The Water Park

We have a great new water park in Leesburg with lots of fun slides, play areas, and a lazy river. We went there on Maddie's actual birthday. I had to post these two cute pictures of Maddie and her buddy Nicholas, our neighbor. He is almost 6 years old, but despite the age difference, they play so well together. Maddie adores him. And lucky for me, his mom Amy is a great friend. We are so lucky to have such a fun neighborhood!

Birthday Fun!

We had lots of fun celebrating Madeline's birthday this year. We had our parents and siblings over for dinner and cake. One highlight for me was Maddie's excitement over the homemade pink princess cake I made. Nothing fancy at all. One box of yellow cake mix $1.89; one container of pink funfetti icing $2.29; party store Disney princess cake topper $8.99......Your daughter waking up from her nap and seeing her birthday cake and saying, "Mommy, I love my cake! Isn't it beautiful? It's amazing!" over and over.....Priceless!
She also LOVED the musical cards everyone gave her and the two pairs of flip-flops. She insisted on wearing one pink and one blue flip-flop. This kid is easy to please.

The best part of the evening however, was Maddie putting on a dance/singing show for everyone. We had Disney music on in the background and before we knew it she was dancing and singing while everyone watched. Well everyone except Samie, who danced with her. We took a couple videos. For those who have seen Maddie dance, you know she spins. So here's some more spinning. They are a little long, but I just couldn't stop recording!

Disney World

We had an amazing vacation in Florida. We spent a week there in a beautiful time share (thanks to Chris's parents) and did 4 days at Disney, and 2 days at the beach. Not a single nap was had by anyone the whole week, but we had a GREAT time! Maddie is very into all things Disney right now, especially the princesses. So it was truly a magical experience to see her take it all in. Our favorite things were the character meals including breakfast with the Little Einsteins and Pooh & friends, as well as dinner in Cinderella's castle; riding on Thunder mountain with Maddie, she was just tall enough and came off and said, "that was awesome!"; the Everest and Aerosmith roller coasters (Maddie was too small for them); the Lion King show; the parades and the fireworks; meeting the princesses and other characters; Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood playground; and Ariel's Grotto water play area. We got very lucky avoiding long lines and kept cool with a spray bottle and by getting drenched one day at Magic Kingdom in the rain!

I have to put this video first. It was our first morning at Magic Kingdom (we did 2 days there) and we got to the park before it opened for a character breakfast. There was music playing and Maddie just started dancing with the castle in the background. It made for such a precious moment I had to catch it on video. Simply magical....



Here are some pictures from the 3 parks we visited.

First was Hollyood Studios: Pictures are of Breakfast with June and Leo from Little Einsteins, character greetings, outside the Muppet 3D movie (which was the ONLY thing that scared her the whole week), and with Daddy at the fountain. We also loved all the shows at Hollywood Studios, the Ariel show, the Belle show, the Disney playhouse show, and the American Idol Experience.

Next, Magic Kingdom: Character breakfast with Pooh & Friends, meeting the Princesses, Ariel's Grotto, dinner at Cinderella's castle where the Fairy Godmother sang Happy Birthday, the Hundred Acre Wood and Toontown playgrounds, watching the nightime parade and fireworks (to name a few!!)

She is not asleep in this picture, just closing her eyes during the fireworks. She did not fall asleep until we got back to the hotel at 11:30 and that was with no nap that day! She didn't want to miss a thing!

We also went to Animal Kingdom and Maddie got to meet Minnie Mouse!



In addition to the parks, we also took two day trips to the coast. We spent one day North of Disney in Palm Coast at my Uncle Ken and Aunt Cindy's beautiful house. Chris went golfing with Ken, Cindy and my Uncle Greg, while Maddie and I went to the beach with my Aunt Patti.

We also spent one day South of Disney at Sarah and Rob's house in Indian Harbour Beach. She just had baby Vance on July 8th and we were so thrilled to be able to meet him when he was one week old! He is so precious! We relaxed, swam in the their pool, and then went to the beach in the evening and saw the shuttle launch from Kenney Space Center. It was a wonderful day!

It was a really fun week and we made lots of great memories. Seeing Disney through Maddie's eyes really was like seeing it for the first time. She may not remember it in years to come, but I know Chris and I will never forget it!

Madeline is 3!

I'm sitting here writing this, the morning of July 27th, 2009. Maddie is 3 today. 3 years ago today, at this time of morning, Chris was racing home from work because my water broke. We thought we'd be in for a long day of labor, but within 3 hours of being at the hospital, Madeline was born. She was ready to be out. She was early, she came fast. Ever since that morning, beginning with her fast delivery, time has seemed to move at a much faster pace.

I remember in college, a good friend and I reflected on the advice to "enjoy college....they're the best years of your life." We thought that was kind of depressing because that meant it was all downhill from there. We both agreed that we hoped college was not the best time in our lives, because then we'd have nothing to look forward to!

Well I've decided that since college, and especially since Maddie was born, it has been downhill....on the fastest, most fun roller coaster I've ever been on. "It's all downhill" has taken on a new meaning for me and it means the following:

1. It goes by faster (life didn't move this fast in college, maybe because I was always waiting for the next time I could see Chris!)

2. At times it can be scary (am I doing the right thing as a parent?)

3. It is more fun than ever (everyone knows the downhill part of a roller coaster is the best part)!

It sounds so cliche to say that the last year has flown by, but it really has. I now understand why the 0-3 years for a child are so critical. They change so much in the first 3 years, it's amazing. It's hard for us to believe that those first 3 years are over, but we are so proud, in love and in awe of the little person who is sleeping down the hall right now. I know that on this roller coaster of life, love, and parenting there are ups and downs, but we are enjoying the ride. Did I mention she rode Thunder mountain at Disney World? (and loved it!)

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July weekend at the lake with the Marcoulliers. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast swimming, riding on the boat and seeing the fireworks. It was our first time seeing the fireworks from a boat in the middle of Lake Anna and it was beautiful. It was also Maddie's first time seeing/hearing fireworks at all. As long as her ears were covered, she loved seeing them.

The girls were waiting anxiously at the window to go swimming.

Marissa and Maddie getting tossed in the water (don't worry they were caught too)!

We spent some time over at Chris's parents' property at the lake and had lots of fun!