This weekend we went to the Museum of Nature and Science. The upstairs adult section was nothing special, but the entire bottom floor is a children's museum and pretty neat. They even have a room reserved for children 2 and under with soft mats to play on. Here is Madelyn playing in there...

The children's museum also included some glass cages with different animals in them. Here I am pointing out a...
TARANTULA to Madelyn! In an effort to not pass on my extreme arachnophobia, I pretended to not be terrified as I leaned toward the glass to show it to her. If you know me very well, you will be extremely impressed with my spider bravery here. Though as I am typing this, I can hardly look at the picture below!

Now back to the fun and less terrifying exhibits. Madelyn drove a fire truck,

played with legos

rode a horse,

petted a dog (or at least that's what she thought it was! she now says "doe" every time she sees a dog, or practically anything with four legs)

and rode a John Deere tractor!

We also went to a Frisco Roughriders baseball game! This was Madelyn's first baseball game and she did well. She of course did not care one bit about the game, but she did entertain herself by waving at anyone who walked by or even glanced in her direction. She was even on the jumbotron!!

Clint and Madelyn outside the Dr. Pepper Ballpark

When Madelyn started getting squirmy in her seat, we moved over to the grassy area which was apparently the babies and toddler section. Families were spread out on blankets and enjoying the game from the other side of the ballpark. We didn't have a blanket (we will take one next time though and take advantage of this spot) so we set Madelyn on her changing pad from the diaper bag...she is not a fan of grass. The weather was gorgeous...a cold front came in and I think it only reached 90 degrees...and we had a wonderful evening.

The Little Gym

We've joined The Little Gym and have been to two classes now! I took pictures at the second one. Carter is in Madelyn's class also, and it is similar to the place where Jordan (Carter's mom) and I taught in college ("so why don't you just get together and do it yourselves to save money" our husbands ask). Anyway, it is really fun and wears M out and she takes long naps afterward!

Madelyn's teacher

He was singing a song and all the babies were in their mom's laps...except Madelyn, who was in the center of the circle clapping (and of course thinking she was the center of attention)

Here are some of the things Madelyn does at gymnastics...

get ready, and....

hang! I know you can't see her feet, but she really is hanging all by herself

and now falling!

she did a front roll over this mat! a guy was supposed to be taking a picture of it, but he turned the camera off instead :-(

the wheelbarrow!

she practices walking with the help of a bar!

she practices crawling over obstacles and plays with bubbles and balls at the end of class

The Little Gym has this neat air tumbler thing...kinda like a bounce house. We put all the babies on and then blew it up with them on top! It was really funny...some loved it (Madelyn), some cried, and some fell over! Then they put some equipment on top and let the babies explore and play. When it was time to deflate it, the moms and babies got on until we all sunk to the ground.

Aunt Jen and Uncle Gui

Jen and Gui visited us a few weekends ago and I am finally getting the pictures up...

somebody feed me

the girls hung out and drank wine while the boys....

cooked dinner! Isn't that sweet? It was delicious too!

Madelyn enjoyed herself while showing off her learning table,

riding in wagons much too small for her,

and having books read to her!

This is Madelyn's favorite book (which they gave to her a couple months ago)

They look like naturals...I think it should be their turn next!!!

Long Weekend in Lubbock

This weekend we had the best time in Lubbock! All 3 of us drove there on Friday, then Clint left early Monday morning and Madelyn and I flew back on Tuesday. My two very best friends from high school were in town with their husbands also (Amy actually moved back recently). I don't even know how long it had been since the three of us were together so we had to take advantage of it! Here we are at a cookout in my parent's backyard...just like the old days...my dad used to cook for everyone on Sunday nights in high school.

Matt and Rachel, Clint and I, and Amy and Clint

Ellison is Matt and Rachel's adorable little girl...they had fun in the pool together. Ellie will turn 2 in December!

I love Aunt Amy!

lots of collages because we took a ton of pictures!

This car was my cousin Alexandra's and now it is at my parents for Madelyn. This was her first time riding it and she loved it!

Madelyn and Pop

Madelyn with Gramma and Papa Jo

Keegan and Blythe came to visit! I had not seen Blythe since right after she was born...she has gotten so big and is so cute! She is almost 6 months old now.

Madelyn went through the doggy door...almost! She couldn't get completely out the other side and we had to help...it was hilarious though!

front view and back view

Amy's sister, Erika, has nine puppies at her house (and a toddler!)...I don't know how she does it! Rachel and I took Ellie and M over to play with Tatum and the puppies. Tatum and Ellie are almost exactly the same age and look like little twins! They all enjoyed the puppies...Tatum was a pro, picking them up and carrying them around.

We went to dinner for David's (Pop's) birthday! We won't say how old he is :-) Clint's Aunt Ann and Uncle Don joined us, along with Clint's cousin, Dan, and his wife, Sarah, and my mom. M was very excited to help him open his card!

and, one of the best and most relaxing days I've had in a long time...the girls went swimming! We stayed in the lazy river most of the time and didn't stop talking for one minute. We had a lot of catching up to do! I miss both of you soooo much already! We were able to just hang out while Madelyn and Ellie stayed back at the house with their grandmas! Thanks for babysitting!

I know, lots of postings for one day...I am trying to do them quickly while Madelyn naps so I can get caught up.

Yesterday we went to a Plano Parks and Recreation pool that is designed wonderfully for kids. They have an outdoor and an indoor pool area complete with water slides and a splash pad. This is going to be a wonderful place to bring Madelyn when she gets a little older and starts walking. She did very well though crawling around and climbing on things. One of the baby sections was the beach entry kind of pool and Madelyn would crawl right in. Though it was still shallow for little walkers, it was definitely over her head while crawling. That didn't stop her though...she kept crawling right into where it was too deep and letting her face go into the water...that's when I would grab her!

Olivia, Hudson, and Carter accompanied us to the pool...

I didn't get any pictures of Madelyn going down the baby water slides (because I couldn't hold onto her and take the picture at the same time), but she loved it. She would watch the older kids slide down and then put on a huge smile when I set her at the top for her turn. She wanted to do it over and over and even threw a small 10 month old tantrum when we started to leave the slides! She likes to give me a glimpse into the future sometimes...boy am I looking forward to the toddler years...can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?