Madelyn's hair is (mostly) long enough now to pull back into a full ponytail! I think it makes her look so grown up.
Side view
Back view
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Our Very Own Slide
Sometimes Mommy actually comes up with something fun to do.
Wheee!
Madelyn loves going on slides. And these super-cool tights were a baby gift from my good friend Lana. So cute!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Whoa, maybe that's a little bit scary. 
Friday, July 25, 2008
Another Week of Cousins Camp
This week we learned about Pioneers. Aunt Emma helped the kids make ink to draw with by pressing blueberries.
Madelyn thought it tasted delicious.
While everyone else was inside listening to a pioneer story, Madelyn insisted on playing on the tractor outside, by herself.
Next year I'm going to lobby for a different time of day for Cousins Camp. It's impossible for Madelyn to take a nap in an unfmailiar bed when there is so much excitement going on, so she presses through it very tired and cranky. By cuddling up with her blanket on the hardwood floor, she demonstrates just how much she wants to take nap, even if she won't succumb to it. She always falls asleep before we've left my parents' driveway, and usually sustains the transfer from car to crib and goes right back to sleep at home for a while, too.
Reading a book with Bryson, while Lucy pays attention to the lesson (she's one of the only ones who really does--such a good girl!)
This particular day of Cousins Camp mysteriously left Madelyn extraordinarily dirty and disheveled. The picture doesn't even quite capture her disgustingness in all its glory, because you can only see half of the shirt muck, you can't feel the texture of her hair, and the blueberry stains all over her face aren't well-represented. But she still looks like a serious hot mess.
She is very sloppily signing "more" to ask for another Bing cherry, which is what her mouth is stuffed with. That's my darling baby! I adore her even so.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Aw, Shucks!
My apologies for the incredibly cheesy pun, but how could I resist?
Madelyn helped Daddy shuck the corn for dinner.
She is very good at putting the husks and the little silkies into the garbage can (she loves throwing away garbage in general).
Oops! We need to cook it first, Madelyn!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Splash Park
I just discovered that our neigborhood aquatic center has one of those splash parks, where water spurts out of various holes in the ground and other contraptions, creating much fun and frivolity for all. Someone in my MOMS club had organized an afternoon activity there, and I thought it would be a fun thing to do with Madelyn, since were able to make ourselves available at the time. Grandma Bonnie had been over at our house babysitting Madelyn while Gary and I attended a meeting, so I invited her to come along.
Madelyn isn't a natural "water baby," so I'm trying to encourage lots of water play whenever we can.
She warmed up to the idea eventually, and had fun touching a fountain and then running and squealing back to Mommy or Grandma to be picked up before heading off to another one.
I read about this photography technique of forcing the flash to fire, even when it's sunny outside. It makes a cool effect I think, compared to the relatively shadow-y photo below.
When Madelyn discovered she could drink from these little trickles, that's all she wanted to do.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Homeward Bound
On the way home from our camping adventure (the story begins here), we stopped for a quick lunch.
Madelyn just loves being with her cousins.
It looks like she is waving, but she is actually signing and saying "daddy" as she sees him approaching the table.
Swimming Pool
Yeah, we're camping. But that didn't stop us from playing in the pool and the hot tub on these beautiful days.
Madelyn likes wearing her life vest so much, we brought it to the kiddie pool. It was great because it helped her balance in the waist-deep water.
Throwing Ethan's diving sticks into the pool
A little bathing beauty
Relaxin' in the sun
Enjoying the flowers
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Campfire and Sleep
Reading stories with Grandpa and Jack around the campfire
Uncle Randy and family joined us Saturday night
I think that Madelyn's lack of sleep had accumulated enough by the second night that she had no problem with the padded pod. It was wonderful to see her go right to sleep and then be able to relax and catch a few zzz's myself!
In the middle of the night she was all curled up! And Daddy put her blanket back over her.
On the Boat
Now Madelyn gets to put that life jacket to its proper use on Uncle Bryan's boat! Well, I guess I shouldn't say that, because the life jacket was not in fact used for its purpose of saving her life (thank goodness!), but it was used in the proper setting.
The speed of the boat made it pretty windy, but Madelyn just chilled.
Bryan is so cool to let us bring Loki and Kezia on the boat, especially since he's still finding fur they left on the carpet 2 years ago!
Madelyn kind of freaked out when I jumped off the boat into the water. A little over-protective are we?
I told everyone to prepare for a "Shallow Hal" moment, but thankfully it wasn't too embarrassing.
I got Kezia to jump into the water and go for a swim with me. 
After a little while, my generous parents took Madelyn and the dogs back to the campground and let Gary and me enjoy a couple of relaxing hours on the lake with Bryan's and my cousin James' families. That was really special, and we appreciated it so much!
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Joy of Camping
...is kind of lost when you bring a 19-month-old. Camping is one of my most favorite activities ever. Lindsey's weekend sounds absolutely IDYLLIC to me. The first few hours of our first camping trip this summer were at the other end of the enjoyment spectrum.
Several family members were joining us on this trip, but we were the first to arrive at the campground. My parents are members of Thousand Trails, a private system of RV resorts. While I'll have fun doing pretty much anything outdoors, these resorts aren't my first choice. I do think it's fun to have the swimming pools/playgrounds/horseshoe pits/so much more. What bothers me the most is the "RV parking lot" setting. This one was actually pretty decent in that it was in a forested setting, so at least the parking lot was made of dirt and situated among tall trees rather than of cement pads among shrubs. My parents and my brother's family had reserved a couple of the rental trailer units in the park, while we were borrowing my dad's pop-up tent trailer. The host showed us the area where the rest of our party would be located on the map (the rental trailers are permanent fixtures), but said that all of the (first-come, first-served) camping spaces in the same area were full. So we drove through the rows and rows of gigantic RV's, in search of a suitable campsite. We found a couple of empty ones, and decided to get out and see how far it would be to walk to the rental trailers. It was really far, and the bathrooms were even further. We don't mind walking, and hey, I've been camping with no bathrooms. But we have a toddler this time. She won't usually stand to be carried for too long, and if we let her walk, it could be tomorrow before we reached the rest of the family because she has to eat every piece of gravel and examine every satellite dish along the way. So we opted for a different section of the campground: not as nice of a spot, but much closer to the bathrooms, and slightly closer to everyone else. We couldn't unpack and get settled, because my dad was kindly bringing the tent trailer we'd be staying in. After driving through nightmare traffic to get here, being less-than-thrilled with the accomodation situation, and struggling to prevent Madelyn from running away and/or ingesting maximum dirt threshold, our excitement about camping waned thinner by the moment. Actually, I was still trying to make the most of the situation, but my darling husband was having a really difficult time doing that.
When my parents arrived, my mom swiftly whisked Madelyn away to go explore while we set up the tent trailer. Just knowing we would have an extra set of hands (or six) was already lightening our mood. At least enough that we decided we wouldn't head home just yet.
When Bryan's family arrived, I stopped into their place on my way to check on Madelyn with Grandma. You know how when you're tense and emotional, and someone asks you, "What's wrong?" you'll inevitably lose it? Well, that happened, and Bryan was so sweet because he (and Laurel too) not only comforted me, but before I knew it he had taken Madelyn away with his kids to the playground. She was having a blast with Uncle Bryan, and Gary and I were able to work on getting settled in our little trailer.
But it gets better! My dad discovered an open campsite just across from their rental. It was a Christmas Miracle (except that this is July). He had already helped us get the tent trailer level, secured, and popped up, and now the guys took it all down and drove it over to the new spot to re-do everything. My dad was so cool about it, though, and didn't even think twice about the extra effort if it would make things easier for us and more enjoyable for everyone. Gary and I both thought that was really nice of my dad and we were so happy that he noticed the empty space!
The new location made all the difference in the world. For instance, our dogs have to be on a leash all the time, otherwise they will go exploring. So we tether them to a stake in the ground, which we would have had to keep moving between sites if we had been further away. Also, we didn't have to remember to "pack up" every little thing we might need if we wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's trailer, or for meals which we ate all together, because it was just 20 steps back to our trailer if we needed something else. We didn't have to make a special trek to see what everyone else was up to, and Madelyn could go play with the others pretty much any time.
Everything was just peachy-keen, but we still had the impending bedtime to contend with. Madelyn just doesn't get very many opportunities of late to practice going to sleep in places other than her crib. We were a bit worried about how it would go. I created a little padded pod on the floor for her to sleep in, but she wanted no part of it. So instead we practically forced her to lay down between us and she eventually slept pretty well, which is more than I can say for her parents.
Several family members were joining us on this trip, but we were the first to arrive at the campground. My parents are members of Thousand Trails, a private system of RV resorts. While I'll have fun doing pretty much anything outdoors, these resorts aren't my first choice. I do think it's fun to have the swimming pools/playgrounds/horseshoe pits/so much more. What bothers me the most is the "RV parking lot" setting. This one was actually pretty decent in that it was in a forested setting, so at least the parking lot was made of dirt and situated among tall trees rather than of cement pads among shrubs. My parents and my brother's family had reserved a couple of the rental trailer units in the park, while we were borrowing my dad's pop-up tent trailer. The host showed us the area where the rest of our party would be located on the map (the rental trailers are permanent fixtures), but said that all of the (first-come, first-served) camping spaces in the same area were full. So we drove through the rows and rows of gigantic RV's, in search of a suitable campsite. We found a couple of empty ones, and decided to get out and see how far it would be to walk to the rental trailers. It was really far, and the bathrooms were even further. We don't mind walking, and hey, I've been camping with no bathrooms. But we have a toddler this time. She won't usually stand to be carried for too long, and if we let her walk, it could be tomorrow before we reached the rest of the family because she has to eat every piece of gravel and examine every satellite dish along the way. So we opted for a different section of the campground: not as nice of a spot, but much closer to the bathrooms, and slightly closer to everyone else. We couldn't unpack and get settled, because my dad was kindly bringing the tent trailer we'd be staying in. After driving through nightmare traffic to get here, being less-than-thrilled with the accomodation situation, and struggling to prevent Madelyn from running away and/or ingesting maximum dirt threshold, our excitement about camping waned thinner by the moment. Actually, I was still trying to make the most of the situation, but my darling husband was having a really difficult time doing that.
When my parents arrived, my mom swiftly whisked Madelyn away to go explore while we set up the tent trailer. Just knowing we would have an extra set of hands (or six) was already lightening our mood. At least enough that we decided we wouldn't head home just yet.
When Bryan's family arrived, I stopped into their place on my way to check on Madelyn with Grandma. You know how when you're tense and emotional, and someone asks you, "What's wrong?" you'll inevitably lose it? Well, that happened, and Bryan was so sweet because he (and Laurel too) not only comforted me, but before I knew it he had taken Madelyn away with his kids to the playground. She was having a blast with Uncle Bryan, and Gary and I were able to work on getting settled in our little trailer.
But it gets better! My dad discovered an open campsite just across from their rental. It was a Christmas Miracle (except that this is July). He had already helped us get the tent trailer level, secured, and popped up, and now the guys took it all down and drove it over to the new spot to re-do everything. My dad was so cool about it, though, and didn't even think twice about the extra effort if it would make things easier for us and more enjoyable for everyone. Gary and I both thought that was really nice of my dad and we were so happy that he noticed the empty space!
The new location made all the difference in the world. For instance, our dogs have to be on a leash all the time, otherwise they will go exploring. So we tether them to a stake in the ground, which we would have had to keep moving between sites if we had been further away. Also, we didn't have to remember to "pack up" every little thing we might need if we wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's trailer, or for meals which we ate all together, because it was just 20 steps back to our trailer if we needed something else. We didn't have to make a special trek to see what everyone else was up to, and Madelyn could go play with the others pretty much any time.
Everything was just peachy-keen, but we still had the impending bedtime to contend with. Madelyn just doesn't get very many opportunities of late to practice going to sleep in places other than her crib. We were a bit worried about how it would go. I created a little padded pod on the floor for her to sleep in, but she wanted no part of it. So instead we practically forced her to lay down between us and she eventually slept pretty well, which is more than I can say for her parents.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Safety First!
While I was perparing for our camping trip, Madelyn discovered her life vest in the ever-growing packing pile. (I bought this for her last summer from craigslist, in hopes that my wonderful brother would take us out on the boat, which he did not. But he's bringing the boat camping, so we're ready!) I don't think Madelyn has ever seen a life jacket, but she instinctively knew it was to be worn, because she kept trying to put it on her head, then eventually brought it to me and held out her arm as one would to put on a jacket. So I put it on her, and she loved trying to buckle up the front, which she can actually do, although sometimes she gets the straps crossed.
The most surprising part is that the girl wandered around the house playing in her life vest. Here she is "coloring" (eating crayons) on the bean bag chair in her fancy new get-up.
I guess you never can be too careful. One could inadvertently stumble into a body of water at any moment. Good thinking, Madelyn.
The most surprising part is that the girl wandered around the house playing in her life vest. Here she is "coloring" (eating crayons) on the bean bag chair in her fancy new get-up.
I guess you never can be too careful. One could inadvertently stumble into a body of water at any moment. Good thinking, Madelyn.
What the?!?
I just wanted to share with you that I am up early this morning to finish posting my latest photos. Since we're leaving to go camping tomorrow, I want the blog to be up to date and ready for new adventures when we return. Yesterday Madelyn slept in until almost 9:00am, but she usually wakes up around 7:15am. This morning, after 5 or 10 minutes of blogging, she's talking to herself in her crib--at 6:35am. I'm not too happy about her timing. Is my laptop clicking too loud for the little princess? Maybe she'll go back to sleep. Shhhhh.
7:15 update: No. No, she won't.
7:15 update: No. No, she won't.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Cannon Beach
Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the creation of The Winter Family. To celebrate, we spent the evening playing at Cannon Beach and dining on Mo's clam chowder.
Madelyn loved playing in the sand and running in the water.
The picture above captures an hilarious memory of the day: I was trying to get a picture of Madelyn standing between our shadow holding hands. But she wasn't in on the goal, so Gary and I were running around chasing her, holding hands, and saying "Now!" "Go!" "Aaaah--the camera won't shoot!" "Wait, come back Madelyn!" It was pretty funny. Maybe you had to be there. We have a lot of awesome pictures where Madelyn's head is cut off, and I think the effect is sort of ruined by the shadow of the camera's wrist strap blowing away from my face shadow. Sigh.
Copying Daddy and Mommy washing feet.
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