Great Wolf AND Cedar Point!!!

Well, I told you there was a big weekend coming. After Iris's birthday party, we jumped in the car and headed over to Sandusky for a little (a lot) water play at Great Wolf Lodge. We got there around 3:30 and started playing as soon as we could get our suits on. Madeline was a little disappointed that they removed the "treehouse" from the toddler pool. This was her favorite thing last fall with the small slides into a foot of water. It was replaced with a waterfall and a big open space. So, she didn't spend too much time there. Madeline really likes playing in the deeper pool with a lifejacket on, so that's what we did for the first little while. Grandma & PopPop joined us while Aunt Sue hung out on the sidelines taking pictures.

Once Madeline was under grandparent supervision, Zak and I decided we would try out the big waterslides. So, we grabbed our double innertube and headed up the stairs. That was a blast. So much fun, that we did it numerous times throughout the day! Thank you Grandma & PopPop, we couldn't have done it without you.

After a lot of exploring and watching the giant bucket dump water on the grandparents too many times to count, we were able to convince Madeline to ride some of the smaller waterslides for just her size person. They were the size of normal park slides with water rushing down them and a big pool at the bottom. She did it only on the condition that Mommy would be at the bottom to catch her before she went under. So, that's what we did. She rode those slides over and over and over again. Some of the time Daddy would race down next to her or follow her, and other times Grandma, then she even got PopPop to go down once! Remember, the pool at the bottom is very shallow (like only 3.5' deep!) so an adult coming down that pool has a very difficult time gaining composure after being shot off the end. Lucky for Mommy, I only had to do it once.

We had so much fun, we stayed at the waterpark until well into the evening. Once we had enough there, we decided it was time for a real dinner so back to the room we go. We couldn't stay at Great Wolf Lodge and not go to the arcade, so after dinner, came much fun and games in the arcade. Madeline made out from all of the tickets Grandma & Sue won (basically gambling) and Madeline even won a few on a stomp & hit game (sort of like Whack a Mole). Bedtime came pretty easy and quickly after all of that, especially with so much to look forward to the next day.

Morning came early after such a full day of swimming, but we were ready for it. We were all excited about going to Cedar Point!! Uncle Jason even decided to make the trip again. On the way there, Madeline broke into chant "Great Wolf Lodge! Great Wolf Lodge! Great Wolf Lodge!" and Daddy started in with her. I'll post the video clip on the family site.

When we got to Cedar Point we were very surprised to see who all decided to join us! Let's see, there was Great Grandmother, Steve, Peter & Jenny, Greg, Caroline, Tommy, Jason, Sue, Grandma & PopPop, and Mommy, Daddy, and Madeline!!! What a crew! When we first planned this trip, only 8 of us were actually planning on being there. We ended up with 14! Very cool.

Madeline rode a lot of the Kiddietown rides, including The Whip which she really had fun with. She didn't really know what to do with the Bumper Cars until the very end when she found the gas pedal (poor thing). The treats kept coming with mini-doughnuts, cotton candy, and saltwater taffy and Madeline kept right on taking her share. So, a little time spent in the arcade and eating some fries and min-corndogs.

I wanted to take Madeline back to Frontiertown since we didn't get to do that last fall, so we headed on back to the rear of the park. We stopped and got a bag full of stones from the mining company, and even made a couple candles at the candle shop! I was very excited she got to do this and so was she I think. Mommy, Daddy, and Peter felt adventurous enough to head over to the Mean Streak for a bit of jarring and terror (I was the only one frightened really) and Madeline rode the antique cars with Aunt Sue. She had so much fun riding them with mommy and daddy at the beginning of the park, she saw no reason she should refuse a ride with Sue now.

Then on to Camp Snoopy! Madeline tried a new ride to her this year, the Frog Hopper and that was a big hit! She and Caroline and Tommy rode that ride over and over and over again. She was very disappointed when she had to get off to go wait in line for her turn again. See, when they started riding it, no one else was interested. After the second time, there were enough kids waiting that she had to wait in line again. Bummer! Madeline was a real trooper and tried the Woodstock Express again this year even though she didn't like it last year. Well, she didn't like it this year either. If we had purchased the pictures of her ride, you would think she was ready to lose her lunch around that first turn. I can't say I blame her. By that time in the day, I was pretty done with roller coasters as well.

The afternoon kept going with a ride on the schoolbus that goes up and around backwards! and a ride on the swings with Daddy!!! She loves those swings. We made our way to the Riverboat for a bit of gunslinging and bad jokes to round out the day. On our way back through the park, Zak and I decided to ride the Power Tower since there was no line and had a blast. The "giant frog hopper" was exactly what I needed to forget the uneasy feeling in my stomach from the Raptor and the Mean Streak. Madeline had a front row seat so she could see just what she has in store for her in the years to come. Really, she was busy eating popcorn.

After some dippin' dots while Daddy rode Cedar Downs, she was too pooped to pop. Madeline took a nap in my arms all the way back to the car! Once there, she woke up to say good-bye to everyone and head on home. We got a little bit lost on the way out of the area, but not for long and we were on our way. It was pretty uneventful except for the last 15 minutes when we just about had to poke Madeline to keep her awake. Poor thing was absolutely exhausted, but with 15 minutes of sleep she would have been up for another couple of hours! As it was, she was asleep in her bed at 10:30pm. Much later than normal.

Needless to say, we had an awesome couple of weeks and many moments to remember. Thanks to everyone who played a part and for all the great memories.

Big Weekend!

Madeline was invited to Iris's birthday party (#3) so Friday night, we took her out to pick out a present for her. She found just the right fire engine with sirens and everything. Then, on the way out of the toy section, she picked up a stuffed horse for good measure. Saturday morning, we wrapped it up, packed our bags (more on that later), and headed out to the birthday party.

The party was fun. Iris had recently gotten a bubble blower so she and Madeline hung out on the balcony for a while blowing and chasing bubbles. Madeline was very glad when the cake came out and it had Diego on it! She really wanted to help Iris blow out her candles, but she settled for just rooting her on instead. Success!

Alright, more on this wonderful weekend tomorrow.

Another afternoon of fun

After the Dentist's office, we called Steve to see if they were all home and interested in some company. Of course, so we headed over. Madeline was very glad to see Peter, Sue, and the Great Grandparents and told them all about her dentist visit over a chocolate muffin and some milk. She even showed them her treasures from the dentist treasure chest.

Once our snack did its job, it was outside with Sue to find whatever happened to be out there. She and Sue spent most of the day in the backyard exploring, some time playing hide and seek and a short game of tag I think. They found some bugs, but most importantly, they found a toad! It peed on Sue. It took 3 tries at finding an appropriate bucket to keep him in for a bit, but they found one and were able to bring it inside to show Great Grandfather. Madeline found a pill bug and a worm for it, but it didn't seem to be hungry. They decided to let him go back to what he was doing before capture, and set him free into the woodpile. I'm sure the toad was very happy about that. We had lunch, and an afternoon snack, and played inside and outside, and just had a great time. I got to spend some quality time with Great Grandmother which is always a good thing.

So, of course, when it was time to say good-bye for the day, it was met with great objection. See, over the course of this exciting day, Madeline had waken up early to go to the dentist which was a little unnerving, then played, played, played out in the sun and air, ate some great food, and not at all, not for a minute, taken a nap! She was a little tired. It took her all of about 15 minutes in the car on the way home to fall asleep which gave her just enough sleep to get her through until bedtime.

Wow! Those were awesome days. Now, only 3 more days until even more excitement!

Dentist Success!

Madeline had her first real dentist visit on the 8th of May. I never knew Madeline was so chatty, until we got in the car at 7:45am to get to the dentist on the other side of town by 8:30. Well, she didn't stop talking the entire way! Not that this was a bad thing, she just had so many questions and observations to make about everything! I just kept thinking, "this is really odd!".

Anyway, we get to the dentist right on time and they are ready for us. So, Madeline was first. She didn't want to sit down in the chair by herself, but agreed to sit on my lap. So, I sat down, Madeline crawled on top. The hygienist offered the bib, Madeline didn't want it. The hygienist informed Madeline of everything she was going to do... the mask, the glasses, the gloves, the rotating brush, the flavors of toothpaste, the water, and of course, Mr. Thirsty. Madeline asked if she would have to spit in the sink, and was a little disappointed she wasn't going to get to do this. At first, she was a bit apprehensive to open her mouth, but after a little coaxing, she did. The hygienist counted her teeth, informed her of how many she had and moved on to the cleaning. Madeline chose strawberry flavored toothpaste and the cleaning commenced. Madeline opened her mouth wide, got rinsed, used Mr. Thirsty (even closed her mouth around it), and did this numerous times! She was awesome! Then came time for the dentist to see her. Again, she was a bit apprehensive, but she opened her mouth for him, he checked her teeth with the mirror, checked her bite and he was done. He informed us he wouldn't have to use the "counter" (the poker) since he didn't see any obvious dips or valleys in her teeth. He said, she looked great other than the crossbite. We'll have to get that worked on at some point, but for now she's good! Yeah Madeline!!! We got the report to take home, and the toothfairy left her a gold dollar under her pillow that night! (more on that story later) Madeline was very excited and proud of herself as she should be.

After Madeline's appointment, she waited very patiently for me to get my teeth cleaned and checked out then off to Uncle Steve's house!

Go Diego Go!

I almost forgot about Diego! May 2nd, we went to see Go Diego Go Live in Toledo with the grandparents Boose. Madeline, of course, had a great time. I didn't think it was as good as Dora was a year ago, but still, it was fun. They handed out Jaguar masks at the beginning of the show, and the kids were suppose to help Baby Jaguar growl sometime during the show. See, Baby Jaguar's growl was stolen by the BoBo monkeys and Diego had to get it back for her so she could be the Chief of Carnival and open the ceremonies with her growl. Well, they got Baby Jaguar's growl back from the BoBo's and Carnival went on as planned. Madeline even got up and danced with me at the end of the show.

Immediately following Diego, we headed over to the zoo where we had a tailgate picnic to start the afternoon. We started the exploration off with a ride on the carousel in the African exhibit. Every time we would pass Daddy and PopPop, Madeline would say "hello Daddy, hello PopPop" and then when we passed the lion on the wall, and the flamingo, she would say "hello lion, hello flamingo". She did this every time around and it really became funny. She said "hello" to everything we passed, every time we passed it. It's always a great time at the zoo, and 4 hours later, Madeline had seen just about every inch of it. She really likes the reptile house and the aquarium.

Dinner at Schlotzky's with a Diego cake for dessert ended our day in Toledo. Madeline was a little upset to leave, until we reminded her that we would all be together again for Peter's graduation in just a few days.

Party, party, party

Wow! The graduation season has come and gone for us and we did have fun. Peter graduated from OU a couple weeks ago and family members from far and wide attended. Since the ceremony was at Meadowbrook, it allowed Madeline & parents to sit on the hill cuddled under blankets and read books, have a snack, and watch the ceremony in comfort. The rest of the family were in seats close enough for Peter to hear the hoots & hollers! Madeline was very glad to see Uncle Jason, Aunt Sue & Sally and the Great Grandparents made the trip. It didn't take long for her to cozy up and start chattering about all of the festivities planned.

The graduation party at Steve's was a lot of fun. Madeline played Indian Ball for the first time, ran around with just about everyone most of the day. There were games, food, and drinks as long as there was daylight. Madeline even had on her Derby hat for the race. The end of the day came quite late, with lights out almost as soon as we got home.

The next day held a party at our house. Since we hadn't hosted before, we were very excited so many were coming. Madeline was very excited to show everyone her room, and her toys, etc. Then, when Caroline & Tommy showed up, she was very happy. Someone to play with, and boy did they play. All day in fact. The end of the day brought many tired tears, and once she started, Caroline & Tommy started as well. With everyone leaving at once, including the grandparents & aunts, it was just to much to take. Once she got settled down, washed up, and ready for bed, she fell asleep almost instantly.

Monday brought no less excitement. Madeline and I met Great Grandmother, Sally, Sue, Steve, and Peter for breakfast at Nello's and headed out to the zoo after that. Zak was only a little jealous we were heading through the Aviary with Sue and he wasn't there. Sue and Sally had never been through the Butterfly garden nor the Aviary so this was a real adventure for all of us. We had a great time visiting the camels, capybaras, and most of all, the prairie dogs. Sue, Sally, and Madeline were all part of the prairie dog village. They all down into the tunnels to get the prairie dog's view of the world. When Sue and Sally turned around and saw Madeline in the hole next to them, they were very surprised. We didn't get to see the giraffes due to poor signage, but we did see the hippo and many bears out and about, and even rhinos playing hide and seek! We ended our zoo day with a train ride back to the front of the zoo where we said our good-byes. Or so we thought. Madeline and I found Peter, Sue, and Sally waiting for us at the car! Apparently, Sally had left her purse in the truck and obviously couldn't go off to Seattle without it. So, we unlocked the truck, got the purse out, and said our good-byes once again. This time a bit less hurriedly.

Well, Tuesday brought the first dentist appointment for Madeline...