done. Now we are moving to a maintenance schedule.

We'll see you soon.

Car Crazy

What do you do when it is sweltering outside and you have Matchbox car collection that spans more than 30 years? You build a "parking lot"!

Including an auxiliary "lemon lot" for the unsavory characters.

And you fear attracting the attention of the local Godzilla.

Misty Water-colored Memories

This week has been Jackson's first week of Preschool Swimming Lessons. They are Monday through Thursday evening at the local rec center. The pool is indoors and it is one happenin' place. There are 5 classes of preschool lessons, 2 or 3 classes of school-age children, a class for water babies and their parents, and a full class of water aerobics ladies. Add to that a hoard of parents, some miscellaneous swimmers and a multitude of lifeguards. And what does an indoor pool become when it is over 100 degrees outside for more than 20 days straight? A sauna! But Jackson is having an absolute blast. He spends most of the lesson bouncing up and down like a fisherman's bobber. And in 2.5 feet of water he is fearless, going under the water over and over. I would show you pictures, but from the parents' balcony I can't get anything that doesn't have extreme camera shake. Maybe next week.

Watching Jackson's swimming lessons brings back lots of memories for me. When I was about Jackson's age, I had a little water scare at a German swimming pool. The end result of that was that when we were back in the States, my mom signed me up for so many swimming lessons that my dad refers to it as my PhD in swimming. More Saturday mornings than not were spent at the downtown YMCA. My cartoon watching was seriously impaired. The Y's swimming lesson report cards at that time divided you into groups with cute amphibian life-cycle related names. I can only assume that I had to keep going back because I couldn't make it past Tadpole. The culmination of the whole process was the Flying Fish class. This little enclave of water sprites was led by a formidable force named Mary who appeared to me to be a screaming, whistle-blowing flurry of arms. She was a terrifying tower of a woman and I was all too happy to stay on my side of the floating dividers.

I am glad to say that this could not be further from Jackson's experience. There is nothing but fun going on in that pool. There's even mandatory splash time. May he grow into a fantastic fish. Maybe a marlin.

Oh my OKA b. sandals!

About 2 years ago, my mom picked up two pairs of OKA b. flip flop sandals for me. One was black with turquoise studs and the other was black with a black beaded chrysanthemum on it. They were from a little boutique type store in my hometown, and I wore them as much as possible. Every so often I would see their amazing features written up in a magazine. These are not standard issue flip flops. (from ShoesthatLoveYou.com)

• They are exceptionally comfortable. They even have massage beads that sit under your arch. They were designed with your foot's own reflexology in mind.


• They are easy to clean - you just run them through your dishwasher.


• They are made in the USA - in Buford, GA to be exact.


• They are anti-microbial and odor-resistant.


• They are completely recyclable.


• And best of all, they have a 2 year guarantee.

So earlier this season, some of the beads started falling off one of the chrysanthemum flips. I would randomly find them on the floor. Not good news for a house with a curious dog and a little one who puts everything in his mouth. I thought they were headed for the recycle bin. Then on one of the last nights of our beach vacation, one of the straps popped completely off. I was so sad. I checked on the guarantee. It was for 2 years, but I couldn't remember when I had received them. Not only that, but I didn't even really know where these were purchased or what the name of the style was. Thinking that there was nothing to lose, I sent a note to the customer service e-mail posted on their website. I received an immediate response letting me know that they had identified my sandals based on my description and they were sure they were about two years old. The customer service rep. told me to return the broken sandal with a completed form and they would send me a replacement for FREE! They were no longer making the sandal I had so I would have to pick out a new style for my replacement. SCORE! I had that package shipped out as soon as I could find the mailman. Then I threw the mate in the recycle bin, which felt a little strange and rewarding all at the same time. Then yesterday, Tara arrived at her new home. Love her!

I have been on both sides of the customer service fence and I was overjoyed that this was such a great experience. Not only are the shoes fantastic, but the customer service is too. And that is not something that you see every day!

DISCLAIMER: OKA b. is fabulous, but they did not give me anything in exchange for this post. . . just the spectacular customer service for which they are known.