zoo buddies

i worked all day yesterday so that madelyn and i could go to the zoo with some friends this morning. we actually met up with 5 other families and had a very nice morning. some of the other moms had the great idea to take pictures of some of the kids sitting together. i couldn't believe how well everyone sat still! it was a little difficult to get them all to look the same way and smile, but they were pretty cute. (the only good one i got with them all looking at me came out blurry.)

today was the first day at 80 degrees since last september and we were very excited to be outside! the zoo was busy, but not so bad that it couldn't be enjoyed. madelyn loved having her friends with her! she also liked having all their moms there too. she kept taking their hands (the moms') and telling them to come and see the animals. she just loves to share everything - food, experiences, information, etc.

there is a map in the ape house that madelyn just loves. i think she likes it more than the primates. today she was counting the number of monkey markers on the map.

she fell asleep on the way home - as expected, but did not sleep an extra hour like she normally does after a trip to the zoo (not that i am complaining because she still slept for 2 hours). she woke up just before one of my meetings this afternoon, but she quietly watched a few cartoons while i took care of some work. then she ate her lunch. i had packed lunch in her veggietales lunch box for the zoo, but we left without eating it because it was getting late. she doesn't normally eat lunch on days we go to the zoo, so it wasn't a big deal. she really liked getting to eat out of a lunch box. i will definitely have to pack her up a lunch again - just for fun.

after spending the rest of the afternoon sitting at the dining room table 'reading' brochures about gardening plants and telling me about the seeds that she and daddy are growing (there will be another post about that later), we decided to take her friend ava up on a swimming invitation. ava had the coolest pool! there was a slide in the middle of it and madelyn had a wonderful time playing with ava - i think ava enjoyed having madelyn to play with too. here is one of her first trips down the slide and the only time she didn't sit on her way down. i should have gotten more video but was too busy chatting with ava's family.

and just in case madelyn's day wasn't full enough already, she got to eat her first dinner sitting outside (since being in a highchair). daddy grilled some turkey burgers and madelyn thought it was so exciting to be able to eat outside. and since we were outside we let her have an ice cream cone 'treat'. the thought was that we could go messy because we could just let the dogs up on the deck to lick everything up after she was done and she could head straight to the bathtub. while waiting for the burgers to cook madelyn was singing an original "mickey mouse dance" song and jamming by herself. once i took the video madelyn realized that this was a good show. she then demanded that mommy and daddy come and watch - over and over. enjoy her show!

on last note - yesterday, madelyn discovered that my belly button is an outtie now. she thought that it was so funny and kept trying to pinch it - which tickled me. she was then "kissing brother" over and over (aka kissing my belly).

as you can see she had a really full day! hopefully, this means that she will sleep later than 6am for once! love.