chocolate fest

chocolate fest was not as chocolate-y as it sounds like it would be. although i did eat more chocolate before noon than i am comfortable with admitting. it was mainly a carnival with an exhibit tent with all things chocolate - from chocolate chip cookies to chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick. the theme for the year was "pirates of the carri'bean'". maddie got her picture taken as both a pirate and a mermaid (much to matt's embarrassment!). he really hates that i like to do the cheesy photo ops with maddie - oh well.

after we were starting to feel ill from chocolate consumption and matt was dying of embarrassment we decided to leave the chocolate area and see what else chocolate fest had to offer. we checked out the helicopter rides (just watching them take off), a middle-aged bmx biker (middle aged is being generous but he was entertaining), some tiger cubs, and then the petting zoo. and that is when things got interesting.

madelyn, our child who is not afraid to climb to any height and finds nothing too scary to try has met her krytonite - goats. we had no way to know that madelyn was terrified of goats. the girl who loves to have her two 55+ pound dogs double-team her with slobbery kisses was terrified when a very small kid (baby goat) that was behind a fence came over to say hello. it wasn't just the goats that she didn't like, but they made her burst into tears. luckily they had some chicks and ducklings that madelyn found a little less threatening. matt and i have never seen her afraid before. never. well, now we know.

here she is enjoying petting the chicks and ducklings trying to put the goat experience behind her:

we are planning on trying the real zoo tomorrow - maybe we will skip the petting zoo portion... love.

walking update: maddie is walking again. really walking. she was all over the place yesterday and when we went to the park last night i just set her down and she took off walking over to the swings. i think that she is influenced by all the other kids walking around and doesn't want to miss out. she did stop once she tried to walk with one of the boy's scooters and fell over it face first. then she switched back to crawling for the rest of our time there - for safety.