On our way to Indiana!

It feels like we've been counting down the days until this trip forever! But here we are, ready to get out of town and hang out with Auntie Kim and "the boys!"

But, before we could see everyone, we had a little bit of traveling to do, so off to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport we went!

We enjoyed breakfast at the airport while we waited for our flight to board.

Madelyn is all set, and comfortable for take-off!

The flight attendant gave Madelyn wings!

Madelyn said take-off was like riding a roller coaster!

About 1 1/2 hours into the flight Madelyn took a nap to pass the time.

Auntie Kim and Ethan were waiting for us when we arrived! Madelyn could hardly wait to get this trip started. After all, Mom and Dad were heading to Green Bay for the weekend and she got to go on this trip to Auntie's without us! She thought that was pretty cool!

Too grown up for her own good!

"Scientific Tooth Research"

Madelyn's class has been learning all about writing and I believe she has officially caught the writing bug! Tonight she decided to write a book entitled, "Scientific Tooth Research." (Yep. She came up with that all by herself! Honestly, I don't know where she gets this stuff.) 

I decided to share it with you because it is too sweet not to share. Forgive the pictures (I did not have enough energy to scan them, so I just used my phone. You can click the images to make them larger.)

First Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Several years ago (October 8, 2008, to be exact) I posted that Madelyn's first tooth broke through the surface! Now, just over 5 years later, she lost her first tooth!

Her tooth has been wiggly for about two weeks now. When it started getting really wiggly, Madelyn couldn't keep her fingers out of her mouth! She was so excited to lose this tooth! Several of her friends have lost teeth, and I think she was very excited to join this elite club! She had been coming home every day telling us that she was going to have her teacher pull it out soon. That really grosses me out so I told her that was fine by me, but she shouldn't rush it because if she forces it out too soon the new tooth won't be ready. (I am pretty sure I made that up, although it makes perfect sense to me. I think honestly, I was just not ready for this to happen.)

I received the following email from Madelyn's teacher on Friday morning:

I responded that it was fine by us so long as she took a before and after picture for us!

Less than one hour later, she sent an email saying the tooth was out! And she included these pictures:

Mrs. Musselman said it came out quite easily and there were no tears! She commented that Madelyn asked her if she needed some tweezers or something. HA! We agreed that Mrs. Musselman did indeed miss her calling as a dentist! Apparently she pulls out all the teacher's kids' teeth! I informed her that Madelyn will be coming to her from now on, until all her baby teeth are out! ;)

We remembered Madelyn's pediatrician telling us that she will loose her teeth in the order they come in so we were anxious to do some research, and look what we found! You can see her first tooth popping through, and low and behold it's the exact one that came out first!

Madelyn was sure to put her tooth into her very special Tooth Fairy pillow. When she woke up in the morning she was so excited that she left her FIVE DOLLARS! I think the Tooth Fairy business must be doing well because I certainly don't recall getting 5 bucks for any of MY teeth. We told Madelyn it must be because it was her very first one. She agreed. And she also said the Tooth Fairy was quite noisy. Apparently she heard her open her closet door, and she also heard a little "ting" from her wand. Maybe that's why she left her five dollars. Maybe she felt bad for being so noisy. ;)

The Lion King

We were so excited to bring Madelyn to the stage production of The Lion King! As you all know, she loves to sing and dance, and we had heard such great things about this performance that we wanted to make a night of it.

Being the frugal gal that I am, I waited to purchase the tickets because I was hoping to find a good deal somewhere. And I did. The only drawback was that the tickets were for a Wednesday night, and the show would be at 7:30 pm. I was a little concerned because that meant we wouldn't get home until almost 11 pm. But… we decided it was a great opportunity, and we really wanted to let Madelyn experience the arts like this (especially at a discounted price)!

Grammy and Papa even decided to join us for the evening, which made it extra special! We had dinner at PF Changs and then headed over to ASU Gammage for the show.

The show was everything we expected and then some! WOW! And after the show, Madelyn immediately asked if we could come back and do it again! We said, "Absolutely!"

First Piano Recital

Today was Madelyn's first piano recital! She started taking lessons just after she turned five, and has really been enjoying it!

She was extremely nervous and had been talking all week about not being sure she could do a good job. We continued to encourage her and tried to remind her that it's not about being perfect. Instead, it's about getting up there and trying your very best and having fun.

We had been reminding her that if she made a mistake she needed just keep playing and not start over. Being the little perfectionist she is, this was a difficult concept for her. All week long she would practice and occasionally make a mistake, at which point she'd start the song over. I really wasn't sure how that was going to work at the recital, hoping that we wouldn't be listening to her replay the same songs until she got them perfect.

Getting a new outfit for her recital was certainly a bonus, one that sparked a bigger interest in performing in front of a crowd. I mean, after all, if she could wear her fancy new outfit it really wouldn't matter if she messed up, right? Right.

The recital was held at Burton Barr Public Library in Phoenix, and WOW! What a library! It was huge!

Madelyn was super excited that Grammy could come with to watch her play! She said it was important to have people who love you in the audience. I agree. ;)

Grammy helped with some pre-recital adjustments on Madelyn's dress, and of course had a little extra time for another photo op.

Madelyn did a fantastic job playing her three songs. She made a few mistakes, but I have to say I was so incredibly proud of her for keeping things going, and not getting frustrated. She even commented afterwards that she "messed up" but kept going! YAY!

Here's a clip of her performance:

When she was finished, and sitting back in her seat, she turned around to us and smiled a BIG smile! I am sure she was a little bit of relieved, and also a little excited!

Here's a group shot of Miss Whitney and her students, as well as one with just Miss Whitney and Madelyn:

WE LOVE MISS WHITNEY!

After the recital, Miss Whitney invited everyone to NYPD Pizza for dinner! It was fun celebrating Madelyn's very first recital!