Inflatables

Tonight the Stonebridge Church held a big fest with food vendors, blow up inflatables for the kids, firetruck tours, and a fireworks display when it got dark. Mady's favorite part was the snow-cones. I picked out an orange one and a grape one for her and she took a sip of one, then the other.

She wouldn't go into the blow up inflatable that you bounce in - it was for kids her age and she wouldn't go in even tho I told her it looked like a princess castle. Devon took her down the slide and I think she thought that was okay.

She doesn't like fireworks - but her Daddy protects her. She sat on his lap and said "scare me".

Crazy Weather

This afternoon a storm came through very quickly. They were reporting hail and 80 mph winds and so they turned the tornado sirens on to warn everyone. The electricity went out for more than 100,000 people. Luckily, our lights just flickered and the electricity stayed on. We drove around after the storm to look at the damage and it was not a good day for fences or trampolines!

Our plants in the front yard that we planted just weeks ago are destroyed. Plants in the back are okay. Mady's tent on her swingset has a hole in it now. We were lucky, some neighborhoods looked a lot worse.

Balloon Pop Car

Today we went to Mahoney State Park and had a picnic and then went to the Aquatic Center and swam. Mady is getting to be a good "swimmer". She likes the wave pool that they have. She can almost float on her back and is starting to swim a little bit.

Her language is really developing. This morning when I went to make her usual Fruity Pebbles for breakfast (she will not touch pancakes, waffles or anything else I make her.) she said "Don't want that kind - I want Einsteins." As in Little Einsteins cereal we had a month or so ago. She said those two complete sentences as plain as day. I've tried to find that kind of cereal at the store again and apparently they've stopped making it - so I reminded her. Her response was "Oh."

Tonight we were driving home from the restaurant we ate at for dinner and the balloon she had received at the restaurant popped. She cried briefly but then she repeated the story when we got home about 100 times - "Balloon" "Pop" "Car" "Broke It" "Balloon" "Pop" "Car" "Broke It". Toddlers have a one track mind.

She's too cute.

Scary Animal Play-Doh Things

I bought Mady this super-cute craft box: My Giant Busy Box from this toy store down the road from our house. It has paper bag puppets, sticker art, crayons, dough, tissue paper art, etc. One of the tissue paper art projects in the box was defective (i.e. not sticky) so I wrote to the company that made it to request a new one. They said they couldn't just provide me with the part that was broken - they sent a whole new box for us to play with! How nice is that? I highly recommend it - it's for ages 2+ (and I'm not just saying that because they gave us free stuff).

Mady really likes the E-I-E-I Dough projects. They provide printed punch-out animal parts and different colors of dough and you can make/decorate the animals. Here she has made a pig-dog (pig head with dog legs, I think there is a horse part mixed in there too.)

That Darn Chicken...

There is this goofy toy that my sisters and I pass around. When you press its hand, it plays the chicken dance (see video for demo - make sure you have your sound on for the full effect). We hide it in car trunks, suitcases, bedrooms, etc. I last gave the chicken to Chelsey to open as a present during her graduation party (thanks to Paige for the idea!)

When I was doing my laundry the other day, I found the chicken in my clothes basket. Now, how did that get there? I will find out who put it there and will get revenge. Muhahaha...

P.S. it made Mady cry this morning when I played the chicken to make this video. Whoops!

I have 2 children thank you...

Someday... when people tell me I only have one child, I will have the strength to correct them and say "No, I have 2 children. One who walks and one who soars." That is one of my biggest goals in life and I will get there. I will.

Bunny!

We have a family "pet" in addition to Nutmeg - a rabbit. We think it lives in a hole under our back cement patio. It's always around. In Arizona we had a gecko that lived along the stone wall in the back so it's only fitting that something has adopted our yard as it's home here as well.

Tonight during dinner, Mady was sitting with us at the table in her booster seat by the window and she spotted the bunny eating the grass right outside. She goes "Bunny!" and that was the end of her dinner that had only just begun. When the bunny hopped to the back of the yard, she ran over to the patio door (which she can now get open by herself) and yelled into the yard "Where Bunny go?"

Now every time she looks out the window she asks about the bunny (which sounds like Barney so I always get confused. :P)

Hopefully it won't eat Devon's vegetables that he planted (I'm sure it will and we'll have to get a bunny barrier!)