Our trip to the fair

Madison turned 5 last month and as a surprise Clint and I decided that we would take her to the fair. Madison is quite brave and loves to ride everything. Unfortunately her father and I are not thrill seekers. We let her ride all of the kiddie rides first but she kept looking at the bigger more thrilling rides and asking to ride them. Luckily for me I saw a friend of mine at the fair with her two little girls and we started talking about our girls. The fair had a ride called the Crazy Mouse, a roller coaster, and she said she couldn't get her girls to get on it with her. I told her that Madison wanted to ride it but I didn't. She offered to take Madison on the ride if I would watch her girls. Thank goodness I got out of that one! My luck soon ran out and my friend and her girls left to go home. Madison then decided she wanted to ride the Tilt a whirl, after she had me ride some other rides that spun and swung us all over. The Tilt a Whirl was the last ride of the day for me because when we got off I was so sick I thought I was going to lose my lunch right in the middle of the crowd. I ended up going out to the car to lie down and my husband got to finish taking Madison on the rides. I can't believe I got sick on the Tilt a Whirl! I never use to get sick on fair rides. I learned a lesson that day, I am not as young as I once was.

Pumpkin Patch Field trip

The biggest catfish I have ever seen!

Madison watching as they feed fish

I think he was hiding from all the kids.

Look at those cute little faces!

It's never a good thing when you have a warning sign on your fence.

I loved the goats!

Riding the barrel swing.

Madison and her pumpkin

Playing on the corn hopper

Last month Madison got to go on her first field trip as a Busy Little Beaver. The trip was to the pumpkin patch. The parents all got to go and some of the grandparents also went. Madison's Mimi was able to come along with us on this trip. This was Mimi's first trip to the pumpkin patch but mine and Madison's second time.
The pumpkin patch is in the middle of nowhere so we got lost a few times trying to find our way. When we finally got to the pumpkin patch we got to watch as they fed the catfish. Those were some of the biggest catfish I have ever seen. They next stop along the way was to see all of the farm animals on the farm. Madison kept asking me when we were going to be on the field trip and I tried to explain to her that this was the field trip. She thinks a field trip is a hayride. I guess because the only field trip she had ever been on up till this point was a hayride on a farm.
Anyway, after we looked at the animals the kids got to go on the cow train followed by a trip to the pumpkin patch on a hayride. After we picked out the perfect pumpkins the children got to have free play on the farm playground. I think that free play was the favorite part of the field trip for most of the kids.
We had a great time on the field trip to the pumpkin patch and we are so glad that Mimi got to go along with us. I can hardly wait to see where our next trip takes us!

Madison's trip to Disney on Ice

October has been such a busy month with birthdays and Halloween and field trips! We started out October with my birthday, is it just me or do these birthdays come around more regular the older you get? Anyway, back in August Madison and I made a deal that if she could quit sucking her fingers by the time school started that we would take her to Disney on Ice in October. She loved sucking her fingers and I was not sure if this would work or not. To my surprise, it worked and she got to go on her trip to Disney on Ice!

Madison enjoyed the show and we let her pick out a souvenir to take home and she picked out a Nemo hat and cotton candy. We are so proud of our big girl for her success!

Madison starts school

So I have not have much time to blog lately, as you may have noticed. I have been very busy since Madison has started school. I decided to take a break today and catch up on some things that have been happening since I last blogged.

Madison started to school in September and loves it! I miss her so much when she is away at school and the house sure is quiet with her gone.

On the first day of school Madison was such a big girl she got out of the car and went into the school like a big girl. She did not act nervous or scared and was so excited to begin her day. I on the other hand went to the car and cried. She loves school so much that she is sad to see the weekends come because she doesn't get to go to school. She has made lots of new friends and is really enjoying her time away from mama. I hope her love of school continues for many years.

Madison's first time holding cousin Gabby

We had really busy day yesterday. Madison went to her second day of dance class and after dance we headed over to my mother-in-laws house to celebrate her birthday. We had dinner with her and my father-in-law and my sister-in-law, Sarah. After dinner was over we were all just sitting around visiting when who should stop by for a surprise visit, but my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their new baby Gabriella. This was Gabby's first visit to her Nana's house and it was a nice surprise for all of us. Nana was really especially happy and surprised. I finally got to hold Gabby for the first time. This is only my second time seeing her since she was born. Madison begged and begged to hold her and I finally told her she could. I could have sat and held her for days. I think Madison felt the same. It has been a long time since I have smelled that baby smell and I miss it so much. I hope that one day soon the Lord will bless us with another little one. But, if not I am happy for the one he did give us and at least I can spoil my nieces and nephews!

Madison's First Play Date

My little girl is growing up. Today she had her friend Allie come over and play. Madison was so excited about having Allie come over to play. The only other child that has been over to play is cousin Caden, who is two years younger than Madison.

Madison and Allie met at Wee Ones last year. Madison and Allie also take dance together and this year are in the same class. They were so excited about seeing each other on the first day of dance class, that I decided we would invite her over to play at our house.

Having two 4 year olds in the house was a big change for me. There was twice the noise and mess! My husband who was off today made the comment as he was heading outside,"Now you know what it would be like to have twins." Not quite because at the end of the day one of them went home.

Madison and Allie had so much fun playing together. They played in the castle tent, made food out of play doh, and had a tea party. Allie enjoyed her stay so much she was not ready to leave to go home. I hope that we can get the girls together for another play date soon!

Vacation 2011

This July 7th Clint and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. I decided that we should take a special trip to mark the occasion. We decided that we would go to one of our favorite places, Fernandina Beach in Florida.

Clint and I found Fernandina Beach when we were first married. Since we have been married we have always had 4 legged children that have gone on vacation with us and Fernandina is a pet friendly beach. We no longer have any 4 legged children but we still love Fernandina.

We left for our trip on Thursday July 21 and returned on Sunday July 24. We were unable to get a condo on our anniversary because it always falls around July 4th weekend. I am glad we didn't get a place on our anniversary because I was really sick during that time.

We decided to invite my mom and dad to come on our trip because we always seem to have more fun when they come along with us. They decided to come on Friday and stay till Sunday. I am so glad they came because poor Madison was ready to go home after just one day alone with Clint and me. We usually vacation with other family members and this was our first trip since Madison was born that we have gone off without them, at least for a day. She said that she was glad that her E (that is what she calls my dad) was coming because then she would have someone to play with. Madison says that E is her friend and thinks he is the same age as she is. It is so funny to see those two together.

We had a great time on our trip.The first day we had a picnic at a park near a creek and then went to historic downtown Fernandina. Clint, Madison and I love books so we spent a long time enjoying a small bookstore downtown. After looking in all the shops we were so hot and tired so we stopped by a little ice cream and candy shop in downtown and went in and had an ice cream and some frozen lemonade. We also got to watch a guy make fudge. After he was done making it he let us sample some and it was soooo good!

We checked into our condo after we left downtown and went for a swim in the pool. Later that night we went to the beach and walked around looking for shells and sharks teeth. We found some shells but no shark teeth.

A really sweet lady who was flying a kite on the beach asked Madison if she would like to fly it and of course she did. She took that job of flying that kite very seriously. We also got to watch some people kite surfing. It looked like fun, but I am not sure I would want to do it. I am not that brave.

Mama and daddy got to the condo the folloing day around 2o'clock or so. While they were with us we shopped and swam and sat on the beach. It was a great trip and I am so glad that my parents could come and share our 10 year anniversary trip with us. I hope that Clint and I continue to share many more anniversaries and I hope that my parents will be able to be around for many more years also to share in more great vaction trips.

Looking back at summer 2009

While cleaning off my camera I came across some pictures of the summer of 2009. Yes, I said the summer of 2009. I never download the pictures off of my camera. I thought I would do a post and take a stroll down memory lane. The summer of 2009 some of my family rented a condo by the beach. Those on the trip were: me, my husband, my daughter, my mom and dad, my brother Brett and his wife, Christina, and their baby. Brett and Christina rode with us in our mini van. The first picture is of little Caden sleeping away on the long road trip. The second picture is of Madison. (can someone say "are we there yet") The third picture is my family on the beach not long after arriving. Next we have Brett and Nina minus Caden, in historic downtown Fernandina. Mimi and E(my mom and dad) had Caden in the ice cream shop having a snack and staying cool.  Some how I did not get a picture of my mom and dad on that trip. The next picture was taken after we ate breakfast at McDonald's and it was Madison's first time EVER climbing the play equipment on a playground. She got up there and wouldn't climb down so E-pa had to come to her rescue. Thank goodness for E! The next picture on the list is later on in the summer at a water park not far from our house. This was Madison's first trip to a water park and she loved it! The last picture shows what we spent our whole summer trying to learn to do, using the potty! Madison was not easily potty trained. I thought for sure that she would be starting to school and still wearing diapers. We finally thought we had her trained but then we took a week long trip to Disney World the end of September and that caused us have to start all over once we got home. She finally got the hang of the potty and that was a great day!  I didn't have any pictures of Disney on this camera so I will have to save those for another post another time. For now, this has been my stroll down memory lane.

Madison has a new cousin!

Meet Gabriella Sophia Dasher. She was born on July 14th and weighed 7lbs 5oz she was 20 1/2 inches. Gabriella is the daughter of my husbands brother Matt and his wife Carolina. We finally got to go see her yesterday. We waited till she got home and got settled in before we went to visit because we still remember how it is to have a new baby and being tired and tons of people dropping by. Madison and I had so much fun shopping for the perfect gift for baby Gabby. We ended up getting her a toy to hang from her carrier and a little frog teether. Madison picked out a balloon that looked like a onesie that said BABY on the front. When my husband came home from work, we loaded up and went for our first visit. Madison was really excited about meeting the new baby. When Matt opened the door he looked like he had given birth! He has good reason for looking so tired, poor Gabby has yellow Jaundice and they have had to take her back and forth to the doctor every day, which is about an hour and a half drive one way. She has to have her little heel pricked everyday and is having to sleep on a light when she is not eating or being changed. Carolina is also not feeling well  and had taken something for pain and was laying down while we were there.Gabby was asleep on the light when we got there so Madison and I sat beside her and rubbed her little head the whole time we were there. She is so tiny and it is hard for me to believe that Madison was ever that little. Madison wanted to hold her so bad and so did I. Maybe next time we visit we will be able to hold her. Madison in the mean time is already planning future play dates for her and Gabby.

Learning to swim

This summer I decided that Madison should take swimming lessons. I can swim but I will not put my head under the water because, well it just plain scares me! My mother also has this fear. Madison loves water and has no fear of it. I wanted her to take swimming lessons while she is still unafraid of it. She took lessons for a week and loved it! I got to go watch her on the last day of her lessons and I was so excited! I got to watch her swim under water and above the water. I also got to watch her jump from the side of the pool into the water. She then decided that she was ready to jump off of the diving board and  she asked the teacher if she could try it. I am of course freaking out by the side of the pool. For one, this was her first time jumping off the diving board and two, I can just see her jumping off and not coming to the top. Luckily, she did her jump off of the diving board with no drama. I think I may have a few more gray hairs after that though! I am so glad that I decided to let her take swimming lessons and I think it has been good for her. Unfortunately she got swimmers ear the Sunday after her swimming lessons but we took her to the doctor and got her some drops and now she is as good as new. My husbands aunt has a pool and we have been taking Madison there to swim this summer. She stays in the water for hours and cries when she has to get out. I think we are going to be in trouble when the weather gets to cool for swimming!

A little about our little family

Hello my name is Brandy. I have been married to my husband Clint for 10 years. My husband and I tried for a year to have a baby and after 3 months of fertility drugs and 9 months of bed rest, we finally welcomed Madison Elizabeth into our lives. Madison is now 4 1/2 years old and going to begin K-4 this fall. I am a stay at home mom and love every minute of it! I have found that life is never dull when you have children in the house and Madison always keeps us on our toes. I decided to start this blog as a way of keeping a record of all of the events that take place in the Dasher household, so that when we are old and gray we can look back and laugh at all the moments that make us happy, sad and sometimes mad. I hope you enjoy!