Father's Day 2008

We love celebrating father's day because Madeline has such a great one! We spent a good part of the day playing at the park. Madeline and Daddy showed everyone how strong they were by swinging on the bars - Mommy doesn't think she could do it :-) Going down the slide with Daddy is one of her favorites! Once she gets going it's hard to keep up :-) She learns something new almost every time we go to the park. Today she was learning to balance on the twisty snake - we're sure it won't be long before she doesn't need us to hold her hands... Later we went back to the apartment and wound down with a few books. What a great day - Love you Daddy!!!

Cousin Ashley's Wedding

Today we went to Gibbon, MN for cousin Ashley and Tim's wedding. They had a beautiful ceremony and then treated us all to dinner and dancing!
Madeline thought hanging out with all of Mommy's cousins was a lot of fun - here she is with Conrad:After dinner the music started. At first the dancing seemed a little intimidating... but Great-Uncle Tony picked her up and off they went! Before you knew it she was really getting down :-) We think weddings and dancing are a new favorite activity for Madeline - good thing Mommy has LOTS of cousins!

Fire Engines, Ambulances & Police Cars!

No, we didn't have an emergency, but we got to see the Fire Engines, Ambulances and Police Cars up close at the Saint Louis Park Fire Station Open House! This was so great because countless times a day we hear the sirens from one of these vehicles and Madeline runs to the window to see which flashing lights are going by this time :-) The seemingly endless blaring of sirens happens so frequently because our apartment is "conveniently" located between the fire station, the police station and Methodist hospital.

The Open House was great! We got to meet the firemen and see them put out a small fire. They even had a "Madeline size" fire jacket and she got her very own fire hat! She especially liked Sparky , the fire dog :-) We could have waited in line for a ride in the fire truck, but Madeline was more interested in eating cookies and playing at the playground - maybe we'll save that adventure for next year :-)

Grandma Judy Babysits

Mommy and Daddy were invited to Cousin Becky's birthday party tonight, so Grandma Judy came to watch Madeline. They had a lot of fun playing and reading books :-) Her eyes are still red from the pink-eye, but hopefully they'll clear up soon!

Aunt Melanie Comes to the Rescue!

No daycare for Madeline until the pink-eye drops start to work, so Aunt Melanie graciously said that she would come and watch her for the day while Mommy and Daddy went to work. Unfortunately the infection spread to the other eye during the night, but the girls still had a great time hanging out together! Thank you Aunt Melanie!!!

Pink-Eye :-(

We got a call from Daycare today because they were concerned Madeline might have pink-eye. We went right to the doctor. He confirmed their suspicions and he gave us prescription drops. He said that the drops should make things better in a couple days. We sure hope so! You wouldn't be able to tell she's sick from the way she's acting - cheery and talkative as usual ...

A Memorial Day Walk

Since our walk went so well yesterday and Daddy didn't have to work today, we decided to take a longer walk today. The paved trails and paths near where we live are amazing so we headed out! We walked all the way to (and around) Lake Calhoun, near UpTown, in Minneapolis. All in all we think our trek was a little over 10 miles! About 1/2 way around the lake we stopped to put on some warmer shoes and enjoy the downtown skyline. What a great way to get our daily dose of exercise! We'll have to make sure we take the time to do this more often - especially once it warms up :-)
Even though a lot of Madeline's time was spent riding in the stroller, we did take a few time-outs to let her run, have lunch and play at the park. By the time we got home we were all ready to take it easy for a while!

Chocolate!

Today we went on a walk on the trails around where we live. On the way back home we decided to try out a little Mexican restaurant. Since it was Sunday, Madeline ate for free... they even gave her dessert - chocolate fried tortillas with whipped cream! She definitely thought they were delicious :-)

Montessori School Open House

Tonight there was an open house at Madeline's school. All of the kids invited their parents so they could show off all that they've been doing. Since Daddy is still away on business we invited Grandma Judy to come with us :-) First all the kids sang us some songs - Take a listen: ABC's

Twinkle-Twinkle

Itsy-Bitsy Spider

Then we did some stamping, decorated, and ate a cookie, and had a butterfly painted on Madeline's arm! What a fun night :-)

One Last Day with Godmother

Our flight didn't leave until early afternoon, so we had the morning to go for a walk. We managed to find a park or two along the way and stopped for some fun :-) We had so much fun with Alyssa we can't wait until she comes back to MN for the 4th of July!