tales from a far-land

Madilyn Rae is at such a fun age.  She is learning so many new things daily.  We cannot keep up with all of the fun new sayings and developmental stages that she is mastering.  To date, she can count from one to five.  Sometimes she makes it to six and then skips all the way up to nine and ten.  She knows her colors pretty well.  Her favorite colors tend to be yellow and purple and pink.  Coloring is still one of her favorite activities.  She has begun to make actual shapes now on paper like circles and squares. Madi also loves to go "shopping".  Anytime we get into the car she asks if we are going shopping.  She thinks go to anywhere but preschool or the park is shopping.  We have already created a monster.  She loves playing soccer.  She "kicks da ball" to make a "goal, soccer goal".  Here is a video of Madi playing soccer at preschool.  Maybe we have our next Mia Hamm. Madi enjoys playing with her

Back in March, when Aunt Kathleen visited from California, we decided to take the kids to the zoo.  It was Aiden's first trip to the zoo.  Since Madi and Keaton are obsessed with each other, we thought it would be fun for them to hanging out together.  As we discovered, it was Keaton's inaugural visit to the zoo as well.  What an adventure! Keaton absolutely enjoyed himself.  I have never seen a child more excited about an elephant or monkey.  Madi cared less about the animals, unless, of course, Keaton did.  But she did enjoy having a friend to follow around and play with for the day.  Aiden was pretty low key and just enjoyed the change of scenery.  The three adults, on the other hand, were exhausted by the end of the visit.  It was hard to keep our little toddlers corraled while also keeping them happy and motivated to see more animals.  Overall, it was a very successful zoo trip. The toddlers in the wagon ready to visit the zoo Look at Keatons face -- pure excitement

As we all know, one of the most exciting things about Easter is the egg hunt.  This was no exception for Madi.  She loved looking for eggs this year.  Plus, she was pretty good as it.  We couldn't believe how quickly she learned how to search for the hidden objects.  She moved with purpose and searched with intent.  It was pretty hilarious.  Luckily, she had several opportunities this year to search for eggs.  Her first opportunity for an egg hunt was at preschool the Friday before Easter.  Here are some photos from that event. Finding an egg in a baseball glove Showing me what was inside her egg Aiden just hanging out with his egg The next egg hunt was on Easter morning at our house.  The Easter bunny was very generous this year with baskets and toys for each kid.  After checking out their goodies, we headed out onto the back patio where the Easter Bunny had hidden some eggs for Madilyn to find.  Madilyn enjoyed her last egg hunt at "Mama&quo

This year to celebrate our anniversary Josh and I decided to take a vacation day from work and spend the entire day together.  It was one of our best dates ever!  We were able to just enjoy each other.  No kids crying or talking or screaming in the background.  No chores that we had to do.  It was just the two of us on on an adventurous day trip.  I had our entire day planned.  The only thing that I had told Josh was that he needed to request the day off from work and his dress attire for the day should be comfortable shorts, a t-shirt and sneakers.  Everything else was a surprise. The morning of our anniversary we loaded up the car, took the kids to preschool, stopped for gas and some Dunkin Donuts coffee.  With coffee in hand, our journey began as we headed up north towards our destination.  Road by road I provided Josh with directions.  Eventually we arrived in Sedona, however, the final destination was still an adventure in itself.  Once we reached the sign for the hike I had p