Atlantic Beach, Part 1: The Aquarium

Friday's always have a certain feel to them.  A little different, a little more excitement than any other day of the week.  And this Friday was no different.  Only this Friday had even slightly more exciting feel to it.  Friday we made our way to Atlantic Beach, NC.  We had talked it up to Madison all week and she couldn't wait to get home from school so that she could go to the beach.  She knew it meant having to wait until morning to see the beach, but she knew when we pulled out of the driveway at 5:30 where we were going!

She was so excited she sang and talked most of the way there.  Classic Madison, she fell asleep about 20 minutes out from our final destination for the evening.  She was awaken by the sound of Jeff's car door slamming as he went to check us in to the hotel.  You could see the excitement in her sleepy eyes!  Ms. Lace was so very excited to see the beach.  After carrying everything up to the room, she was able to see the whitecaps of the water and her face just lit up the night!  It took us quite a while to get her down that night.  Lots of explaining that the sooner she goes to sleep, the sooner we can see the beach and go to the aquarium the next day.  

Saturday morning found us at the Pine Knolls Aquarium.  Madison pulled up thinking she was going to see elephants and giraffes.  We had to quickly correct her to let her know that we would be seeing sharks, fishes and sea turtles instead.  It really didn't matter to her as long as she was going to be able to see ANIMALS!  From the second we walked through the doors, she was WIDE OPEN.  Running from one exhibit to the next and then back to another exhibit. 

Ray tank where she could touch the rays

Checking to see where the otters have gone

Taking pictures of the BIG FISH!

I'm shy...

She was all hot to trot and big girl on the block 'til the diver tried to "talk" to her!  

The aquarium was such a great time and can't wait to get her to the local zoo to see the giraffes and elephants she wonders about.  Our next stop after the aquarium was back to the hotel for lunch and a snooze...

Crafts, Cake and Candles

This Saturday was the Kids Workshop at Home Depot.  I was working.  It was raining.  And it was the perfect day to get Madison out of the house!  Not to mention due to her completing so many other Kid's Workshop projects, she earned herself a new toolbox!  By the look of the pictures (did I mention I was working?) it looks like Jeff and she had a really great time.  

Cheese!

Concentrating on putting the stickers in JUST the RIGHT spot!

My newest project!!!

This time it was a heart shaped shelf with a little hook on it.  I have the perfect place for it and will have to get it hung up soon so she can put her latest art projects on the shelf when she comes home from school.  She was one very proud little girl!  She couldn't wait to show me what she had done when I got home.

With nap time behind us, it was time to celebrate!  Madison's best friend Allie had celebrated her birthday earlier in the week and now it was time to have everybody together for the gift exchange, pizza and cake!!!  Allie got quite a few nice gifts and it was hard for Ms. Lace to understand that Allie got to play with her gifts first and then she could play with them.  It was all forgotten when the girls went upstairs to play with Emily.  All we could hear downstairs was running and giggling.  A big thank you to Emily and Eric for keeping the girls busy.

Madison eying Allie's new gifts.

Sunday was quiet...well as quiet as it could possibly be with our little girl singing and talking.  It was nice enough to get outside for a little bit today.  Madison has started to learn how to ride her tricycle.  I had a flash-forward of her being a speed demon on that thing from the garage to the end of the driveway with a dare devil stunt in between...O-M-G am I ready for this?!

Talk, Talk, Talk

What a beautiful weekend!  Saturday, Madison spent time with her daddy running errands and having lunch together.  Since there was no nap on Saturday (not that a nap was not attempted) Madison was a grumpy gus in the the afternoon.  We tried to spend some time with Allie and Ms Lisa but the girls just didn't want to spend any time together.  There was a lot of fighting and tears going on.  It was a short-lived visit.

Sunday was a much better day.  Madison spent time in the morning helping me clean the house while Daddy was watching his stories.  Jeff took her outside to replace her baby swing with a big girl swing.  He then taught her how to jump off.  It won' be long before she'll be jumping off the swing mid-swing!  They then took a walk down to the creek to do a little rock throwing while I finished up the cleaning.  After her long morning, Madison was getting very tired.

After a nap, we got back outside!!  During a walk around the block I picked up a few pine cones for  a project I've been wanting to do with Madison.  When we got home she played in her car for a bit while I got all the supplies together.  The project took all of five minutes to complete!

Madison had lots to say during and after the project...talking in one long stream of thought...I don't know where she gets it :-)

The John she was talking about is the man across the street.  She had seen him when we got home.  Not sure how he and his son, Little John became part of her story.  Madison continued to talk...in one long stream of thought...for the rest of the evening.

We had a wonderful weekend and looking forward to more time outside with our little girl.  This weekend was just a tease knowing that there is more cold weather just around the corner.

Next weekend we have a birthday to celebrate!!!  Allie turns 3 on Wednesday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLIE! 

We can't wait to celebrate on Saturday!

Have a fantastic week and continue to stay warm! Love Tiff

Another cold weekend inside

But it did produce some really good artwork and a lot of learning time.  Check this out...




This weekend was very cold again and we really weren't able to get outside.  We're all getting cabin fever and can't wait for Spring to arrive.  Since we had plenty of inside time we got in some craft time...lots of coloring, a little finger painting and drawing on the chalkboard.  The after craft time, we'd do some reading, then play.

Aaaahhhh...Stretchy, stretchy!

Finger print after a B-I-G hand print

Kisses for the Bullpen...

And then a little reading corner time.

Fencing...and not the sword kind!

There are downfalls to working in a retail establishment but then again there are the good things that you come across from time to time.  We've been talking about putting a fence up...decorative more than anything, but just didn't want to spend the money on one.  But then, when the supplies for a planned project comes across your desk for half off the asking price, it's just the right time to put up a fence!!!

On Friday, out little girl was diagnosed with bronchitis.  Very scary for me since most the time I take her to the doctor it's a cold or something that doesn't sound so scary.  She is doing much better and has been taking it easy this weekend.  

The weekend here was beautiful.  A little cold but still very nice.  Saturday we were still nursing Madison's bronchitis so stayed in with her. Sunday, I was busting at the seams and couldn't stay inside any longer.  Jeff had purchased the fencing on Saturday to keep others from purchasing it and we were going to hold on to it for a bit.  Since the weather prevailed he couldn't help but get started on our next "project".   

Initially Madison was going to sit inside and have quiet time.  But then she decided she needed to "supervise" to make sure that Daddy was digging the holes correctly.

That's pretty deep dad

Here, let me help...

Jeff was only going to dig the holes today.  The process was a lot easier than we thought.  Usually when we dig holes here it takes three to four times longer since we live on a ridge and the ground is FULL of rocks...sometimes boulders!!!  Since he finished and was feeling good, we made a run to HOME DEPOT to get additional supplies.  The supervisor fought the nap before coming outside and started to fade on the way out to the store.  The ride home finally sucked her into dreamland!  The supervisor didn't get to do much supervising once we got home.

Being a supervisor is EXHAUSTING!

When she got up from her nap all she wanted to do was go inside to have mommy time so needless to say what got done during her nap and a just a bit more was all that got done today.  Not too bad for a project that was going to get started weeks down the road.

Before...

After

There's still more to do.  Stay tuned...

A Very Chilly Weekend

This past weekend was VERY chilly.  This is the only time we went outside and it wasn't for very long.  We just needed to let Madison stretch her legs for a bit.  There was talk about another BIG snow storm hitting our area on Monday, but nothing really came out of it.  It's Monday night and all we really have is just a layer of sleet on the grass.  I'm so glad I was able to get this video on and hope everyone enjoys it as much as Jeff and I enjoy watching it again and again!  

Happy New Year!!!

Happy 2011 to everyone!!!  

It was a very quiet weekend for us.  The weekend here was damp and warm.  It's hard to believe that last weekend we had 7 inches of snow and this weekend was 65 degrees!  Saturday we took advantage of the nice afternoon and went for a hike to the little creek that runs behind our house (well, really down a path from our house, but close enough).  We had run errands in the morning and after her nap Madison was ready to get outside.  She walked down there, fighting big trees over the path, thorny vines and big piles of leaves that have gathered since fall.  Once we got down the the creek she loves to just sit and throw rock (well mostly pebbles) into the water.  On the way back we stopped by Allie's house for the girls to play outside for a bit before the sun went down.

This morning we woke to rain but still warm.  It was 60 degrees when we got up this morning!  After watching the weather we hoped to get outside today but the clouds and rain hung around a lot longer than the weatherman had planned.  Madison has really been pretend playing and this week it has been playing "school."  Here she has all her students lined up ready to learn!  At least this time it's around the fire place. Most of the weekend it had been by the back door as we try to get in and out of the garage!!!

We lucked out today with Lisa wanting to take Tristan to the movies and her husband Jeff not being home to watch Allie.  Allie got to come over and play with Ms Lace while Lisa was gone!!!  The girls had such a GREAT time and it's so nice to see them starting to play together instead of just being in the same room.  There was a little block building, ball throwing, running laps, dress-up and shopping that took place.

They worked up an appetite and couldn't wait to eat lunch!  

It was the only time the two of them were quiet!!!

Madison had such a great afternoon with her friend Allie.  She seemed a bit upset when Allie had to go home.  The rest of the afternoon was a little bit more playing and a little bit of resting.  It's back to school tomorrow and it's going to be a very hard Monday after being home with mom for four days!  

**Note:  Now that the Holiday Season is behind us, I hope to get the weeks I didn't get something posted back dated.  Please be patient with me.  LOTS of pictures to look through and hard to pick just a few to share.  Our little girl is so beautiful and I'd share them all with you if I could!**