Spring 2000

Jackson's 5th Birthday

Jackson's birthday party was held at a local park. We rented a moonbounce for the kids. It was a big success. In this picture, Alex, Nolan, and Jackson are taking a rest before going back in.

Jackson is getting ready to blow out the candle on his cake. He looks worried. There's a lot of pressure to blow them all (okay, there was only one) out so your wish will come true.

Ray, who is Lisa's mom's boyfriend, came over and re-finished our front door a couple of months ago. He used a power sander. Zachary hates power tools and for weeks after he was deathly afraid that Ray might come over. Every time the doorbell would ring, Zachary would look at me and say "Ray????" in a quavering voice. Apparently, he got over his Rayaphobia, because here Ray is helping Zachary put on his shoes.

Jackson got a pair of roller blades for his birthday along with all the associated safety apparel. He practices by skating along the pool fence. Zachary is trying to help him.

Easter

Jackson likes Easter and likes coloring eggs. We had a dozen eggs. Lisa hard-boiled some of the eggs, put them back in the fridge, and left me to help Jackson color them while she went shopping. What she didn't tell me was which were the cooked eggs and which were the raw eggs. I can't tell a raw egg from a cooked egg by looking at it. I tried the "spin" test. I picked one up and shook it. I still couldn't tell. Jackson and I had to make a guess. We guessed wrong. Here Jackson is busy coloring the raw eggs.

Lisa got home and couldn't believe we were painting the raw eggs. Lisa's sister Diana went all over town looking for a new painting kit. It was two days before Easter and every place was sold out. Finally, she found one. In this picture, Jackson and I are painting the other eggs.

After some preliminary Easter egg hunting in our backyard, Jackson and I went to the Ocotillo Golf Club for a public Easter egg hunt. In this picture, Jackson, like a calm warrior surveying the field before going into battle, looks over the eggs.

It was almost time for the hunt. Jackson is getting some encouragement from the "big guy".

This is the starting line before the hunt. Jackson is five years old now so he had to run in the 5-8 year old group. I swear there were some 10 year old kids there. Jackson is standing in the front row third from the right-hand side of the picture.

The race is on. I should have told Jackson to run out to the other end of the field, but he got stuck in the middle of the pack. Easter egg hunting is a cruel sport. Some kids had a basket full of eggs. One little girl walked off crying hysterically because her basket was empty. Jackson came out with six eggs. Not bad for a kid who just moved up an age group.

Zachary at Two

Can you believe that this little man gets in trouble at school? He just turned two years old, he is the youngest child in his daycare room and yet he terrorizes all of the other children. One of his teachers wants him expelled. We're trying to teach Zachary that trying to pull a child's ear off is not the best course of action when he gets mad.

Lisa and I know that Zachary is usually a sweet little boy. He likes to help out around the house. In this picture, he is helping Lisa unload the dishwasher. Zachary gets to do the plastic things.

Zachary is gentler around Bailey these days, but Bailey has a long memory and really doesn't want Zachary's brand of love. There is also the issue of vying for Lisa's attention.

Okay, how many household/etiquette rules are being broken here? Well, Lisa and Zachary are eating ice cream over the carpet instead of at the table and there is a serious case of double-dipping going on.

Zachary is becoming a grown-up little boy. He brushes his teeth every night. He has also learned how to use the blue footstool to reach things he couldn't reach for before. More frightening for his mother and I, Zachary can now climb up to the top of Jackson's platform bed. He does this every chance he gets and finds it very amusing.

March 2000

The boys are avid readers. Here, Angela is giving Jackson a higher class sort of children's book. It was alright, better than a Berenstain Bear's book, but Toni Morrison is no Dr. Suess.

Zachary likes a good book too. Diana is reading him "Katy Cat and Beaky Boo. Like all of his flap books, Zachary loved this one a little too much and many of the flaps are missing.

What? Am I interrupting something here? We photojournalists are always maligned in the pursuit of our story. Here is Lisa reading Zachary the "Beaky Boo" book.

Jackson starts kindergarten in August. His daycare has begun sending homework home with him. Here he is practicing his "R's". He was excited about homework the first time he got it. Now he mostly ignores it. I can already hear it. "What do I need to learn the letter S for?"

Jackson loves to have people come over to play. Laura, a girl who lives down the street, and Jackson are playing "Chutes and Ladders". He has already informed her of his smallest-person-goes-first rule.

Zachary wants to be a photojournalist too. Here he is taking a picture of his favorite subject, himself.

Her family was appalled when I gave Lisa a chainsaw for Christmas, but look at her. She loves it. Here she is getting ready to prune the spiny bushes (that's the technical term) to within an inch of their lives.

Jackson decided to kick off the 2000 pool season in March. He looks a bit stiff because the pool was only 60 degrees. He got out into the middle of the pool and couldn't figure out how to get back without getting wet (and cold). I took pity on him and rescued him with the pool brush.

Lisa's grandparents celebrated their 50th anniversary in March and had a big party. The real action was at the kid's table. Jackson, Zachary, James, and Angelika are loading up on fruit punch, milk, and snacks for the busy afternoon ahead.

Once the kids loaded up on sugar, they went outside and ran around like wild things under the "watchful" eye of Angela and Diana. When they started tipping over the vending machine, I decided to step in.