I Can't Believe You Are So Old!!!

I really get it now why people go on and on about how old/big kids are after not seeing them for a while.  On Monday and Tuesday I got to see two of my old students (they were in 3rd grade then--aged 8/9) and their families.  And, I'm embarrassed to say that the best thing I could think of to say was, "Oh my gosh!  I can't believe how big they are!"  UGH!  But, it's SO true!  

On Monday my mom, Jackson and I met the Masnatos at Northbrook Court.  (Laura was my student and is now in 7th grade.  Her sister, Christina, and her mom, Maria, were there too.)  We sat and chatted for a bit (Jackson was kept quite busy with his new Melissa and Doug cookie making set the Masnatos gave him) and then wandered around letting Jackson explore.  

The mall had their beautiful holiday decorations up still so we enjoyed those.  

Jackson showed Christina how good he is at taking self-portraits with my camera ;)

Jackson was also lucky enough to play with Christina's phone--she had a fun cupcake making/decorating game on there that he could play.  Once he had it figured out, he went over to show Laura.  Jackson LOVED watching the elevator go up and down with people in it.  (It was the kind where the walls were glass, so you could see in and out!)  

On Tuesday morning, the Wiedemanns came over to the house.  (Alex was my student and is now in 7th grade.  His sisters Alyssa and Ashley came over too with their mom, Jane.)  We had such a good time!  Jackson brought all of his toys over to show the kids, and they were so good with him!  

Of course, most of the toys he brought over were cars and trucks, which worked out great since the Wiedemanns brought him a rug with roads and bridges on it!  What a fun way to run his vehicles around :)  

After playing for a while, we went over to Herms (we just have to introduce as many people as possible!) for lunch.  The kids continued to be great with Jackson and hung out with him by the video games while Jane and I visited.  


It was SO nice to be reunited with some special kids/families who happen to be good friends :)

On Wednesday night, Josh and I took advantage of Mimi and Bampa's well-practiced skills and left them to babysit Jackson while we had a date night!  We drove into Chicago and saw Lincoln Park Zoo's Zoo Lights.  It was pretty chilly, but totally worth it!  We have talked about going to Zoo Lights for YEARS!  I'm so glad we got to see them!  It was really neat to be at the zoo, and the lights were so fun to watch as they were timed to music.  After the Zoo, we drove over and had dinner at Qdoba.  Then we went to Roycemore and played some basketball before picking up shakes at Herm's to end a lovely evening :)