Rainy May

It has been a very wet May this year so in honor of the rain, I thought I would post a few pics of Madeline playing in the rain with my Hershey Kiss umbrella. Oh how she loves the rain and umbrellas!

Monkey at the Zoo

Saturday we took our little monkey to the zoo! We had the best time! The weather was perfect and surprisingly it wasnt very crowded. We went later in the day after all the early birds were leaving which was a good idea but unfortunately some of the animals were taking afternoon naps. Thats ok because we got to see so many beautiful animals. The Norfolk Zoo opened a totally new Asian section this year and it was awesome, we saw asian bears, tigers, tapirs, tons of birds, baboons, orangutans, lions, elephants, giraffe, a sloth...the list could go on and on. I think Madeline liked the Giraffes the most although the peacocks, which were practically everywhere we turned including the parking lot, were upstaging everyone. They were showing off their plummage and calling very loudly to one another. We were shocked how loud they were! Maddie kept flapping her arms and imitating their calls, by the end of the day she had gotten pretty good. Besides her awesome bird calling skills, Maddie also impressed me with her bravery when she walked through the very dark reptile and nocturnal building. Maddie has developed a bit of a fear of snakes, which I totally blame on a few well placed gag rubber snakes that her cousins have, and she isnt crazy about the lights being out. So I almost suggested we skip that section altogether but then we decided to give it a go. At first she was apprehensive but once her eyes adjusted and she got a good upclose look at a really cool armadillo taking a drink of water, she was excited. So much so she ran from glass window to glass window looking for the next little creature hidden inside. It was so dark I was afraid of losing her! All in all it was a fantastic day, I couldnt have asked for a better Saturday!

Here we are entering the new Asian section,  Maddie was on safari looking for some tigers to sneak up on.

Here Maddie is getting a first look at the giraffes, she is making sure Dog Dog gets a good look too.

This little fox was trying to take a little siesta, he was so cute. Maddie kept saying that she wanted him. I wanted to take him home with us too! I totally could have put him in my purse he was so tiny.

Daniel and Maddie squinting in the sun in front of some hyraxs, also taking a siesta.
 

Here is one of those lovely peacocks strutting his stuff. I think he knew everyone was watching him, he kept calling out and shaking his feathers.

 Crazy wild pigs that looked like something from a sci-fi movie.

 One of those snakes from the reptile room, I was a bit frightened of this one.

After taking a look at all the animals, we stopped in this little grotto to rest and get I wanted to take a nice picture of Maddie in front of this lion fountain. Unfortunately at this point she had no interest in photos what so ever and she just wanted to be left alone to gather leaves from the ground and put them on a bench in a nice little line. So after a few attempts of getting a good shot, I let her do her own thing. You can see one of the leaves in her hand in the above photo and her gathering them on the bench in the below image.

I had to take a photo of her final little leaf assemblage: 

Easter!

I love Easter, there is something about spring, rabbits and eggs, nature and life that just really appeals to me. Unfortunately this time of the year I have to work extra hours including saturdays so the holiday always creeps up on me and before I know it, I am never properly prepared for it, at least not as much as I want to be. This year we had hoped to take Maddie to an Easter Egg hunt, the idea of her all dressed up running around a field with a basket searching for eggs just seemed so cute. Since Daniel and I are not religious and I had to work on Saturday, we were forced to narrow our hunt for the elusive Easter Egg Hunt to a non-religious Sunday egg gala and that proved to be a bit difficult, pretty much impossible. Perhaps next year... So this year we kept it low key. Had a nice pancake breakfast, got dressed up, presented Maddie with a basket that we "hid" in the backyard full of eggs filled with chocolate and candy, cute garden tools because she loves to play in the dirt, a pink dinosaur stuffed animal(since they come from eggs), stickers, a bird headband, a glass flower hanging thing, and of course a chocolate bunny. After playing a bit outside, we decided to take a drive to Smithfield and stop at a church that I had read about that is the oldest gothic structure in the nation. We were just hoping to walk around the grounds for a little while to enjoy the wonderful sunny day. The church was lovely and so were the grounds, I was hoping to get some good photos of Maddie but unfortunately the combination of too much sugar and no nap didnt make for good pictures. So after a few attempts, we left and had dinner with my parents. All in all a great day. Maddie fell asleep in her dress which didnt surprise me because she loved that dress and refused to let us take it off. I rarely dress her up because I think children should be comfortable, perhaps we will have to dress up a bit now and then.
Next year I am not going to let Easter sneak up on me. We are going to decorate eggs, make cookies, decorate the house, have brunch and go to the best darn easter egg hunt around. I better start planning for this now.

Maddie digging through her Easter basket. She loved the gardening tools and found the egg with the candy bracelet in it right away. Just like last year, she loved the plastic grass that filled the basket just as much as she liked the toys and candy, maybe even a little bit more.

Maddie looking out the front door, wondering why Daniel is outside and why she isnt.

Maddie and Daniel looking at images on his camera. She loves cameras, soon she will be shooting her own photos. I see albums full of Cooper pictures in our future.

On the porch looking very happy.

Here is a photo of Maddie at the church in front of these really cool wooden doors. The church had this little building with sort of a bell tower on it. Everything was closed and locked up except for a little space that was open with a cool round window and heavy wooden doors. We tried to get Maddie to sit on this wooden bench that looked really old but she definitely didnt want anywhere near the bench. She was cranky and I think a little bit scared but we were able to get her to go up to the doors and knock on them to see if anyone was home. She loves to ring doorbells so we figured it would work and it did. She knocked but there was nobody home.


And here she is with two of her three cousins. I just loved her in that mask. It was cute but it borderlined a little on the creepy.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

We had a very mild winter this year, very few days dipped below freezing and I think about three snowflakes fell over the past three months. Of course it was always the coldest on the weekends or at least it seemed and the weekend that Daniel chose to put up the Christmas lights was exceptionally brutal. I had intended to step outside just long enough to snap a photo of Daniel and run back in but Maddie had different plans. Her love of outside forced us to brave the cold and "help" Daniel out for a bit. Maddie really just wanted to hammer things.

I just love christmas lights!

Maddie trimming the tree, four ornaments at a time.

A Christmas Smile!

Christmas tree up, lights on the house and a fire on the hearth...who doesnt love winter? Oh and Maddie with a hammer again:)

Something Old, Something New

Last Fall our neighbors moved out of the house next door and as a "parting gift" we were offered a few pieces of old furniture. I of course cannot say no to anything being offered free to me, so I gladly took it. I know that this behavior is getting me closer to my premier on that show "Hoarders" but I dont care, I love free stuff! Anyway one piece was a buffet/sideboard and the other is some sort of armoire. We have no idea what to do with them but Daniel refinished one and not only does it look fantastic but Maddie can write all over it.


Here is Daniel sanding it, Maddie's job was to stand below and catch the dusk with her hair.

Who doesnt love furniture you can write all over?

Back Track

Well my last post was Halloween so I have some serious back tracking to do. This blog has seriously been neglected since my return to the workforce but I am going to try to post on a somewhat regular basis, we will see. So for starters I want to post a few photos from last fall.
Maddies all time favorite activity is being outside so here she is helping Daniel rake leaves, although I dont think she was helping much:



Here is a photo of Maddie inspecting an acorn at Northwest River park, we had a good time walking the trails and filling our pockets with rocks and found objects.

Here is an image from Thanksgiving morning, Maddie is assisting Daniel with finding all the good Black Friday deals: