Two Tries, No Tulips Yet

This is my current favorite picture of Maddie!

Maddie and I have tried to go to the Tulip Festival twice now. Both times we have not ended up at the festival (once due to plan changes by our friends that we were going with, and once due to friggin huge lines of cars waiting to get in). But, both times we ended up doing something fun instead with our friends The Andersens.


The first time we went to the Andersen's house and played in their backyard. It was a gorgeous day and Maddie absolutely adores Emma and Jake. Also they have lots of fun things to do in their yard....

Maddie's first trampoline!!

Check it out--she's getting air!


The fountain is not supposed to be a toy, but Maddie didn't know that....She started out just playing in the water with her hands, but then....

She used her newly acquired climbing skills to get to the next level...

She made it all the way to the top and had a blast!

Swingin'

The second failed attempt at the Tulip Festival led us instead to the Oregon Garden in Silverton. The place was practically empty and we got to wander around in near solitude. We took a tram ride that Maddie did not really enjoy. The tram was supposed to come every 30 minutes. One was leaving as we were almost done with our picnic, but instead of rushing to catch it, we waited around for the next one.....but then we accidentally missed it and had to run and catch it in between stops. Then Maddie did not want to sit still on the tram and I had to hold her down tight. (Any wonder why I am scared to taker her on an airplane right now?) But she did enjoy the children's garden. It had cute topiary shaped like animals, a tunnel to run through, plants growing out of bathtubs and toilets, etc...

There was also a tree house....

and a sand box!

It was over 80 degrees so we decided to cool off in the fountain before we left. The water mixed nicely with the sunscreen and sand.....

We are so looking forward to summer!!!!!!

Fun in the Sun!

As I am sure most of you did, we decided to take full advantage of the sunny weather this weekend. On Friday night we decided on taking a family hike on the Angel's Rest trail just past Corbett in the Gorge. We got up Saturday morning and took off after Maddie's morning nap. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time taking turns packing Maddie in the pack.

Megan showing good form with the pack. Notice the slight forward tilt.

Checking out the view of the Columbia on our way to the top.

Volunteers were working on this section of the trail when we got there. The rocks were freshly crushed just for us. We knew we were getting close.


A great view from the top. It was a little cool and breezy up there, otherwise we would have spent a little longer up there.

This is to our right from the picture just before this one. Notice the people hanging out at the edge. We had to do a little rock climbing up about a 10-foot wall to get up on top here. Maddie was pefectly safe the entire time!e

Maddie decided she needed a little extra protection from the sun.

I started the trip off with Maddie and then Megan took a turn and carried her to the top. Here we are preparing for our return trip down the trail. Maddie is fully equipped with grapes in hand, while I have the snot rag and sweatshirt utility belt working.

This is about halfway down the mountain. Still going strong. Maddie was getting a little tired of the pack, so we sang lots and LOTS of songs on the way down to keep her entertained.

They must have worked as Maddie finally gave in to her tiredness and fell asleep in the pack.

Hiking is such hard work!

On Sunday we took advantage of the sun again, but in different ways. Maddie decided to take a 3-hour morning nap, so I did homework while Megan went to Jazzercise and ran a couple of errands. When Megan got back I went to the golf course to play 18 holes. Unfortunately everyone in SE Portland was out playing golf today too, so I decided to call it quits after 9 holes and 3 hours of golf!!

We had marinated some chicken and ribs, so I BBQ'd while Megan made the rest of dinner. Maddie decided she wanted mud pie for dinner and played in one of our pots that decided not to sprout tulips this year. She is using her Easter present from Grammy Pat here and getting her newly bought (yesterday!!) shirt dirty.

I am not getting that dirty.

Or am I?!


I am not sure who the man yelling in this video is....

Happy Easter!

Maddie got SPOILED for Easter. I am not sure why this surprises me, but it does. The
"Easter Bunny" filled my old basket with 4 plastic eggs that were super glued together, filled with rice and beans so they would shake and make noise. That's it. No candy, no toys, no clothes. 99 cents spent.

Her grandparents and Aunties, on the other hand, made the Easter Bunny look bad! She got tons of outfits, books, gardening tools & seeds to plant, stuffed animals, and toys! Oh my!

It started the week before Easter with a basket from Grandpa Randy and Robyn. Maddie went straight for the Mum Mums and the pretty dress. We filled the bubble gun the next day, but it is not baby proof. We ended up with bubble solution on the carpet. oops.

We went to Eugene for Easter weekend. It was Katie's 10th birthday! Also, we got to celebrate Maddie's birthday with some family members who didn't make it to her party in Portland.

Happy Birthday Katie!

Grandma sandwich

We got to meet cousin Emma for the first time. What a cutie!!

Maddie has a lot of little cousins on that side of the family, and they were more than willing to show her how to use her new toys. Auntie Dian got her a wheel barrow with garden/sand toys, and Auntie Shannon got her a golf bag with clubs and balls and everything!

Easter morning Maddie went on a hunt for her eggs.

She was good at finding them and putting them into her basket. (Also look here at Maddie's hair...she is starting to get ringlets in the back!)

The ears didn't last long. GET THEM OFF!

Egg shakers!!

The grass is kind of fun too!

Grandma Jan hosted us for the weekend and we had a lot of fun hanging out and playing cards (and eating!!) Tony and I had the opportunity for a date night in Eugene, but we were too tired to even take advantage. How sad. On Sunday we went to church at Grace. We dressed up all in our pretty outfits but somehow we don't have any pictures of that. Maybe somebody will send us one!

Today is Uncle J's birthday...Happy Birthday!! We chatted with him via web camera on SKYPE. So, for any of you you have the capability and would like to chat, let us know.

Hope everyone had a very Happy Easter!!

more sun fun

Of course Maddie and I went to the park on Tuesday when it was GLORIOUS outside! There is a new park about a 15 minute walk, so I get a little exercise and Maddie gets to play. She wore her first skirt of the season...which led to her first skinned knee ever! Poor thing, I guess that is to be expected. She loved playing with the other kids that showed up. One boy (older) taught her how to walk up the slide the wrong way. She was determined to master it even though it was very steep. She also worked on her running. She kept running toward the street, and she thought it was a great game that I would chase her and bring her back to the playground. She also chased animals.

This picture is of her doing her own version of "dog" in sign language. The sign for dog is patting your leg like you are calling a dog. Maddie pats her chest. She also pats her chest when she sees any furry animal...not too much distinction between dogs and cats right now.

Look closely...she is chasing a squirrel on the fence post!

We were at the park a long time and I was sure she was going to collapse in the stroller and fall asleep on the way home. Nope. Nor did she ever take an afternoon nap that day....or the next day. Please, please, I am not ready for her to drop the afternoon nap yet. I need it to re-group after the day's activities and start dinner for Daddy!

Allergy Update

The doctor called tonight with Maddie's blood test results. The good news is that all her allergy tests came back normal. So she will someday enjoy seafood like Tony and I do!!

The bad news is that her other blood test came back slightly abnormal. This indicates she may have had a virus that caused the rash. Therefore she has to get her blood taken again in a month to make sure everything is back to normal. MY POOR BABY! I don't think I can bear to hold her down again for more blood work. It really broke my heart.

Sunny Days

No better way to spend a sunny weekend than outside doing fun things...

Here we are at the finish line of the Race 4 the Roses Half Marathon!!! Yes, I successfully completed 13.1 miles in 3.5 hours and it felt great!

Tony and Maddie mowed the lawn.

And we had BBQ for dinner!!

The grilling experience is not complete unless it includes the BBQ, meat, tools, apron, and of course the frosty beverage!!

Couldn't resist another spaghetti shot! Notice the sauce goes from chin to forehead!

Hope you all had a good weekend too!