Cutting up a Tree

Today Grandma Judy called and she needed some help... a very old dead tree had fallen down and it needed to be cut up and hauled away. Daddy got out his trusty chainsaw and we all got to work... First Madeline just wanted to scope out the situation and try and figure out what was going on - it was REALLY LOUD! But then she pitched right in and helped us carry the wood to to the CRV. She worked really hard and decided it was time for a break... That didn't last long and then she wanted to help again - she thought it was great fun!When we were all done Grandma gave her a big kiss for all her help :-) She definitely earned herself a ride in the swing before it was time to go inside and warm up!

Making Cream Puffs!

Today Madeline and Mommy made cream puffs for Grandpa Ron's Birthday. They were always his favorite so we make them every year on his birthday! Last year was the first year Madeline got to eat one and this year she got to help Mommy make them :-)

First we had to make the chocolate pudding filling. We started by pouring the pudding mix into the bowl and adding the milk. Madeline really enjoyed the next part... stirring, until it was nice and smooth :-)Then is was time to taste... delicious!!! Madeline even wanted to lick the extra off the whisk :-)Next it was time to make the "Puff" part of the cream puffs. We started out by adding butter and water to the sauce pan.Then it was time to move to the stove and let Mommy take over for a while. Once the butter and water came to boil we quickly added the flour and stirred it all together.Then we turned off the heat and added the eggs. All that was left was plopping them onto the cookie sheet - Madeline loved watching them "plop"! Next into the oven and we were done! We invited Grandma Judy over for dinner (another one of our and Grandpa Ron's favorites... pork chops, dumpling and sauerkraut!) and our fabulous dessert!!!
We all thought everything was delicious :-) And we all think Madeline will love keeping this tradition alive!

Pump-It-Up

Today Madeline and Mommy met our Tuesday playgroup at Pump-It-Up in Eden Prairie. This place has tons of fun things to do! All kinds of huge bouncers to jump in, inflatable walls to climb and slides to go down. Mom remembered the camera but it was out of battery power :-( Good thing Birgitta remembered hers and captured a few shots with Madeline in them :-)
Here is one with Madeline and Kevin giving Michael a ride in a car... and here's another with Madeline & Michael throwing balls around inside one of the big jumpers. Despite the grumpy look on Madeline's face in these pictures she had a blast :-)

KidCreate Art Studio

Since cold weather has settled in here in the Great White North, Madeline and mommy have had to give up their park time and find other things to keep them active and entertained... One of our MeetUp.com* groups (The Mother's Connection Group) has a playgroup for kids Madeline's age and under that meets every Tuesday. We've went to story time at Barnes & Noble, goofed around at the indoor play area inside the Mall, attended Tot-Time and the Rec. Center and today we went to this great place called KidCreate Art Studio. Here the kids listened to stories about art and got to create all kinds of neat projects - and all the mess stayed there!!!

They always start of with storytime, then the kids wander around to different art stations..
Madeline made bubble art, painted with powder, dyed a coffee filter, got all full of glitter, and made some very pretty designs with bubble wrap and roller brushes. When everyone was done creating we cleaned up and listened to one more story. What a great way to spend the morning!

*We've found that MeetUp.com is a great place to find other groups of families that are getting out and doing all sorts of fun things. All you have to do is put in your zip code and do a search for Family, Moms, Dads or Kids. We've met all kinds of new people and explored all kinds of new places we never even knew were right outside our door! Check it out if you're looking for something new for the family to do :-)

http://www.meetup.com

Halloween at the Zoo!

Earlier this summer we became members of the Minnesota Zoo. They host a members only HallZOOween event and we decided that this would be great for us (since we are still living in an apartment and they weren't sponsoring any kind of Trick-or-Treating). It was perfect! Madeline absolutely LOVED wearing her Monkey costume and fit right in with all of the animals. We walked along the different indoor trails and collected treats along the way. Madeline even got to touch a few of the creatures they had on display :-) They only let 2000 people in and the whole event was indoors - except for the scarecrow viewing. We can't wait to come back next year!

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we carved the pumpkin we got at Emma Krumbees. Mommy got it started and wanted Madeline to help her dig out all of the seeds. After one handful Madeline was done, claiming it was too "googly" in there! Instead she did a "googly" dance while mommy finished cleaning out the seeds. Daddy did the actual carving and Madeline helped him push in the cut out pieces. We had a ton of fun and were pretty proud of our finished pumpkin!!!