Visit to Springfield

We had a great visit up in Springfield last weekend. We were supposed to see Aunt Karen, Uncle Bob and Riley in September after the Tough Mudder, but things happened which prevented us from making it to NJ for the weekend. Thankfully we were able to meet up in Springfield for a few days. For ease of titles, Riley is my cousin but she is also going to be J's cousin as well. I won't be able to keep things straight with Aunts, cousins, cousin's babies, great uncles, second-cousins-once-removed, etc all running around. Riley brought Jackson a ball pit for his birthday and he can't get enough of it. His favorite thing is to drape himself backwards over the edge and relax.  He sets himself up for the perfect tummy zerbel :) Hopefully Aunt Karen got some pictures of them together...it was tough to keep two very active kids still (and looking somewhat towards the camera) at the same time for a picture!

Riley and her static hair

Then, we went over to South Run park for some time at the playground. I wasn't much of a runner growing up, but since I moved away I discovered a great trail from South Run to and around Burke Lake for a 7-8 mile run. It is perfect...shady, beautiful, quiet and just hilly enough for a challenging workout. We played on the slides for an hour or so and then grand mom and pop pop took Jackson so I could go running sans baby jogger. I miss the convenience of having my water bottle, iPod storage, etc but it is nice to just run by myself.  Jackson loves the slide and the swings and is almost ready to go down the slide totally by himself! I just can't let him go just yet :)

just doing some cleaning

And finally, he is taking after both granddads and becoming quite the engineer, stacking small spice jars  all morning. I love to watch his little brain figure something out and try to execute it. Being a parent is the most rewarding job ever.