We went to Six Flags at the end of August! It was a pretty hot day but Maddie was a trooper! We hopped in the car and got McDonald's breakfast on the way. Maddie did great in the car on the way there.
The first thing she did was the carousel ride with Daddy! Then all 3 of us went on a hot air balloon ride. Maddie loved going up in the air and kept saying "Fly! Fly!" We then went to a children's area we have not been to before because Maddie was too small to ride on her own. First we went on a car ride where she got to (had to) sit all by herself! I was afraid she would freak out once the ride started and they'd have to stop the ride, but she did great! She absolutely loved being in the car and loved the ride! She wanted to go on it again, but I pushed our luck and put her on the boat ride, which she also had to ride on her own. She was great sitting in it waiting for the ride to begin, but the other riders were clanging on their bells very loudly which I think upset her so just as the ride was about to start, she started to cry and wiggle out of her seat belt! I tried to run through and get her in time... but I was too late and she fell into the water!! Luckily it was not deep at all but she was soaked from her waist down and I was an embarrassed mom! I quickly changed her and we rode on the car ride again. We then rode on a little bus ride which she also enjoyed.
After some lunch, we headed over to the toddler section she liked so much last time. Each ride required at least 1-2 parents in this section. Maddie loved every single ride, but I think she loved playing in the water the best!!
We ended the trip with a funnel cake sundae!! All Maddie wanted was the cherry!
She did great, and we actually skipped her nap that day (!!) as we got home too late for her nap. So we calmed down with some TV time, an early dinner, early bath and early bed time!
Tons of pictures and videos below!
On the carousel with Daddy
On the hot air balloon ride with both of us. She's holding onto a couple of leaves we gave her while we were waiting in line.
On Sunday we went for a hike! We decided to hike around the Skokie Lagoon on a trail called the North Branch Trail. It was a 4.4 mile trail that went through the Lagoon. It ended up being more of a long walk than a hike as it was on a paved bike trail, and it wasn't too scenic. There were lots of wild flowers and trees, but there was no where for Maddie to run and play along the trail, and the busy road was on the other side of us. We did see 3 deer along the way though!
We were a little under a mile away from the car when we noticed a sign for the Chicago Botanic Garden, and Joseph remembered we didn't have to pay if we walked in, so we did! It was another long walk to the actual garden but it was very beautiful once we got there.
Maddie absolutely loved walking up to all of the flowers and smelling them. We had to watch her to make sure she didn't pick any as she loves to pick flowers.
We walked towards a pavilion where a group was playing the Japanese drums. We sat down and devoured the lunch we brought with us - we were starving! Maddie enjoyed being able to run around after being cooped up in the stroller all morning. She loved eating her lunch standing up and would plop back on the ground after getting an other bite of food.
She also LOVED the drums and danced so much!
It was a long morning and we were glad to make it back to the car. We will definitely visit the Botanic Gardens again, but will skip the 4 mile hike beforehand!
Maddie asked me to read a book to her. I pointed at all of the photos and she knows mostly all of them! She wanted to read it again so I tried to take a video of it.
It's not the best video, my voice is really loud since I'm holding the phone and I couldn't get both the book and Maddie in the frame both times, but you can hear her say most of the words. She's so smart!
Over the weekend we went to the "park with the hills" otherwise known as the playground at LaSalle school. Maddie wasn't enjoying the hills too much, but she was very into the slides! Lately she has not enjoyed the slide but this time she loved it!
She was going down a smaller slide so well that I wanted to see if she could handle this very steep orange slide. I was afraid at first that she couldn't handle it, but she went down it just fine and she LOVED it! She went up and down the slide at least 10 times. At the beginning I went up with her to make sure she didn't fall, and she wanted me to come down the slide after her each time. Eventually I knew she could handle it so I snuck away to take these videos. It was very difficult prying her away from the slide, my normal bribery of cookies didn't work the first time!
Maddie likes to hug pills or balls or random objects that are on the ground. We don't know why but it's pretty cute. Also lately when she gets tired, upset or angry, she will lay down on the ground, usually face first. Luckily she doesn't flair her arms and legs around in a full thrown tantrum!
Already posted this photo but it's so cute! At soccer practice. Instead of kicking the ball she hugged it
I have no idea why she decided to lay on this stool
Just decided to lay down on this pillow in the yard.
She wanted to open the freezer to get a pudding pop. I told her no. She layed down because she was upset.
Scaredy was laying on the couch and Maddie was having some nuts on her table in the living room. She wanted to share some nuts with Scaredy so would run to her table and grab a nut, then run over to Scaredy and put the nut in this face. She would then eat the nut and give him a kiss.
I grabbed my phone to take this video. She's not sharing a nut with him but she does give him lots of kisses around his backside and then one on his nose. She likes to grab his paws which you can see at the end of the video. We are trying to get her to not do this but at least she didn't kick him this time!
On Sunday we went to Ehrler Park as we haven't been for a while. Maddie really loved playing with the sand again. She spent a long time scooping up sand and pouring it onto a little boat to bury it. When we first got there she did not want to play on the train, but of course as it was time to leave, she did not want to leave the train!
Maddie loves to play this game where she will bring grab shoes from the kitchen and bring them to the dining room or living room. If I'm sitting, she will hand the shoes over to me then giggle and run back to the kitchen for more shoes. There are times she's done this until every shoe from the kitchen is in the other room.
If I stand, she tells me to "Sit! Sit!" because she wants me to sit before she will give me the shoes. Here are some videos of her telling me to sit. We are trying to get her to string more 2 or more words together such as "Mama, Sit!" or "Sit Down." Once she actually did say "Mama Sit Down" !! I'm also trying to get her to say "Sit Please" so it's not so bossy :)
In this video she says "Sit. Mama. Sit"
Sometimes she will say "Floor" as in "sit on the floor. In this video she knocks the ground to tell me where to sit down.
This is an activity where they toss out a bunch of colorful squishy balls and they are supposed to kick them around. Maddie decided she wanted to hug her ball instead of kick it. She's a lover, not a fighter.
