Fairmont Hot Springs

Last Christmas, Tyler and I won "The Newlywed Game" at a party... and our prize was a free night at Fairmont Hot Springs! With less than three weeks left in Montana, we decided that we should probably use it!!!

It was a beautiful day when we got there... so of course Maddi wanted to play outside and pet the animals. Then we hit the pool! She had a blast and the water was WARM!

We hit the pool again in the morning and even ventured the water slide! It took her a few times to warm up to the idea of the slide, but loved it by the end.

Not even 10 minutes out of the hotel... and she was OUT!!! We had a great weekend!!!!!

Now... about that packing!

Gibson Park

All Great Falls "locals" know that if you have stale, left-over bread the thing to do is take it down to Gibson Park and let the birds fight over it! We decided we'd take Maddi down for her first "big girl" time there. ( She went when she was much smaller... and would have just eaten the bread herself) This time though, she was pretty enthralled when she saw all the birds. Daddy had to help her feed them; Mommy was scared they were going to mistake her toes for sausages! Maddi and Tyler broke the bread into tiny pieces and fed it to the birds... Maddi loved it! The birds there are pretty brave and come right up to you, so she didn't really even have to "throw" it as much as just drop it!

After a little while with the birds, we went over the the park they have there. Maddi has become quite skilled at sliding and swinging!

Long Day

Well, it's that time of year around here... FAIR!!! We took Maddi to the fair last year, but I'm pretty sure she just rode around in her baby pack the whole time! This year however, Daddy and Mommy were so excited to take her because we were sure she would LOVE it. I don't know if "LOVE IT" would be the words Maddi would use to describe the fair though.

We went to the pool earlier today, so she was exhausted from playing in the water. By the time we actually got the fair after Daddy got off work, it was not far from her usual bedtime! She was a real trooper though. She went on all the rides that we took her on and didn't seem to mind; she just didn't LOVE them. As you can see from the pictures, the giant slide is my personal favorite. Tyler seemed to love the hot air balloon ride! Maddi... generally unimpressed! I can't say I blame her. All the kiddo rides just go in circles; I thought I was going to throw up on a few of them.

Oh well, there is always next year!

What will Maddi eat today?

It has been quite the challenge lately figuring out what Maddi will eat. One day she loves something and the next day she hates it. She is a pretty good eater, once you actually figure out the mystery...

I thought I would just share pictures of some of the things that she has "tried" lately!

Ps... she does love yogurt... so when all else fails!

Pss... she is a hoarder, she will hold meat in those sweet little cheeks for hours and then later, opens her mouth and out falls chicken or hamburger! Too funny!

Denver

Well... from Seattle, we flew to Denver for Ty's graduation from Colorado State University. We also met up with Danny, Summer, and Brynn there! We had an awesome weekend. We got there on Thursday and were able to spend the night with a great friend that we knew from Vandenburg! The next day we got up and went to Tyler's graduation which was in Fort Collins, CO. After graduation, we headed back into Denver to meet up with Danny and Summer. The girls loved being able to play with each other. We did some shopping, eating, and the Zoo. They were so cute together! Can't wait to see Brynn again in a few weeks!!

Seattle

It has been a LONG time since I updated Maddi's blog (Sorry Ono's), but we have been pretty busy these last few weeks. Tyler's Guela passed away the first week of May, so we went back to Seattle for the funeral. We are going to miss Guela deeply and wish that Maddi could have grown up a little more so that she could realize what a great woman her Guela was. However, we know that she is hanging out with Guelo again... except when she is in the back seat making Maddi giggle ; )

Anyway, we were able to spend some great times with Tyler's whole family while we were there. It was great to be able to see everyone. We were able to get out and enjoy the nice Seattle weather a bit. Here are some of the family pics....

Maddi's 1st Birthday!

Okay... so it's a month or so, okay almost two months after Maddi's birthday and I am just now posting this! We've been busy! Busy! Busy!

Maddi's birthday was fabulous! We had an "Ugly Doll" theme! Maddi LOVES her uglies. Most of them are in her crib and when she wakes up in the morning, she talks to them, snuggles them, and on the rare occasion tosses them over the edge so they are free to roam the room!

Lots of friends and aunties and uncles came for the party! We had snacks ( and beer for the uncles), played games, and made our own UGLY dolls... they we're real cute!

Maddi had the best 1st birthday ever!!!!

Cheese or CHEEEEESE?

So, I've been taking Maddi's pictures so often that when she sees the camera.... instant "ham". We quite frequently say "CHEEEESE" when we take her picture and we get this very practiced fake smile.

Today, I was giving her a snack that happened to be cheese. I kept asking her if she wanted more cheese and I kept getting the fake CHEEEESE smile. It took me a minute to figure out that Maddi was associating the word that we use when we take her picture to the food that she was cramming into her mouth! It was so funny.

I love the personality that she is developing! Recently, she has also started furrowing her brow.. but I have yet to catch that one on camera...mostly because as soon as she sees the camera.... CHEEEESE!!!!!

Chillaxin'

I took Maddi to the park today while we were out. She is at the stage where other kids are amazing to her. She will just sit, watch, and laugh at them while they run around. We met another "Maddi" at the park today that wanted to feed Maddi the wood chips. Luckily, Maddi decided they didn't taste very good!

She LOVED the swing. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture to depict the faces that she was making. At one point, she just kicked back in the swing, spread her arms, closed her eyes and had this huge smile on her face. It was like she doing the "Titanic" move only she was "Queen of the Playground". It was enough to melt my heart many times over! I can only hope that the SNOW stays gone for good this time and we can spend all summer on a playground! It'll be our mission... hit every playground in great falls! I'm sure there are some real winners!!!

Maddi and The Uglies

We were first introduce to "Ugly Dolls" by Alexander, he has a giant one. We thought it would be fun to start "collecting" them for Maddi. Brianna started her off with the pink one, and we've picked up the other ones on trips that we've been on! She has 2 from Vegas and one from Seattle. We try to look for fun ones that she'll love. She keeps them all in her crib with her and loves to talk to them when she wakes up. I thought it would be fun to take her picture with them all lined up today... Maddi didn't really feel like cooperating! But it was fun anyway! And she has developed this really sillly "smile" when she sees the camera!

Easter

Maddi's 1st Easter:

It was pretty mellow I'm sure as Easter's go. She is still pretty young to understand it all, but she did have fun playing with her eggs. She loves holding the real eggs for some reason! We didn't get her a big basket full of candy, mostly because daddy would have just ended up eating it all, but we did get her a walker toy. She was pretty unsure at first, but she is starting to get the hang of it now, even though it moves a lot faster than she is expecting it to on the hardwood floors. Her other present was a set of keys, because she is always wanting mine when we go anywhere!

We went to church and afterwards Uncle Chris came over for dinner. It was a beautiful day outside so we had grilled chicken and ribs! Yummy. Anyway, Maddi didn't stay in her dress for very long, because as everyone knows, it is hard to crawl in a dress!

I am looking forward to next Easter when she will be in her prime easter egg hunting age!

Big Sky

Yeah, so I am a bit behind. These are just a few of my favorites from our weekend at Big Sky Ski Resort a few weekends ago. It was a very special weekend because Maddi got to meet Cooper for the first time (oh and Tomo and Abby too). Her "Uncle" Ryan also flew in all the way from California. It was awesome to have the gang back together again. Though none of them are as willing to admit it (or shed a tear about it) as I am, it's been hard since everyone is going their separate ways and moving all over the country. We did a lot of discussing about what our next gathering would be... we're not sure yet, but I think we all agreed that we need somewhere sunny with water!!!

I loved watching Maddi interact with everyone... She and Cooper are sure to be friends from now till the end of time (like the rest of us) and as someone else pointed out... with "uncles" like Brandon, Chris, Ryan and Tomo... look out boys of the future!!!

Seattle fun!

Ferndale WA: Super 8: 3 Kids: 3 Adults= FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN

Tyler and I made a trip to "Seattle" to see Guela (tyler's grandmother). Friday, we loaded up the car from Ty's parents house to start the 3 hour journey to Ferndale WA... and when I say loaded, I mean loaded. Not one more thing would have fit even if we wanted it to! Anyway... we made a pit stop in Seattle to see Frankie (Tyler's brother)~he's the newest "BEAN SLINGER" at the original Starbucks on Pike Street! We also had some of the worlds best macaroni at Beecher's! After that, we hopped back in the car for the other 2 hours of the drive. Finally we made it! We've been having lots fun! We got to spend a lot of time with Guela so far! The kids have been having a blast in the pool! Tonight it's dinner and margaritas (more margaritas than dinner) with Guela at a Chihuahua's mexican restaurant.

Let the fun begin!

Do you see what I see?

Yes... if you can look past the toast, you will see the beginning evidence of two little teeth making their way up and out! Maddi has been a trooper about getting these little chompers and so far she hasn't chomped on anything too inappropriate...YET. She has been a little stubborn about showing them to us though.... the only way I got this pic was to get her to laugh at me by doing something ridiculous. I think she was just trying to save the viewing until they were all the way ready! Just waiting for some more so she can start experiencing more and more food... like Girl Scout Cookies! Wait, I'm not sure I am ready to share those!