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.