He probably won’t remember it, but today was an AWESOME birthday. Jackson woke up early with tutu and grandpa and went to the Mana Farmer’s Market – he sat with the aunties and uncles and quietly ate and listened (grandparents do wonders). When he got back home, mom & dad were waiting for him with a present. He opened his box full of goodies… the airplane and trucks were hits! We Skyped my parents in France who sang him the birthday song – in 2 languages – and “played” with him for a while.

Then it was off to Hawi to watch the turn around point for the Ironman Triathlon. We happened to be there around the time our Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi would be reaching that point in the race so we decided to stick around to cheer him on. Jackson got a fist bump from the mayor who was surprisingly chatty for someone that had just gone through the 2 mile swim and half of the cycling portion! lol Jackson got a hearty “Happy Birthday Brada!” from Billy

We headed to Pololu Valley and hiked down to the beach for a dip in the ocean. Jackson had a blast in the water and had to be pulled kicking and screaming (unfortunately) from the water when we were ready to leave… fortunately he doesn’t take long to calm down. The amazing cover photo above was taken 3 minutes later! Yay! We then headed to the Kohala Mountain Pumpkin Patch. Jackson saw the ride with the cars immediately and made a beeline for it. He got to sit on some pumpkins, a giant green tractor and say hello to some livestock. The ducks and chickens that were roaming were really exciting for him too! Back home, he ended up crashed out on the floor… what a day!

BUT, the day wasn’t over yet! Jackson then played with his new toys, we had dinner, danced in the living room as a family and presented him with his cupcake and two candles. He got another birthday song and blew the candles out all by himself! I cried… when tutu read his card and he repeated “2 fingers!” He loved his presents from tutu and grandpa and went to play with them in the garage. We had a Skype video from my sisters in France pop up who sang to him in three different languages – English, French and Hawaiian. Auntie Lena called and sang him the birthday song in French too! That makes SEVEN birthday songs today! lol All in all, a GREAT day. Tutu put him to bed and sure enough – she has the magic touch – no problems, right down and slept through the night! Happy Birthday Monkey!! Life’s Swell…

Side Note: When Jackson turned one I worked on the project below for a couple of months – compiling a video – a few seconds a week from birth to 1 year. The ending is EPIC.