Last year for father’s day we went to Ladew Gardens for their Father’s Day concert with the Crawdaddies. So this year, in what is becoming a nice tradition, we along with several friends & their munchkins headed to Ladew Gardens for this year’s show. What a beautiful evening, the weather was perfect, the band was good and everyone had a lot of fun dancing around and exploring the grounds at Ladew. Check out Daddy’s Day 09 page for a few more photos.
Daddy’s day 09
July 2nd, 2009Florida friends visit
June 26th, 2009
Last week our good friends from Florida the Bonday’s paid us a visit. Mike had planned a camping trip with the family pop up camper for himself and his boys Andrew & Nicholas. So they arrived on a Friday, we got the camper set up and they were with us all week. Madeleine was beside herself running around and playing with the boys, and as yu can see they didn’t mind letting her tag along either. check the Bonday’s visit
Celebrating with the Double G
June 4th, 2009
My grandmom celebrated her 80th birthday this year !!! The family had a surprise party for her at my uncle Joe’s house and everyone came !!! my aunt Jane from Oregon, my uncle Jimmy from Chicago and of course the rest of the locals came out. Madeleine got to meet all sorts of new folks, from people she may never see again to cousins that she had a great time running around with. It was also the debut of Maddie’s new purple, or heliotrope, Keen sandals. She had a great time wearing herself out with all the kids running around the yard kicking the ball and just plain having fun !!! Most important though was she got to spend some time with the Double G, or great grandmom. Maddie even wished her a happy birthday.
Hitting the trail
June 3rd, 2009
Earlier this summer I bought a bike cart to pull Maddie in behind my bike. She was a bit reluctant at first but after a spin around the yard she settled in nicely. Kathleen and I figured a cruise along the Ma&Pa would be cool…so we loaded up the gear and headed out for a family ride. Maddie was again a bit reluctant but once Kathleen rolled up along side and waved to her the munchkin settled in and just enjoyed the ride. I’m hoping to take her on a ride on the NCR trail sometime soon for some fun.
Doggies & Ducks
May 11th, 2009
I had an assignment last weekend to cover the 2009 Havre de Grace Decoy festival. One of the great things about my job is that on assignments like this Maddie & Kathleen can come along and wander around while get a few pics and it makes for a fun family event. Maddie was allll about the fun !! She got to help decorate a Wood duck box, looked at some very nice wildlife art including making friends with the artists and of course she got to be up close and personal with one of her favorite things right now PUPPIES !!!!! Corky, the yellow lab in the photo was great…she sat up and let Maddie pet her for a few minutes before paying down for another nap. Her owner, decoy carver Mike Smyner, was very nice and enjoyed talking with Maddie. Please check the Doggies & Ducks page for more pics.
Eli’s first Birthday party
April 22nd, 2009 
elis-birthday-party (click here for video) Maddie’s friend Eli celebrated his 1st birthday last Saturday, officially April 15th, with a fun party at Eli’s house. There were many munchkins there to help celebrate and Madeleine enjoyed every minute. There was even a two week old baby that she was FASCINATED with her. Madeleine kept walking to the baby and trying to touch the baby & rock her in her car seat and kept pointing to her nose and saying “baby nose”. She made a new friend with a little boy named Jacob as well as pretty much every other kid there too. Eli loved his gift from Maddie, a big dump truck with a scoop and blocks…it seemed to be a big hit !! For a birthday cake there were cupcakes and of course Maddie and Eli got a little messy with the icing. Be sure to take a look at the Eli’s 1st B-day page for more photos.
Easter 2009
April 22nd, 2009
Yes, I know I’m a bit late with this entry but it’s been a bit busy lately. Maddie enjoyed Easter a bit more this year. She got a really nice bunny stuffed animal from Poppy & Nonnie along with some other fun stuff and a basket of goodies from Grams & Gramps. Nothing spectacular but she enjoyed pulling the fake grass out of the baskets and playing with everything.
Munchkin on the Move : month 13
April 14th, 2009maddie-walk-3 (click here to view movie) So for month number 13 we’ve truly reached a milestone…Madeleine is now officially walking on her own !! She has been walking with some help from people, walls, tables etc. but now she’s put it together and she’s a baby on the move. Her vocabulary is still growing like crazy. She repeats just about anything you say to her and I’ve really had to start watching what I say around her. Purple is one of the newer ones, I tried to get her to say Ravens along with purple…she’s working on it. We’ll have it nailed by football season !!
Back to the Playground
April 9th, 2009
Spring has sprung !! A week or so ago it was just too nice a day to be inside so Kathleen & I thought we could take a family stroll on the trail. We called Amy & Bryan to see if they would like to join us & of course, bring Eli. They agreed and we met at Annie’s Playground. We never really walked the trail but everyone had a lot of fun swinging, sliding and just playing. Kathleen and I had taken Maddie to the playground when she was 5 months and she had a great time on the swings but this time was a lot different. She went down the slide, crawled through the big tubes and of course had some fun on the swings. Please check out the Back to the Playground page for some more fun !!
The Big ONE
March 11th, 2009maddie-bday698 
Well, Madeleine has officially made it through the first year and no major scars to speak of !! She had her first birthday party at Grams & Gramps house last weekend and had a great time entertaining everyone. she got lots of cool presents like the tutu, which she loved as you can see !! We went for her one year check up Tuesday and the doctor says she’s doing great. Of course Madeleine was standing on the examine table in her diaper and when the doctor walked in Maddie started waving and saying ” Hi, Hi” and giggling that infectious little giggle !!! I am hoping to start posting more video now that she is about to start walking any day and is talking up a storm. I will of course still be shooting still photos, that will never stop. So enjoy the videos…I have several more to edit from her birthday party so please be sure to check back !!!