Our Lil' Pumpkin

Jason and I took Jaxon to a pumpkin patch in Caledonia, MS this past Saturday. We took over 100 photos of our little guy and it took this long for me to sort through all of the pictures and decide which ones to post on the blog. We had so much fun taking pictures of Jaxon and all of the fall pumpkins and gourds.







We saw this little John Deere tractor and couldn't resist. We couldn't get Jax to smile much while we were at the pumpkin patch, until it was time for us to leave. We set him on the tractor and we couldn't wipe the smile off his face. He was so cute "driving" the tractor!






Jaxon among a pile of gourds!




Jaxon with all of our loot! We filled this wagon with pumpkins, gourds, and Indian Corn to decorate our porch for the fall. I'll try to remember to take a picture of our porch with the fall decorations.









Some funny looking gourds. The top one is called an Apple Gourd and the bottom one is a Swan Gourd - both named for obvious reasons.






The Fam! A nice lady offered to take some pictures of us so we were all in it. I forgot to have her zoom, so this is the best we have of all of us! There were fall scenes all over the pumpkin patch for photo ops.



Buried in dried corn. He is watching some other kiddos playing, hence the solemn face.

He Was Born to Fly

It's been an exciting few days for us down here as Jason has completed Phase I of his pilot training and moved on to Phase II. Day one of Phase II was Jason's Dollar Ride. His work load has increased tremendously as he must prepare for each flight, study the flight patterns as well as the radio calls, then debrief each flight by planning what he'll improve on the next day. Jaxon and I are adjusting to the added stress level in the house and trying to stay busy as Jason pulls 10-12 hour days.

After his second flight yesterday, he came home grinning from ear to ear. He is having so much fun flying and knows that this is exactly where he belongs right now.




Jason and his IP (Instructor Pilot) doing pre-flight checks before taxiing toward the runway.


Putting on his G-Suit in the Life Support shop. Hanging on the pegs right behind is Jason's Parachute harness.



This is the dollar Jason made for his IP. Pictures of the Peoria Herk and the Peoria Squadron Patch, Jason rather than George, and some Pepto (you can ask him about that later). As the tradition goes, you "pay" your IP one dollar for your first ride. We have seen many creative ways of presenting the dollar to the IP, the majority of them being associated with booze or women. Staying true to himself, Jason decorated his dollar to reflect his personality and love for flying.

Ouma, Oupa, and Rowan Visit

We had our second round of visitors last week! We enjoyed hosting Jason's parents (Ouma and Oupa - as the grandkids would call them) and our three-year-old niece, Rowan. Once again, one of Jaxon's grandmas spent their birthday with us. On Friday, Ouma's birthday, we went to the Waverly Mansion. It is a beautiful, old home with a lot of history. The most unique thing about the Antebellum homes in town is that they are all occupied. The owners of the Waverly Mansion took us on a tour and told us wonderful stories of the home's history, including stories of her and her sibling's growing up in the house. That afternoon, Rowan and I baked a birthday cake for Ouma, and then went out to dinner at Woody's on the Water; a very nice restaurant that overlooks the river. They serve fresh seafood and steak.

On Saturday, we went to a zoo in Tupelo, MS. Coming from Kansas City and having been to the Omaha Zoo before, we wouldn't actually call this a zoo. It's called the Buffalo Park and Zoo. It was more like an animal park for us. They did have a large number of buffalo and we took a bus tour out to the pasture where the buffalo roam (is anyone else singing the song now?). Sunday we went to church and grilled out steaks for lunch. Jason had some time off on Monday, so we enjoyed an afternoon downtown, shopping. That night, we took advantage of $1 bowling on base. This was the first time Ouma and Oupa had ever bowled together! Rowan was so excited about "bawling" (as she pronounced it) she could hardly contain herself. She got her "bawling" shoes on and was dancing all over the alley. Once the bowling began, she got quite frightened by the noise of pins falling. After watching us "bawl" a few rounds, she warmed up to it and from then on, we couldn't get her to stop. She started taking everyone's turns for them and when it was time to go, she was not happy. Side Note: Yes, Rowan had bumpers. Yes, I played in her lane with the bumpers. Yes, it helped improve my high score. No, I still could not outscore Jason (who was on a lane with Chris and Mae - no bumpers). Jason had his all-time highest score (after 5 strikes in a row) - 192.

On our last day together, we relaxed for most of the morning and then had lunch at Proffit's Porch. Perhaps it will become a tradition of taking our visitors to lunch at the Porch on their last day! After a taco dinner, we said good-bye and they headed off toward Kansas. It was nice to have some visitors, and we're looking forward to hosting again!



Jaxon with Ouma and Oupa on their last day in Mississippi.



Rowan loving on her cousin, Jaxon.



Kind of a dark, blurry picture, but here's all of us at Woody's on the Water.




Rowan and I baking a birthday cake for Ouma.



The Waverly Mansion. They do not allow you to take pictures (probably has something to do with the fact that it's their home and that it's filled with $100,000's of antiques), so this is the outside, coming up the drive.



So proud of her "bawling" shoes. She said, "Aunt Mimi, take pictures of my 'bawling' shoes."

First Trip to the Zoo

Is this kid always happy? Not always, but a lot of the time. He's such a good-natured kiddo and so easy-going (definitely gets that from his dad).





This is one of the bulls at the zoo/park. Apparently, when they stick out their tongue like this and growl, they are calling to the females. It was really cool to be this close to the buffaloes, even though they smelled pretty gnarly.





Jax and Daddy checking out the buffalo.



I think zebras are one of the most beautiful animals. Interesting facts we learned: No one zebra has the same stripe pattern as another and when a herd of zebras are all together in the wild, their stripes can cause an optical illusion to their enemy, causing the enemy to not know what is up and what is down. It's a defense mechanism for the zebras. Our guide also told us that zebras are some of the meanest animals in the wild.



Rowan kept saying, "Camels don't ride buses." Ouma and I decided that the inspiration for a childrens book we'll plan to write. This camel loves people and came on the bus to let the kids feed and pet it.



So excited about seeing the animals!




After seeing all of the animals, we promised Rowan some time to swing and slide at the zoo.

Columbus Weekend - Pensacola, FL

Jason was given a three-day weekend for Columbus Day and we took advantage of it by driving to Pensacola with our friends, Chris and Mae. We drove two separate cars and Mae and I did the majority of the driving to Florida. The boys spent the trip on the Walkie-Talkies practicing radio calls. We stayed in a beautiful two bedroom condo right on the beach of Perdido Key. We were on the thirteenth floor and had a wonderful view of the ocean.

On the first evening, Jason and I were woken from a knock on our bedroom door at 1:00 in the morning. Turns out the fire alarm was going off a few floors below. Luckily, Chris and Mae heard it (we couldn't hear a thing in our room). Poor Jaxon was slung over my shoulder and down the 13 flights of stairs we ran! There was no fire, but it did take the fire department awhile to get a hold of someone to turn the alarm off. What a night!!

We spent part of Sunday at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. Jason and Chris got to "fly" a simulator for the F-14 Tomcat (the plane Tom Cruise flew in Top Gun). They enjoyed flying this sim without having an instructor looking down their back and grading them on their every move. After a long morning at the museum, we went back to the condo to get swim gear and spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach.








No down-time for these students! Here's the boys studying radio calls on the beach.



Mae, Jaxon and I ready for some Mexican food for dinner.

First Time to the Beach - Pensacola, FL

Here's Jaxon's reaction to putting his feet in the ocean for the first time. He wasn't too sure about the waves coming at him and the water suddenly up to his ankles. He never cried, but he grunted a few times and looked at me with a little worry.

This is what he thought of the sand between his toes. The white sandy beach in Pensacola was amazing.

National Naval Aviation Museum - Pensacola, FL

You didn't think we'd go all the way to Pensacola without checking out the aviation museum did you? Mae, Jax and I were thrilled to join the boys at the museum. We enjoyed learning about the history of Naval aviation.



Jaxon and Daddy in the cockpit of an F-14. They just look like they belong.



I would guess that Jason is in the middle of explaining what each of these instruments is used for in the cockpit. I love the way Jaxon looks at his daddy.



Pensacola's Naval Station is home to the Blue Angels. Unfortunately the Blue Angels weren't practicing until Wednesday (we left Monday). This is an A-4, which is what the Blue Angels flew in the early 80's. Today they fly F-18's.



Here's Jax in the cockpit of a Harrier. His face seems to say, "I love airplanes as much as my Daddy."