fun in the backyard

after madelyn was kind enough to sleep in until 7:30 this morning, i headed off to an hour long massage at a local spa. it was a baby shower gift from some neighbors and it was wonderful! the masseuse was a little surprised by how much tension there was in my neck and back - actually so was i. i couldn't believe how many knots there were and how long it took her to work them out. i feel so much better!

while i was out this morning, madelyn and daddy had a morning out of their own. the went to their breakfast place (einstein bagels) and a few hardware stores. they were on the hunt for gardening tools. the idea was that they could get some maddie-sized tools so that she can help daddy with their gardening this summer. unfortunately every store was out of stock.

after madelyn's nap she went looking for daddy so that she could get to work. of course she had her red snow shovel to help with, but she also liked helping with daddy's tools. i was particularly impressed with her ability to control a full-sized hammer. and now construction is complete on their two vegetable garden boxes. next will come the planting soil and a few more warm weeks before the seedlings are planted outside. matt and madelyn have been lovingly sprouting their seeds inside the house preparing for their impressive summer garden plans.

in addition to helping daddy, madelyn had some fun playing with our dogs. maggie will hold still long enough for madelyn to pet her, but lady gets way too excited about the attention and tends to knock her down. madelyn has mastered most of their commands - "drop it", "no", "sit". she has also figured out that they are bringing her the ball so that she will throw it. when she is just on the deck they bring it up the stairs and she pulls it through the gate before dropping it over the side of the deck or just down the stairs for them to chase.

while daddy finished up the second box, madelyn used it as a sandbox. maybe that will be one of his next outdoor projects... love.