Schnepf Farms

This year, we decided to take a ride to Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek to help put us in the Halloween spirit. Mac, Ethan, and Auntie Kim were in town so we convinced them to come along for the fun!

 

Unfortunately, it was the hottest day of the month, so  we definitely appreciated the shaded areas at the farm. Although going on a Friday proved to be a perfect idea! There were lots of field trip kids around when we got there, but after an hour they all loaded the buses and were gone. We just about had the entire farm to ourselves (or so it seemed)!

Schnepf Farms has lots to do and see...

One of our first stops was the petting zoo. Madelyn was really excited to see what kind of animals they had. We saw a cow, horse, goats, pigs, and even huge turkey! Madelyn had a great time sliding into the goat pen with her cousins!

 

 

 

  

Madelyn even had her first pony ride! (Doesn't she looked thrilled?)

There were also lots of rides to go on, most of which were just right for Madelyn. There was only one that she was too small for (the swings), but her cousins had fun on those while she did the airplanes.

Oh, yah... and we even found some nice pumpkins!

It was a great day spent with cousins, and we look forward to going again!

National "Day of Play"

Today Madelyn and I met some friends at a local park for a play date. We didn't know it when it was being organized, but as it turned out, today is Nickelodeon's National Day of Play. It worked out perfectly because we spent the entire morning at the park.

Unfortunately, the weather is still well above where most cities are this time of year. (I believe today's high was 103.) Since we were at the park in the morning, it wasn't terrible, but I'll be honest, by 11:30, I was sweaty and hot. Of course Madelyn and her friends weren't bothered in the least.

We started the morning at Lola's Coffee. A cafe moca and banana nut muffin was a great treat to start our day!

 

Then we were off to Steele Park. We met two of my friends who work in the district, Krista and Lorisa, who both have daughters about the same age as Madelyn (Scout and Eva).

It was really fun watching the kids together. 

Sometimes they played side by side...

... and other times they were off doing their own thing.

I think all the mommies enjoyed having a little time to talk about life with toddlers, too. Although I'm not sure we were ever able to finish any of our conversations, it was still great hearing that we were each experiencing some of the same things with our girls. We even talked about having a "Mommy's Night" where we might get to finish some of those conversations over a glass of wine. ;)
 

Just Monkeying Around

For the last several months Madelyn has insisted on wearing our bath robes. She loves for us to wrap her up and snuggle with her on the "big bed." Although extremely adorable, we decided it was time for her to have a robe of her own.

When this special package arrived, it was like Christmas. Her face lit up and she had to put it on immediately. I told her she'd be able to wear it after her bath tonight (mostly so I'd have a chance to wash it). And she couldn't have been happier...

 

 

Madelyn's New Quilt

We have been anxiously awaiting a very special gift from Auntie Kim for a couple months, and this week it finally arrived!

When Madelyn was still an infant, Auntie Kim made a quilted blanket for her. I fell in love with it, and soon it became the one we used for everything… night time, nap time, trips in the car, etc. But it didn’t take long before Madelyn was too big for the blanket to cover her. She still slept with it, but it wasn’t big enough for her to use as her only blanket.

So, a couple months ago when we decided to get Madelyn a twin-sized bed, I called Auntie Kim and, having absolutely NO idea about the process, I mentioned to her how great it would be to have a similar blanket that would fit on a twin size bed. The longer we talked about it, the more excited we both got.

On her next visit to Phoenix, we went shopping for fabric. Unfortunately, this proved to be a bust. We visited several stores and did not come across anything that even sparked an interest. We decide to hold off, not wanting to buy fabric that would just “be okay.” We knew if we kept looking it would eventually come together.

Kim ended up sending me some links to websites that sell coordinating fabric. I was a little hesitant as first, not really sure if I’d be able to get a good idea of the fabric’s colors online. However, once I started perusing the websites she sent me, I was onboard!

We ended up going with a fabric line called Dolly Dresses, by Holly Holderman for LakeHouse Dry Goods. There were a lot of lines I liked, but honestly, once I saw the light pink fabric with bunnies on it, I told Auntie Kim that line was the one for us! As you probably already know, Madelyn has been obsessed with her pink bunny since she was very young. We don’t go anywhere without him, and we have to have several on hand in case he gets lost, or needs a bath. ;)

So, Kim did some research and found a couple different websites where some of the fabric was on sale. I really appreciate all the leg work she did to help get the project started.

From time to time, over the next couple months, Auntie Kim would send a picture of the process, and we would get even more excited. When we would snuggle with Madelyn at night we’d talk about how wonderful it was going to be to have a new blanket to cuddle with at night.

Here are some pictures of the quilt from the very beginning stages to the completed project. Auntie Kim is amazing!

She even surprised us with a matching pillow sham! It's absolutely adorable with ties on the back!

You can also read more about the exact quilting science on her blog, Two Boys and a Beagle.

Once I found out that the quilt had shipped, I tracked it pretty closely so I would know when it was getting close. Madelyn and I even had our own little countdown for the days until we got “the blanket.”

The day it arrived at my office I could hardly stand it when one of our techs brought it over to me. I ripped open the box and pulled everything out! I was caught somewhere between teary-eyed and obnoxiously spastic, as I ran around showing anyone who would pay attention to me. ;)

When I picked up Madelyn hat afternoon, I brought the box into Grammy’s house so everyone could see it. Oh. my. goodness. We were all so excited! Madelyn quickly wanted to jump on top of it, so we had to remind her this was a brand new blanket for her bed and she would need to take her shoes off first. Within two seconds she had her shoes off and was ready to snuggle into her blanket.

Madelyn could hardly wait to go to bed that first night! I was lucky enough to be chosen for snuggles that night, so we spent some time getting the new quilt tucked in just right. Unfortunately, I found out very quickly just how possessive Madelyn was going to be with this new blanket. After just a few minutes of snuggling, Madelyn rolled over and said, “Mommy. Get off. You’re squishing my blanket.”

And that was the beginning of a new routine at night. We still snuggle, but she is all about her new blanket and doesn’t need much more than a few minutes of snuggle time now. As a matter of fact, even tonight (four nights later), when I told her we needed to brush teeth and go potty before bed, she stopped immediately and yelled, “AND SNUGGLE IN MY NEW BLANKET!”

Thanks, Auntie Kim for making such a unique quilt that Madelyn will be able to treasure forever. We love you!