enjoying a sunny day

after spending almost all day inside yesterday due to a cold, rainy day, when i saw sunshine this morning i knew that we were going outside. i did have a moment of doubt when i saw 36 on the local news graphic, but that's what coats are for, right?

madelyn and i bundled up and headed to the zoo - of course. after about a half hour is was warm enough for me to take off my coat and maddie's hat, but i kept her in her coat until we got back to the car. it was so gorgeous! not a cloud in the sky and all the fall colors. here are a few picks from the zoo for you warm weather folks...















madelyn had such a great time. her skills of observation have dramatically improved. they have always been really good, but in the past week there has been a substantial jump. we spent more time than normal in the fish and reptile building today. madelyn took her time at each exhibit and seemed to look at every animal and plant available. at one of the fish tanks she kept calling out "turtle" and pointing. i was in the middle of correcting her and saying that there weren't any turtles in that tank when i saw the turtle she was seeing. and for only the second time she showed interest in the snakes. not only that, but she said "snake" instead of "hiss". she was excited running between exhibits with some little boys - maybe elementary school age.

and those weren't the only boys she took an interest in at the zoo. she is a huge flirt! there were some boys acting silly while we were watching the cheetahs pace outside and she kept laughing at them. of course that only made them act sillier and sillier until their dad took them away. then we ran into them again on our way out of the big cats' building and she just gave a coy smile while hiding behind me a little.


she barely stayed awake until we got to the interstate. and then she slept for three hours. since the sun was still out and it looks like we are going to have more rain the rest of this week, i took madelyn to the park this afternoon. she had a lot of fun crunching the leaves. they had blown into strips or piles and madelyn ran from one to the next stomping her feet. it was cute, but i didn't get a good video. then she had fun trying to keep my sunglasses on her face while swinging.


yesterday, madelyn and i had our first day in the basement office. madelyn really enjoyed having all the open space to run around in. we haven't gotten the dogs cleaned up and groomed yet, so they are mainly in their crates/cages when they aren't outside. plus, they are too excited to see madelyn and she doesn't like their forever kisses and bumping. she does love them and even brought her book out to read to lady. i know that she was "reading" because she pointed out everything she had a word or noise for as she turned the pages. it was so sweet. of course, she also tried to feed lady tissues... love.