You only turn 8 once!!!

Jackson had quite the birthday extravaganza! We went out to eat with Meemaw and Papaw on Monday at Red Lobster. Jackson got a brand new Razor Scooter! He was so excited. He rides it constantly now. I can't believe how fast he goes on it!!!

Jeff, Jenny, Hannah and Joshua came over for dinner on Wednesday (Andrew made homemade turkey meatballs and sauce and whole wheat pasta), and we had lots of fun!

Andrew took his last final exam on Friday morning (he got A's in all four summer classes!), and we left for vacation around noon.

We arrived at April and Jerrod's house at about 5pm on Friday, and went over to the campground where Grandma and Grandpa were staying for a yummy camping supper! The boys stayed the night in the camper with grandma and grandpa, and Andrew and I went back to April and Jerrod's and crashed!

Saturday was the big day, and the party went very well. Everyone had fun, and both Jackson and Emma got lots of good presents! Emma's favorite was the Little Einstein's Pat Pat Rocket, and Jackson's favorite was his new iPod! They both got lots of other wonderful presents too.

We went to Das Essenhaus for dinner on Saturday night, and had some authentic Amish food. Later that night we watched We Are Marshall with April and Jerrod. It was a good movie. I cried a little.

Sunday morning we left April and Jerrod's and journeyed on to Shipshewana and Splash Universe! We spent two days playing in the huge indoor water park. They have two huge water slides, five body slides, a lazy river, a Lily pad pond, an interactive kiddie pool, a three-story water jungle gym and a 500 gallon bucket that dumps water every five minutes. We had such a great time!!! Our suite was very nice. The main room had a very comfy king-sized bed and a television. Then there was a middle room with bunk beds and a TV for the kids, and the entry area had a table and chairs, sink, fridge, and microwave. Very nice!

We ate breakfast on Monday morning at the Amish restaurant in the resort (best Maple syrup ever!), and after breakfast went into Shipshewana to check out all the shops in town. After several hours of shopping we had a light lunch at Bread of Life in Davis Mercantile, and headed back to the resort for more water park fun.

After 5 more hours in the water, we took showers and got dressed and spent some quality time in the arcade. Andrew and I generally despise arcades, but they had a super fun Deal or No Deal arcade game, and you essentially gamble for tickets. Once I won 105 tickets in one game!!! It was really fun.

When we had spent our arcade cash we grabbed (another) free diet Pepsi refill in our souvenir cup and a few bags of fresh popcorn for the road, and we set the GPS for home.

We arrived at Meemaw and Papaw's house at about 11:30 to pick up Annie, and we had the car unpacked, the dogs and children in bed, and showered and gotten ourselves into bed by 12:30. It was good to be home.

I think we all thoroughly enjoyed Jackson's birthday trip.

Thanks to everyone for all the great gifts and time together!