New Sand Pit in the Backyard

Joseph set up Maddie with a sand pit in the back yard! He got a $2 toy from the thrift that was broken, but would work out perfectly for a sand table!  Maddie enjoyed playing with the sand, but it was difficult to keep the sand in the pit. She of course wanted to play with in in the wood chips!

All Smiles for the Camera!

Maddie Says: Some family members names

Within the past 2 weeks, Maddie has started to string 2 and 3 words together! She has also started to put together words that start and end with consonants as well. Pau Pau and Yee Pau recently taught Maddie how to say "Yee Pau" and Pau Pau got a couple of videos of Maddie saying the names of various family members.

You can also hear Maddie say her name, which she pronounces with a sharper A sound, which is slightly different than how she pronounces Mama with a softer A.

Toddlers, Tunes and Turtles at Smith Park

Smith Park had an event called Toddlers, Tunes and Turtles one day after work! We got there a bit early so went to the playground to play, then headed to the gymnasium for the activities. We sat down and watched the Turtle Guy talk about his turtles. Maddie was really great and sat and listened the whole time. He passed around little turtles in plastic containers with water, and brought out a lot of larger turtles which he put on the blanket in front of him.  At the end of his presentation, he let all the kids come up and touch the turtle shells and even the live turtles! Maddie got to touch a smaller live turtle, she patted it lightly on its shell.

Later on a musician started to sing and play guitar on the other side of the gymnasium so we made our way over there. Maddie perked up when she recognized a song she knew!  

We didn't stick around for the entire evening as it was getting close to dinner time but it was nice to get out of the house and enjoy what our parks programs have to offer.

August 2016 Randomness (with video)

Lots of random pictures from August!

Reaching for a smore!

Enjoying a bite of the smore

I bought her a cute butterfly backpack to bring to/from Pau Pau's. She loved it and wouldn't take it off!

Shucking corn with Daddy

Ready for Pau Pau's! She's got her backpack and Blue Bear!

Reading with Pau Pau.

Summer Fun at Six Flags Great America! (with lots of videos)

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.

The Flintstones car ride she absolutely loved!

The boat ride she freaked out on

The wheels on the bus go round and round

Giving Scooby Doo a kiss

The look of pure joy!

Skokie Lagoons and The Chicago Botanic Garden (with Video)

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!