Un-Labor Day in DC

National Zoo (Maddie's First Zoo Trip)

Just Chilin'

Inside the Tropical Atrium

Two Little Monkeys

Little monkey. No cage.

Real cute until he starts climbing above your head. Watch out!

Signing Fish

National Mall / Air & Space Museum

Washington Monument

The Herkimer Diamond... a shout out to dad!

M's on Cloud 9

Intimidation

CCCP = USSR

Maddie's new favorite sign - AIRPLANE!!!

Hey yo! Let's take the Subway.

Pint-Sized Pirate

Reenactment of pirates pillaging Beufort, NC.

(Black Beards old stomping grounds)

Pirate Party (BYOP)

A chance encounter w/ Captain Jack

Good-bye sunhat!

Pirate Booty

Show Me a Sign

Madelyn is learning how to communicate with sign language. She has learned a lot of words and uses them every chance she gets.

Signs she has learned to date:

• Apple
• Baby
• Ball
• Banana
  
• Bird
• Boots
• Carrot
• Cat
• Cheese
• Dog
• Finished
• Fish
• Flower
• Food/Eat
• Hat
• Head
• Milk
• Nose
• More
• Orange
• Shoe
• Table
• Tree
• Water
• Watermelon

Madelyn Signing Video

Spoken words are slower to come. She can say:

• Dada
• Mama
• Dog (Dogs are Maddie's all time favorite thing... after Mom and Dad, of course. )
• Nyenyenye (No!)

Grandpa's Girls

Grandpa Bob came to visit Madelyn this summer. It was wonderful to see them together. Madelyn is slow to warm up to most strangers, but it didn't take her long to realize that Grandpa was someone special. She called him "GaGa" and followed him around the house. Madelyn even let him hold her (without screaming hysterically) within the first day of meeting her. Amazing! Here a some pictures documenting their fun time together.

Backyardigans

Beach Adventures: North Topsail & Hammock's Beach

Two-Headed Beach Monster

Snack Time ...Stormtrooper Style

Sleeping Like a Baby

Memorial Day at Hammock's Beach

We celebrated Memorial Day by visiting Hammock's Beach State Park. It is a pristine barrier island that doesn't get much traffic. In order to visit the island you have to ride a ferry or drive your own boat. The ferry drops patrons off on the intercoastal side of the island. After a .5 mile walk you reach the beautiful Atlantic ocean. On a side note, Annie is nominating Hammock's Beach as the 2012 Family Reunion destination. The island is set up with campsites, showers and public restrooms.

Many people we met throughout the day claimed that Hammock's Beach is North Carolina's best kept secret. We have a lot of North Carolina yet to explore, but we agree that Hammock's Beach is a fantastic vacation destination! See you Summer 2012.

Ferry Ride: Waiting & Riding

Exploring the Beach

Beach Baby Video 1

Beach Baby Video 2

Beach Siesta. This is the life!

More Playing and a Grand Adieu

XOXO- Maddie

1st Birthday Bash

Maddie celebrated her 1st birthday one day early. In Annie's opinion it's never to early to get the party started. It also helps to plan these things around friend's availability, because a party just isn't a party without guests. Before the guests arrived Maddie and Mama made a little film (M & M Time Video).

Then we got everything in order:

• Guest of Honor: check
• Guests: check
• Cake: check
• Icecream: check
• Ridiculously Large #1 Candle: check
• Matches/lighter/car lighter...anything that produced fire: ....oops!

Never fear, Annie followed a trail of cigarette butts to the neighbors house and secured a lighter. Candle torched, song sung, vicarious wish made by Mama, and on to the birthday cake. You'll see in the video that Maddie didn't know what to make of her cupcake. After she tasted it, she liked it, but never got too enthusiastic about it. Something tells me that by B-day #2, she'll have the cupcake thing all figured out.

Cupcake Video

Presents Video (This film is especially for Grandma Diane and Grandma Linda. We weren't able to film all the present opening, but we did capture this little scene. Thank you for the wonderful presents!)

Hello

Alright folks, this another attempt. We'll mostly be putting up pictures. Stay tuned for more.