First Day of School!!!

Today was Madelyn's first day of school! Okay, it is really Mother's Day Out, and she is only going once a week, but for the three of us, it was a really big deal:) We went to Open House on Sunday night to meet the teachers, and then over the past two days, we have been talking about school and how next time she was going to stay with the teachers by herself. Clint went with me to drop her off this morning (because he couldn't make the open house), and she did fantastic. She immediately started playing while I talked to the teacher for a minute. When I went to tell her bye, she gave me a huge hug and kiss, turned to Clint and did the same, told us bye, then went off to play! I was so impressed!!

Here she is at home before school...yes, she wanted to wear the tu-tu to school...didn't bother me one bit :)

her backpack...

She was very excited about her new lunchbox...

off to school...with a full mouth

I noticed on the newsletter that each child was supposed to bring in a small poster with pics of themselves and their families, so after Madelyn went to bed last night, this is what I ended up with. I showed it to her this morning, and she was excited!

When I picked her up this afternoon, they told me she had a great day! She did not take a nap, but that is what I expected. She normally takes a nap closer to pick-up time than nap-time at school. They did say she stayed on her nap mat...and talked...imagine that! By the way, she also has an adorable pink monkey nap mat with her name on it!

Children's Museum

Aurora, Madelyn, River, and Flora (under the nursing cover) with their moms, Lauren and Betsy...

the kids are digging for dinosaur fossils, or at least playing in the sand!

Madelyn had a blast going from exhibit to exhibit and definitely did not need me by her side the whole time. I really had to keep an eye on her!

"Are we at Popio's house?"

I taught her how to milk a cow because of course I know how to do that myself :)

traffic jam in the tunnels...

the turtles were popular...

and finally, the kids maneuvered their way through the giant spider's web...

Chuck E. Cheese

Another very important first for Madelyn...Chuck E. Cheese! I remember going there as a child and loving it, so I was excited to take M. While it's not quite like it used to be (they don't have the ball pit anymore), it was still lots of fun!

Madelyn playing skee-ball...

and air hockey with her friend Emma...

She loves the "riding" machines, but still doesn't like me to put coins in them!

Chuck E. himself is in the background here (he came out for a birthday party)...this was about as close as Madelyn wanted to get to him but enjoyed watching!

After a little football

and some fishing

it was time to take our tickets to the Ticket Muncher to see how many we had...

She had enough to pick out several wonderful prizes...

that lollipop, bracelet (at her elbow) and sticker sheets!

Playing

This was so sweet...Madelyn has recently started playing with her baby dolls a lot. She changes their diapers, bathes them, puts them to bed, feeds them, rocks them, etc. The other day it started to rain while Madelyn was pushing her doll around the house in the stroller. She immediately went over to the door to tell/show the baby that it was raining. She took the doll out of her stroller and held her up to see the rain...it was precious!

Melissa and Ananda were in town so we had a swim play-date. Madelyn was a wild child and spent the entire time jumping off the ledge to go under water...all while little Ananda sat nicely in her mother's arms :)

hanging out in Carter's backyard...the boy doesn't care much for clothes these days :)

Carter got a new rock wall! Madelyn climbed up it perfectly the first time, but here she is hanging on for dear life...

Gettin' Messy!

Madelyn had never finger painted before (what kind of mother am I?), so I decided it was time to make a mess...outside!

the masterpiece...

These are Madelyn's new fancy pajamas!! She was enjoying dancing on daddy's feet!...

love that smile...both of them :)

Olivia was in town, so she and her mommy came over for a visit! The girls don't get to see each other too often, but they played together wonderfully giving Patrice and I time to catch up!

I had dressed Madelyn in her Star Wars shirt that morning (that Clint picked out), and the second I put it on her, she said "Where's my tutu?" I guess she knew she was in boy clothes and needed to add some pink!

who needs pants when it is 100 degrees outside?!

Sweet hugs....except for the second one ended in disaster. Apparently Madelyn gives forceful hugs because she and Olivia both ended up falling off the edge into the ivy! Olivia hit her head on the fence and Madelyn ended up on top of her. After the screaming subsided, we laughed and checked to see if I captured the fall with the camera :) which I did not.

Pump It Up, Jr

Madelyn is not always crazy about bounce houses, but this place is designed for little ones, so we decided to give it a try. We went with Carter and Aurora, but I'm not sure they are in any of the pics

She really enjoyed driving the cars...which had nothing to do with the bounce house part of it :)

but then decided it was pretty fun to climb...

crawl through tunnels...

and maneuver through the obstacle course...

and MY favorite part...the big inflatable slide!

Train Party!

One of the little boys from our neighborhood playgroup turned two and had a train party...with a real steam engine to drive the kids around the neighborhood...very cool! Madelyn is in the last car...

here they come! I did not ride the train with Madelyn (and couldn't believe she was brave enough to ride by herself), but apparently neighbors were coming out to wave to the kids! Everyone thought it was really fun!

I took a picture of the cake because I thought it was really cute and different...

Madelyn was very excited about the lollipops on the cake...

Here is the birthday boy...dressed like the train conductor...

They also had a lion walking around to talk to the kids, give high fives, etc. Mostly he just caused panic and crying, but the birthday boy loved him so that's what matters :)

oh, and of course there was a train table in the birthday boy's room...