The Wonder Place

There's a really cool place for kids in Little Rock called "The Wonder Place". It's set up similar to a children's museum and has tons of activities for kids. We had been once before for a birthday party, but Madigan was pretty young and really only liked the water table. Our friend Laura found out that this past Friday was The Wonder Place's anniversary and they were opening for a few hours in the evening and it only cost $2 per person. So, we took advantage of the special and I'm so glad we did. Madigan had a BLAST!! Especially since she got to explore everything with her best buddy Jenna...

"Let's check this out..."

One of the cool things about the place is that they take everyday scenes and make them "kid-sized". So, Madigan gets to try out those things that she sees Ted and I do on a regular basis. Things like...

Cooking

ShoppingSmall Talk with Peers

"Can you believe the price of milk these days?!!"Playing the Piano

But she also just got to be a kid and have fun!
This is the much-loved water table (although the fake fish kind of freaked me out...)There was also a dress-up area and stage. Madigan, of course, loved that. She walked into the area and went directly to the... purses

Ready to put on a show

And once again, the big kids had just as much fun as the little kids. Hey Dwayne & Ted, you have to let the kids play too...
Thanks Mrs. Laura for including us! We had a wonderful time!

Proud Mommy

A quick story...
Last week I had a Ranger's game on while the girls were napping. When they woke up, I took them outside for a quick swim. When we got back inside, the game was still on. Hadyn said, "I want to watch a kid's show!" Before I could think up a good way to explain to Hadyn the importance of what we were watching :), Madigan came sprinting around the corner and yelled, "NO! I want to watch ballgame!" As I'm beaming with pride, she smiled at me and added, "Go Rangers!"
I've never been so proud...

Stay tuned - Pictures will be coming soon from our Friday night outing to the Wonder Place.

Making It Count

Unfortunately, my summer vacation is quickly dwindling down, so we're trying hard to make the last few weeks count. Here is a little bit of the summer fun we've been having.
Madigan and I try to run to the park every once in a while. Well, I run. Madigan kicks her feet up in the jogging stroller and talks for the entire two miles. She doesn't seem to care whether or not I respond. She just wants to talk... I'd say who she got this from, but every time I make a comment like that on the blog, I have to hear about it from Gee Gee. So, I'll just leave it up to your imagination.
Anyway, we're very lucky to have such a great park so close to our house. Madigan's favorite part is the Choo Choo Train Slide. Here are a few pictures I got of her on it.

What a ham!Serious face

Can I go in, Mom?

Posing on the steps

This picture is a little bit scary - too close up after sweating too much in the Arkansas sun! But, Madigan thought it was cool that we could take a picture of ourselves and I thought it turned out cute of her.
Another cool part of the park is going "HIIIIIIIIIGH" on the swings. Make sure you note the VERY girly squeal at the end...


These are some pictures taken before we went hopped on the boat at the lake... oh wait a minute, no it's not. That's just Madigan wearing her new Barbie life jacket around the house ALL DAY LONG! She thinks it's part of her dress-up costumes.

Last but not least, a couple of pictures of Madigan and Mommy's favorite summer activity. Eating snow cones!!!

Say Cheese!

I've got some other pictures to post of the fun projects we've been doing with the kiddos that I keep, but I'll save those for another time.
Have a great week!

Brain Freeze

This may be one of those things that's only funny to parents, but I have to be honest - I've actually hurt my side from laughing at this several times. So, hope you enjoy it too!

N.C. Trip - The Finale

Okay, I'm going to attempt to get the rest of the pictures posted from our N. Carolina trip last weekend. Bear with me - it might be a long one!

4th of July

Some friends of Ted's parents have a 4th of July party every year. Since we were visiting, we got to attend/crash it as well. It was a lot of fun with a LOT of wonderful food. Plus, Madigan got an opportunity to wear her "Red, White and Blue" dress that GeeGee bought for her. :)
Here's a pre-party picture with Grandi...

They had a lot of fun things for the kids to do at the party, including a sand box, swings, a slide, a tunnel, etc. In fact, Madigan kept asking to go back to the "park" after it was over!Ted and I spent time visiting with some people we went to Harding with, while Madigan made friends with some people closer to her age.
It was a lot of fun! Thanks to the Safleys for letting us join in!

The Outfits

No trip to North Carolina would be complete without some new clothes/accessories for Madigan.

Here are some cool shades Aunt Kate bought her...

This was one of my favorites (note: that's meant to be sarcastic). Gramps and Aunt Kate went to get Madigan out of bed after a nap and came back with her looking like this...
Yes, that's a pink ballerina outfit that says "Twinkle Toes". Sure can't wear that on a ball field...
Then another day, Gramps came in with her wearing this shirt. It says "Buckeyes Cheerleader-In-Training". When he bought it, he told the woman at the store that his daughter-in-law wasn't going to care much for it. She said, "Oh, is she not a Buckeye fan?" and he replied, "no, she's not a cheerleader fan". :)
Later that day, Madigan unearthed some fun hats in the basement. She was thrilled with her "Pirate hat", but insisted that everyone else join in the fun. Alright, I won't lie - Ted and I kind of liked our hats too!And last but not least, while this isn't really an "outfit", I think it counts for accessorizing. Aunt Kate was ready with her nail polish to paint Madigan's toenails. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast-drying polish and Madigan ended up with a bright pink streak up her leg. Oh well, she thought it looked pretty cool!

The Toys

Grandi and Gramps always have new toys for Madigan to play with on her visits. This time, she got to help Grandi water her plants with her own watering can.

Then, Gramps brought out a really cool train that was just her size. It ran around the track whenever she turned the handle!
She even took her buddies Dora and Benny for a ride!
Here's a cute video of her driving the train. Note her face when it starts going backward!

Gramps had also fixed her up a cool tricycle. He painted it John Deere green and yellow to spite her other granddad (Pa) who prefers the red tractor. :)She really liked it, but had to fight Daddy to get a turn...

Family Pictures

After we got in from church on Sunday, we captured a few pics while everyone was dressed up.

How did we get Madigan to smile so pretty for the last two pictures? Umm... I bribed her with a Ring Pop. It's amazing what a cheesy smile she'll give if you're waving candy behind the camera!
We had a fantastic trip and can't wait to do it again! Thanks Grandi, Gramps and Aunt Kate!

Photo Shoot

North Carolina trip - Part 2

While we were in N.Carolina, Grandi arranged for Madigan to get her pictures made at this really neat, kid-friendly portrait studio. The best part of it was that they just snapped pictures of her doing her own thing - something Madigan is great at doing. :) The pictures turned our really cute and my favorite part was that if you ordered a certain amount of pictures, you got the CD with all of the shots on it. So, here are a few of them!
Grandi gave her this blue dress and the rocking chair has been in their family for years (although Madi has decided it's "Madigan's chair")This isn't one of her best pictures, but I thought it was funny! I told Gramps that she looked like him in this picture :)
The place also allowed for outfit changes, which was really nice. This is a dress Aunt Kate picked out.




Grandi had asked me to bring some of Madigan's "favorite things" for her to play with in the pictures, so of course I included her bat and glove. :)
This is my favorite picture from the whole session. I think it looks like she just hit a walk-off home run! (although I'm not sure why she would have her glove in her hand...)
Thanks Grandi and Gramps!