we love fridays

i hadn't planned for friday to be a full day, but it just worked out that way. my plan was to go to the library for a bit and then head over to the zoo for some time outside before i started work that afternoon.

we were at the library waiting for it to open and were the first ones up in the kids area. madelyn got right on the computer games (she plays computer reading games while i work most days now) and mason and i went in search of a few books. once i had made a few selections i let mason out of the stroller to play in the kids area. he was frozen in place with excitement most of the time but was pointing and 'talking' so loudly that an older girl kept telling him to "shhh". on our way out we ran into one of madelyn's favorite friends from school and two neighbors which made it that much harder for her to leave but we had to get going if we were going to see any animals at the zoo before lunch.

the zoo was a little crowded but not too bad. it was also overcast which made it very comfortable to be outside. mason was exhausted but it only showed in his eyes. he was very happy and excited to be at the zoo. i tried to get a picture of them together but mason walked away by the time madelyn got situated (her pose, not mine. i just asked her to stand next to him.) it is funny because as much as mason just seems to wander away when we let him walk around home and our yard he does not like to stray away from the stroller when we are in public places.













after lunch we packed up and headed out. mason fell asleep before we left the zoo's parking lot. madelyn ended up not napping and came downstairs with me when we got home so that i could get to work.

after work we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. and much to madelyn's delight we were greeted at the door with a melon sample and they didn't stop there. she had more little plastic cups than she could carry. about a month ago we had been and they were giving out little ice cream samples so she kept saying that she hoped there were going to be ice cream samples too. but, alas, it was not meant to be.

once we got home i played with the kids while we waited for daddy to get home from work. we were all having fun playing mr. potatohead.

while i was prepping for dinner madelyn went to the bathroom and mason followed. the water was running for longer than usual and i heard her say, "is it a little too hot, buddy?" so i called to madelyn to see what was going on. "i'm just getting mason all cleaned up for dinner." ummm... i think i better bring the camera. mason had gotten up on the stool next to her and she was washing his hands for him. and he was loving it! he did not want to get off the stool when she was helping him down. the stool even flipped over because he was trying to hold on to it with his toes as she pulled him away trying to get him to step down. surprisingly, they did not make a mess.

after dinner we went for a walk. this is becoming a regular family outing that we all enjoy. madelyn likes that we stop at the park if anyone is out once we have done a 'loop' around the neighborhood. she also talks almost the entire time we are walking. last night she told me that she wanted to talk to God. i said okay - she often asks me if it is okay for her to talk to people before talking to them. and this is some of what she had to say: "God, the lions scared me today at the zoo, and i cried for my daddy. i didn't know what to do. we went to the library and i saw my friends." and on and on for about 15 minutes. the "i didn't know what to do." must be a new favorite phrase because she said it many, many times yesterday and quite often in her discussion with God.

it was cool and there were a few sprinkles. i didn't think that the mosquitoes were bad but when i saw mason this morning he was covered in bites! most of them were on his face too! i think you can see three in this picture of him eating a snack this morning. he also had one on his left ear and one on his right eyelid. there were more on his arms and legs, but i had never before seen so many bites on some one's face. at least they don't seem to bother him at all.

our favorite part of fridays is that tomorrow is saturday and daddy gets to stay home with us! love.

sharing

madelyn's favorite thing to share with mason is food. almost every time they are sitting at the table madelyn says, "should i give this to mason?" and it isn't enough to give it to him. she has to actually feed it to him. he is very willing to entertain this arrangement because it means more food for him. she loves to be his 'mothering' big sister.

she does like to share toys too. not so much 'toys' as activities. in the picture they each have one cymbal in their mouths and are cracking each other up. mason was doing it and madelyn wanted to play with him so she did the same thing. she often switches to whatever mason is doing in an attempt to get him to play with her. not to say that he doesn't copy her too.

i love that they get along so nicely. i think that they will do even better once mason can tell her when he has had enough and needs her to stop. like when they play "squish". they take turns laying on the floor while the other one gets on top, but sometimes madelyn gets a little too heavy and doesn't know that it is time to get off mason. but she is getting better at realizing that he is crying and she needs to stop what she is doing.

that's it. i think i am 'caught up' now. love.

giraffe class at the zoo

monday morning everyone loaded up and headed to the zoo. everyone that is except me. i stayed home to work while matt took time off to go to a giraffe class at the zoo with madelyn. (i am trying to save a few vacation days in case baby boy comes a little early.) since grandma loves the zoo, i sent her and mason too. they couldn't go to the class with madelyn and matt, but they were able to spend time walking around the zoo.

it sounds like madelyn and daddy had a great time during their class. and grandma pointed out that matt was the only parent/adult to wear their leaf hat when the class went over to see the giraffes at the end of class. madelyn came home with all sorts of crafts made during the class and loves that she has a bag to put them all into at the end of each day.

they met back up with grandma and mason for lunch and a ride on the carousel. grandma said that mason enjoyed watching the other kids more than the animals which isn't really surprising.

after the zoo everyone came back home for grandma to pack up her suitcase and get ready for the airport. matt ended up having to work so the kids and i took grandma to the airport. both kids fell asleep on the way and didn't get to actually say good-bye to grandma at the airport. they actually slept the whole way home too.

we had a nice time with grandma and hope that she had fun too. maybe next time big pop can come visit too and we won't have so many appointments that keep them stuck at the house. love.

grandma visit

grandma came to visit last weekend. i mentioned earlier that she mainly sat at home with one or both kids while i ran to appointments and worked. but we did get to do a few fun things during her visit.

since we knew that she would be stuck at the house most of the time, matt set up the pool in the back yard. madelyn was really excited to show grandma how she could slide in the pool. grandma was mainly worried about how cold the water (and air) were. she forgets that these are wisconsin kids and this is as warm as they get for playing outside.

of course i took very few pictures with all the running around. i have really been slacking with the picture taking this summer. i need to up my game!

mason has a really great laugh and grandma had fun getting him going. here is a picture and a video but it isn't as wild as when they first started.

one thing grandma always complains about when she visits is that we eat all the time. but it was not our fault that she ordered the largest cobb salad i have ever seen at dinner one night! we had to take a picture at this ridiculously large salad and her "cup" of soup. needless to say that she didn't finish it all. or even when she ate some for lunch the next day.

we took her to the zero-depth pool sunday afternoon. she still felt that it was pretty cold for 'swimming' but we had fun. it was daddy's first trip to the pool too and they both got to see what a fish little mason is getting to be.

there was still one more outing before she went home, but that will be in the next post. love.

in black and white

when i took madelyn to school on tuesday they showed me a clipping from the local newspaper where madelyn's picture was used! (and, yes, i had just signed a release form for them to use madelyn's picture.) here is the piece. love.

so what about mason?

i feel like i don't post enough about mason because he is usually just along for a ride in his stroller. so here is a post about what's been going on with him.

- is walking almost 100% of the time now. he doesn't just crawl when he falls either; he just gets right back up. even when he had a growth spurt last week and suddenly couldn't keep his balance. he fell almost every other step, but he would not go back to crawling.

- he has started climbing up more and more. i still wouldn't call him a "climber" - especially given how much madelyn climbed at his age. but he steps up on low items and managed to get into the laundry basket to recline and watch me load the washer.

- got his upper, left eyetooth on june 23. there are several teeth giving him trouble on his top jaw. i was really glad to see one finally break through and give him a little relief.

- he is getting good at following commands like, "bring it to mommy", "put it in the trash can", and "go get..."

- mason instinctively sits "criss-cross, applesauce" (that is what they call it here now that the old-school, politically incorrect "indian style" is no longer acceptable) when he sits down. it is so cute!

- he tries to use his fork at meals. he hasn't quite figured it out yet but he enjoys trying every much.

- he can now turn and open some of the door knobs in the house.

- mason seems to have a sixth sense about outside doors being open and toilets being accessible. he just comes a running whenever he senses an opportunity.

- there is not a thirstier boy around! this kid drinks more fluids than any child i have ever seen and it doesn't result in wet diapers either. he must get it from me because i am always dehydrated. but it still blows me away. he is constantly bringing me his empty water cup. just like with madelyn i leave his water cup on the table all day so that he can help himself when he gets thirsty and he can often be found making a bee-line for the table.

- he is definitely a dancer! madelyn liked a good beat, but mason stops to bust a move at any hint of music. even if it is just madelyn and i singing.

- tossing balls has become a common occurrence without any encouragement from us. in fact, i am trying to teach him not to throw things in the house.

- he knows the names of all the rooms in the house and can go wherever we instruct him without assistance (as long as the door is open for him)

- suddenly he is sleeping until 7:30am in the morning and it has been heaven! especially because madelyn is sleeping that late or later! if only matt and i could sleep in too...

i know that there is more but this covers the notes i had. and i will try to get more video and pictures of him soon. love.

3-year check-up

madelyn finally had her 3-year well check on friday. it was the first time she was nervous about getting a shot; which was a little surprising since she is always telling everyone that it just "hurts for a second". thankfully, mason was able to stay home with grandma so he wasn't there to feed off of madelyn's fears.

while we were waiting for the doctor to come in madelyn was checking out the exam table. she was looking at an on/off switch and asked me, "why does that say "no?" i told her that while those were the correct letters, the word said "on". but then i realized that she was trying to read even though we have not spent any time working on this other than reading anything and everything she asks. maybe i will start working with her... (without getting too crazy.)

the doctor did say that her vocabulary/pronunciation and counting were very impressive for her age. she did mix up pink/purple and brown/black; she knows them but sometimes she just uses the wrong name. now for her stats:

weight: 37 lbs. (90/91 percentile)

height: 41 inches (98/99 percentile)

bmi: 45 percentile

madelyn got two shots at the end of the appointment and cried for the first time ever where she kept crying as we left the office. and she complained about her legs hurting right in to the next day. she wouldn't even let us take the band aids off. the good news was that she didn't have any fever or tiredness like other times she has gotten shots and she doesn't get any more until she turns 5. love.

mommy's hair cut

i was going to wait until after the baby was born to cut my hair for locks of love, but i just couldn't stand it any longer! my hair came back in spiral curls after having mason and when i pull it back into a pony tail (the only practical way to wear long hair when it is hot and you have small children to bend over all the time) it gave me a wild lion's mane sort of look. and i just like shorter hair.

anyway, as you saw in the earlier posts my hair is about 12 inches shorter now for locks of love. madelyn really, really likes it and thanked God for "mommy's new haircut" during prayers last night. but then began to cry about where is her new haircut? matt and i think that we will let her choose to cut her hair when we take mason in for his first haircut in the next week or two. (i know that sound is both of her grandma's hearts breaking at the very thought.) we will see what happens... love.

24-weeks

i had my 24-week pregnancy check-up on thursday afternoon. this was one of the only appointments matt didn't come to and grandma was here to watch the kids so i was all alone for once. and i am so thankful...

i must have waited at least a half hour for the doctor to come in and see me after i got into the exam room. i have never waited in almost five years of coming to this practice. and the doctor left the second my appointment was over to head over for a delivery.

the appointment went well. i am measuring right on track. i can't remember exactly what i weighed at the last appointment but i know that i have put on more than 5 pounds in the last five weeks. our month of travel, visitors, and birthdays have definitely added up for me.

this pregnancy has by far been the easiest and he is becoming more and more active. he does like to preform his acrobatics at night, unfortunately, and it is sometimes difficult for me to fall back to sleep after a midnight bathroom break. i am also already having the 'full' feeling that i don't remember having until the end of the pregnancy with the other two. i thought it was just dealing with the heat, but the doctor said that it is just what happens after you have already had a few kids; things just happen sooner. i go back in four weeks for my glucose test. love.

business as usual

sorry for lack of posts. i get behind and then just can't seem to take the time to catch up. grandma is visiting right now so that has us a little busy too. and the kids are just doing and saying new things everyday that i keep notes on and then don't get them posted. mason is napping, madelyn is watching a movie downstairs with grandma, and matt is mowing the grass - now is my chance!

grandma picked an unfortunate time to come because i had a 24-week appointment, madelyn had her 3-year check-up, i had an appointment to get my hair cut, and i have had to work. she has gotten to spend a lot of time at the house with the kids though.

now for a few quick posts on what's been going on. love.

the (almost) perfect day

friday was going to be pretty warm so i thought that i would take the kids to the pool in the morning for some outside fun. madelyn was really excited to try out some goggles that we picked up at the dollar store this week. this picture is of her waiting outside in line for the pool to open - goggles on. it is the only picture because i was on my own and didn't want any distractions around the water.

mason is just becoming a little fish! he kept putting his head under water and looking at me like i was crazy when i would pull him back up. on one end of the pool their is a ledge instead of the gradual wade in like a beach would have. mason kept climbing out and 'jumping' in to me. over and over again. madelyn wanted to 'jump' too even though jumping isn't allowed at this pool and the water was only like a foot and a half deep so i would just sort of pull her in and try not to drag her knees on the bottom of the pool.

we ate our picnic lunch outside the pool and mason ate most of it with his eyes closed because he was so tired. that was part of my plan with the pool outing anyway - to wear them out. because we were going to go to a family event for zoo members that night and they would be up past their bed times.

they both fell asleep on the ride home, but mason was the only one who napped once we reached the house and slept for around four hours. while mason was napping, i was working (hence why i say "almost" in the title). madelyn rested quietly and played with play-doh while i was working.

after work we put together and ate a quick dinner once daddy got home. and then everyone got into the car so we could head over to the zoo. madelyn was very excited that daddy was going to the zoo with us! she was also excited to see the dinosaur exhibit that has been advertised everywhere (radio, tv, and billboards). as part of the members only family event that night, the dinosaur exhibit was half-price.

madelyn enjoyed following the 'dino tracks' painted on the ground leading the way through the zoo to the exhibit. we have been since the tracks went down so it was kind of funny that she suddenly took an interest in them. we were all delighted to discover that the heat of the day had already left and the evening was great for being outside.

here are just a few pictures from the dinosaur exhibit. the dinosaurs moved and had sound effects which mason really, really liked. madelyn was more interested in finding the next one. i thought that it was nice that almost all the dinosaurs also had 'babies' with them; it seemed like that might have make the experience a little less frightening.

towards the end of our night out, we let mason out of the stroller. he was so excited to be able to walk around for a little while. we would have kept him out longer but it was pretty crowded for too much wandering.

then home for baths and bed. (madelyn was actually asking to home and go to sleep.) it was a great way to start our low key weekend. love.

videos from today

today was a pretty productive workday for me and i got a lot done around the house before matt got home from work too, which is funny because both kids were a crying mess most of the afternoon. madelyn appeared to just be tired and mason was suffering through teething, but they played nicely together anyway.

mason is really starting to get good at the shape sorter. i help him with turning it to the correct side and occasionally showing him which 'hole' his piece went in. he doesn't usually get as frustrated as he does in this video, but i was was trying to capture his little clap for himself after he gets each piece in. he is so focused and has figured out varying the pressure applied right away. i love how mason thinks about everything he does.

and since madelyn was so noisy during mason's video i thought that i should show what she was doing. she has 'swing burn' under both arms from doing this almost all day for the past few days, but it doesn't slow her down at all. love.

first trip to the dentist

on tuesday, madelyn finally had her first dental appointment. i say "finally" because madelyn has been asking to go to the dentist for at least 6-months, if not longer. when we got there she told the receptionist that she was going to get a toothbrush and toothpaste. and then the receptionist told her that she would get a "prize" too! madelyn couldn't believe the bounty of riches that came from the dentist's office.

the teeth cleaning appointment was sort of a 'practice' appointment. they told me that they would only do as much as she was comfortable with, there wasn't any real goal other than getting her used to the whole experience.

when she woke up she declared excitedly that she was "going to the dentist today!" she could barely stand waiting for her 10am appointment to get here. and when we got there the enthusiasm didn't taper off. she and mason raided the toy selection while we waited and when it was her turn she jumped right up in the chair without waiting for me or to see if i was even coming. she took a ride in the chair (which stopped mason in his tracks too) and got to pick out some sunglasses so that the bright light didn't hurt her eyes. and then the hygienist got started.

the hygienist, jody, is the same hygienist that takes care of matt and i so madelyn has met her several times. she started out by making madelyn a glove balloon before counting madelyn's teeth and watching out for "mr. tongue". madelyn did great with the instruments in her mouth and jody moved on to polishing her teeth. madelyn picked strawberry 'paste' because it was sort of striped in the tub. and madelyn was a little disappointed that jody got to wear the 'ring' for the 'paste'. madelyn was just holding out her finger and waiting as soon as jody referred to it as a "ring".

madelyn got to touch the special spinning 'toothbrush' before jody loaded it up with 'paste'. and then madelyn was showed how to use the "vacuum" to help rinse the toothpaste out of her mouth; i think she liked that part. once the cleaning was over the dentist came in to take a look and do his own evaluation as a baseline going forward. both he and jody talked with madelyn about trying to stop sucking her thumb. they told me that they would like her to have stopped by the time she is 4.

and then the gift time had arrived! first madelyn was given a bag and then jody loaded it up as madelyn pondered over which toothbrush to take home. she finally settled on a blue monkey toothbrush. along with the toothbrush she got a small tube of toothpaste, a roll of tootie-fruity floss, dinosaur and crayola flossers, and a lost tooth necklace. and if that weren't enough, now it was time to go pick her "prize". after a long time examining every option in the large bowl (jody sat on the floor with her to examine all the options), madelyn selected a dragonfly stamp.

after school i tried to get her to tell me about the appointment because she kept reliving it excitedly over and over. she didn't quite have the same enthusiasm, but here is her telling about the appointment in her own words...



and then she got a little crazy with the dragonfly stamp while she and mason were playing in her room. she came out and told us that mason had a dragonfly on him. i asked where and she told me his hand. and then she came out a few minutes later and told us that he had one on his cheek. and his other cheek. and his arm. and his other arm. so matt and i called mason out too and he was ecstatic (and clueless) that he was covered in stamps. daddy even ended up with a few stamps on his hands. i was the only one who didn't get branded.we had to use nail polish remover to get the stamps off of daddy's hands before his 'important' meeting this morning. oops. love.

back to normal

i feel like i can exhale a little this week after the frantic pace of the past month. yesterday both kids were out of sorts but today was a delightful and productive day! mason and i didn't get much sleep last night, both kids were up by 6am, and i went to bed and woke up with a pretty bad headache so i did not have high hopes for today.

but i was pleasantly surprised. the only rough spot in the day was trying to get mason to skip his morning nap in an attempt to get him back to sleeping to at least 7am again. madelyn and mason played together great and were great listeners.

they were acting so silly while i was working but i didn't have the camera with me. they were both shaking their heads back and forth while laughing wildly. madelyn would make some sort of silly scream noise and mason would make it back to her. i can't stress how much i wish that i had caught them on video - they were so funny.

like all younger siblings, mason loves to mimic madelyn and even though he isn't really talking yet he comes really close to sounding like the words she says. and he is really working hard to say her name. i have heard him say "mad" a few times but nothing consistent yet.

madelyn was also in a really helpful mood today. almost a little too helpful. while i was in the bathroom madelyn wiped mason off from his snack, unbuckled his booster seat, and helped him down from the chair so that he could go play with her! i told her that while she did a great job, it would be best to let mommy and daddy be the ones to take mason out of his chair.

and then while i was making dinner matt came home. he went to check on the kids playing in mason's room and asked if i knew that mason didn't have a diaper on. when i came back to see what was going on i found a jumbo pack of diapers all over the floor, a diaper less mason, two diaper raisins on the floor, and a very proud madelyn telling me that, yes, it was a poopie diaper and she had put it in the diaper pail. apparently madelyn had noticed that mason's diaper was poopie, took his shorts and diaper off for me, being a responsible sister had cleaned up the dirty diaper, and was working on getting a diaper back on him when daddy came in. again we thanked her for being helpful but that she should leave the diaper work to mommy and daddy.

there aren't a lot of pictures from today because madelyn decided to take her clothes off early in the day and as she often tells us when she strips down, "i just want to be cold". but i did take some video of mason putting 'coins' in his piggy bank toy. i showed him how to do it yesterday and he was very proud of himself tonight doing it all by himself.

i also thought of something cute madelyn did yesterday while we were saying prayers. madelyn tells on everyone, even herself. so when we were praying she told me to "tell God about..." i can't remember what it was but it was something she had done that day that got her put in her room. i explained that God already knows all about everything she does and loves her anyway but that we could pray for God to help her not do it again.

so a wonderful day and both kids were asleep by 7:30 tonight. so i will get an early night too. love.

akron parade - indiana trip

on monday, our last day in indiana, we were going to the much anticipated akron parade! matt and i had been to the parade at least five years ago and it can be summed up in two words - tractors, candy. i really thought that it was nice though and enjoyed seeing all the antique tractors. and we knew madelyn would like collecting all the candy.

in the morning we at a light breakfast and the kids got to play outside a little. madelyn asked to go for a ride, but we needed to get going so that we could pick up great grandma for breakfast and then head to the parade. and, yes, i did say that we ate breakfast before picking great grandma up for breakfast. we were going to pick her up at 9 and i figured that we would eat breakfast around 10 which is normally our morning snack time.

and it was good we had eaten too! we went to a restaurant in town and they weren't that busy, maybe 4 tables of people, but there was only one girl working (waiting, busing, cooking, cashier, everything) and she was easily 7 or 8 months pregnant. the food was worth the wait with huge, delicious portions. the kids both ate every bite of the daily special (eggs, bacon, and toast for $1.99) that they split. the waitress even brought them their heaping portions on separate plates.


now that we were full, it was parade time! we loaded up and headed 10 miles down the road to akron. the parade route was already blocked off and pretty crowded. it was a hot day so we were trying to figure out how to best find somewhere to set up chairs without wearing out great grandma, but then we lucked into a parking spot just a short walk from where we ended up sitting on a shaded corner. it was really perfect because there was a great breeze, we were in the shade, and right in front. matt and madelyn went to stand in the road once they closed the street next to the chairs though.

the parade was even better than i remembered! really. madelyn filled almost a whole quart ziplock bag with candy and she got a snow cone too - so she had a fun time. she got so used to getting candy from every car/float that went by that she would pout when someone didn't throw candy because she wanted to fill the entire bag. the one thing that she didn't get was an american flag (they were handing them out, she just didn't get one), but nolan and daton gave her theirs when we got back to dennis and joy's for lunch and good-byes.


here is a slide show with some of the higher points in the parade and a few more pictures of the farm - primarily the wind damage but the pictures don't do it justice.

once again joy treated us to some yummy cooking and then we got to take a few rides around the farm. i was always on the 6-passenger vehicle but matt and his cousin jason (nolan and dayton's dad) went faster and over the rough paths. and then jason got out a motorcycle and started doing some really daring rides down steep drop offs and coming up to jump the bike. madelyn thought it was the greatest thing ever and asked him to jump the bike over and over until he was too tired to do it any more.


mason got in on the fun this time too. first he went on the 6-passenger vehicle between dennis and nolan. i don't think he stopped smiling the entire time. and then i let dennis take him out on one of the 4x4s. (dennis had offered to let me drive but i trust his experience way more with mason.) apparently the sound of the engine lulled mason off to sleep and dennis stopped to rock with him at their 'cabin' toward the back of the property.



















but then it was time for us to say good-bye and start our trip home. we can't thank dennis and joy enough for their hospitality and everyone else for making time for us during our visit. the kids had a wonderful visit with everyone. and matt and i enjoyed catching up after not visiting in so long.

both kids slept at least three or four hours of our drive home. it was nice because we only had to make one stop that way. we had to stop for dinner because it would just be too late by the time we got home and we wanted to get the kids straight into bed.

they were so hysterical running around the house together while matt and i unloaded the car. i think that they were glad to be home and see all their toys. everyone slept well and matt took tuesday off from work so the weekend just kept going for him. madelyn went back to school tuesday morning and i went back to work in the afternoon. matt spent the day building the new dresser from ikea. and now we could have a normal week for the first time in over a month! we were all looking forward to this weekend with no plans, visitors, or obligations. love.

pictures and play

this morning i took the kids out early to get their one- and three-year birthday pictures. unfortunately, mason was in the worst mood i have ever seen on him and really wanted no part of it. thankfully, we were able to catch a few cute pictures anyway.

and here are some others in a slide show (i have had a lot of slide shows lately, huh?).


after pictures we drove over to a local beach for some fun in the sun and lunch with friends. the kids and i changed in the car and headed out for our first trip to a wisconsin beach. this was a man-made beach and it was really nice.

the water didn't open until 11am when the lifeguards came on duty, but we were able to play in the sand right away. in our rush out of the house this morning (and with baby brain) i forgot to bring any sand toys. madelyn's friends brought buckets and shovels and were kind enough to share with her too. mason was fine just eating sand until the older kids forgot about the sand toys and went to play on the playground for a while. he just sat in the sand by himself and filled the bucket with sand.

madelyn and dylan made 'sand angels'. apparently, dylan loves laying in the sand. madelyn thought that it was pretty fun too. and all dylan's experience came in handy as he expertly instructed madelyn to keep her eyes shut very tightly.

i didn't get any pictures in the water because i didn't want to be distracted and there were strict rules about children under 6 being within arms reach of an adult, but i really wish i had video of mason. he kept trying to dive into the water. he loved splashing and dunking his face. totally different than when we went to the pool and he kept heading for our chair.

after playing in the water for a while we dried off and ate lunch. as we were walking to the car madelyn told me, "that made me really tired", and that she wanted to go home and take a nap. unfortunately, while both kids fell asleep in the car neither one took much of a nap and were cranky the rest of the day. oh well. we had a really fun morning out.

two more brief madelyn stories. i forgot one the other day about driving down the road and madelyn called out, "look! there is an owl!" matt was driving so i tried to figure out what she had seen because that was an odd declaration. and then i saw it - hooters. yes, indeed. there is an owl in the hooters sign. sigh...

after breakfast today mason was reaching for the remote control on the back of the couch and actually reached it. madelyn and i were talking about how he must have grown last night and i asked her what made him grow? her simple response, "God." you're right, madelyn. love.

local wildlife

yesterday the kids (and i) spent quite a while watching a pair of sandhill cranes that passed the day in our neighbor's yard. these cranes normally spend their time in the marsh across from our neighborhood and we only hear their calls when they fly over the neighborhood every morning and evening.

i kept hearing them yesterday and by chance i saw them across the street at our neighbors' house. madelyn really enjoyed hearing them "sing" over and over. i couldn't believe how loud they were when we went out to get the mail and took some video for your listening pleasure...

watch the birds isn't all we did yesterday though. while i was working i encouraged madelyn to help 'teach' mason some words since i have noticed that he can point out animals in books when asked. mason climbed up into a chair and they 'read' together for a few minutes. at least until madelyn thought that mason was pushing the book too much. love.