Wow, what happened to me? I was doing well at blogging and then I fell off the face of the earth. I will do better. These are the pics of our vacation to Southern Shores, North Carolina.

Fourth of July

Connor decorated his own hat for the parade
Connor and his friend Jesse
We walked in the wagon to the parade
Enjoying some of the candy they collected at the parade

Our fourth was pretty laid back this year. We did some face painting for the boys, had a BBQ with our friends, went swimming and played on the slip and slide, walked to the parade, and watched fireworks. It was a great day and the boys had a lot of fun because we spent the day with our friends the Lowe's. Connor's close friend is Jesse Lowe and the two of them together equal trouble.

My Jaxson is growing up so fast. I can hardly believe he is almost three!! He was my quiet, sweet little baby that has turned into my fierce, fireball. I love him so much and he adds so much joy to my life. He makes me smile and yell daily and keeps me on my toes. It's always a "jolly holiday" with Jaxson. His favorite thing to do right now is to come up to me and pet my head and say in a deep voice, "hi baby". If music is playing, he can't help but dance around and shake his thang! He loves Blue's Clues and sings the song about 100 times a day. I think he might have a career in hairstyling because he has a fetish with hair right now. He loves to run his fingers through it. (not his own, other people) I wish that I could freeze time and just keep him this age forever not only because I love his carefree personality but I fear the teen years with Jax because of his strong personality. (I don't know where he got it from) I love each of my boys for their different characteristics. Connor is a very kind, sensitive kid but Jaxson is my affectionate child. He gives me an average of twenty kisses a day and will give me a hug whenever I request it. I love feeling his chubby little arms wrap around my neck while his little hands pat my back.

WHY would someone poop on a slide at a playground? We took the boys to the school last night to play on the playground for an hour before bedtime. Jaxson was having a great time but Connor was hanging around us trying to listen to our adult conversation. Jade was telling Connor to go play on the slide and Connor was telling him, " I can't. It has poop on it" Now, let me clarify why we didn't rush over and immediately check the slide out. Connor has a way of making things up when he doesn't want to do something. We figured it was probably a blueberry smear or a dirt smear on the slide and he was using it as an excuse. Connor sees Jaxson going up the slide so he FINALLY runs over to play with him. I am in mid sentence with Jade when all of a sudden I see Jaxson throw something long and brown off the slide. It looked like a pine cone. My heart dropped because I knew it wasn't a pine cone. I ran over to the slide and sure enough....someone had done their business on the slide and Jaxson was in the process of sliding right through it. He had it on his hands, clothes, and shoes. It was GROSS! We had to take him to the car and strip all of his clothes off and wipe him down with antibacterial wipes. We came straight home and put him in a HOT bathtub. I don't know what this world is coming to. I live in an area where I wouldn't think to look for needles or anything at the local school but I guess I need to check the equipment for feces before I let my kids play on it.
Now, you may be asking yourself, doesn't she have anything else to blog about? Yes, I do but I want to remember this story so I can tell Jaxson when he gets older. It is one of those stories that you use to remind your kids when they are teenagers, that despite what they may think, they haven't always been the "all knowing" We have a poop story that we like to remind my sister of but for the sake of her reputation, I will not publish it.

Spin

So, I went to a spin class today. I haven't been to one for five years. I didn't expect to be the best but I didn't expect my butt to be as sore as it is. In the middle of the class, I vowed not to return ever again. That was before the cool down. First let me tell you a little about my teacher. He was a nice guy. The gym instructor type, dressed head to toe in spandex and a body lean and trim. He was very clean cut with a thin little mustache above his upper lip. (you know the kind where you have to look twice to make sure it is actually hair and not dust) He spoke to me before class and I thought that with his soft voice and quiet manner, he would not keep the energy alive in the class. Then, the lights dimmed, the music started and it was like I was in Marine boot camp peddling a bike uphill with flat tires. Not only did he YELL but he could see EVERYTHING we were doing!!!! I didn't know if I would make it through the class. I had visions of being carried out on a stretcher with him yelling in my face as they carried my body out to the ambulance. I was afraid to get off my bike because I seriously thought that my bum was broken. It was so sore!!! How in the world do bikers do it? And I know this is vulgar but I just have to ask, did I need a special cup for spin? Because I was in agony but I was looking around the room and everyone else seemed to be enjoying it. Ok, the best part........the cool down song was Christina Aguilara. You know that song that says, "I am beautiful, no matter what they say, words can't bring me down, so don't you bring me down today" Well, when this part of the song came on, my spin teacher would stop, spread his arms above his head, close his eyes, and sing as loud as he could. He did it with so much heart, soul, and emotion that I truly believe he was singing that song to someone in his mind. For that reason alone, I will attend his class on Thursday morning, if my bum has healed.

Gym problems

I think I mentioned something about our gym problems a few weeks ago but said I would blog about it later. Today is later. We joined Powerhouse gym when Jaxson was 8 weeks old. It was within 2 miles of our house, cheap, and included unlimited childcare. It was a dream come true. Some days I would go to the gym just to get 30 minutes away to myself. Our membership was up for renewal in February and we renewed for 500.00 for the year for both myself and Jade. We were enjoying the perks of gym membership until May 10th when we drove to the gym for a workout and discovered the doors permanently locked. Seems the gym had lost it's lease and the owners just locked up and fled town with the money. I have never been part of a scam before, this being my first experience it is very upsetting. I'm happy to report that last night we found a new gym. We joined LA fitness last night for the "special" price of 80.00 a MONTH! Seems we didn't realize what a great deal we got at Powerhouse Gym until we had to search around for another gym with childcare. I know that 80.00 is a lot of money but it includes: swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, spin room, racquetball, unlimited free childcare, and ALOT of equipment.