Los Angeles Zoo

What a wonderful day!

When I got going this morning, I thought maybe we had picked a bad day to go to the zoo. It was overcast, foggy, and downright chilly outside. But, I knew how much Madilyn was looking forward to seeing all the animals, so we continued on our way. By the time we got to the zoo (near Burbank) it was nearly 20 degrees warmer! What a difference heading inland makes.

At the zoo we met up with my Aunt Kathleen, Uncle John, and Kathleen's mother, Allwyn. We're so blessed to leave near family in both directions during this assignment!

Madilyn loved the petting zoo. She enjoyed the soft fur of the sheep and brushing the goats.

Here we are checking out the elephants! Madilyn talked about these elephants all week long.

See the mud and dirt on his back? Even on her way to bed tonight she was still saying, "that elephant was throwing mud and dirt all over him! He needs a bath!"

We couldn't take a trip to the zoo without her puppy (leash that is). She was thrilled to have someone walking her around the park :)

The stroller is so easy to push when empty!

We stopped to catch a bit of shade and even Grace hammed it up for the camera.

Thank you everyone for a fun filled day. We had a great time!

Jerusalem Marketplace

Today we had to opportunity to attend a fun little function at the church some friends of ours. They had the church grounds set up to resemble a marketplace in the time of Jesus. There were pottery stands, drumming stations, etc. Madilyn really liked getting to make a cross necklace and listening to the worship band sing. She talked about the band the whole way home! It also makes me feel great when she sings along. I know at this age their little minds soak up everything and try to be very conscious about what she watches and listens to.

We were quite busy going from station to station, but I managed to get a few shots of her dancing along with our neighbors, Ann and baby Lydia.

As usual, Grace was on her best behavior as well!

Early Birthday Fun

We had a small pre-birthday celebration for Madilyn last weekend. We had a fun present for her we wanted to let her open before Matt left for Afghanistan. Thankfully, Matt's parents were also here and Don was able to help Matt with the assembly! It was quite a project, but they got in done perfectly.

Madilyn has spent the last week LOVING to jump outside. Here's a short video of her on her new trampoline :)

Disneyland!

Since Matt is deploying soon, we thought it would be fun to take Madilyn to Disneyland before he takes off. Matt's parents were able to spend the week with us and took wonderful care of Grace while we gave Madilyn some one-on-one attention :)

She had a great time and sure was EXHAUSTED at the end of the day!

Waiting in line for the Snow White ride. She did awesome with all of the lines!

Mommy and Daddy didn't mind the wait much either ;)

King Arthur's Carousel 

Dumbo!

 Madilyn couldn't stop talking about going to meet Mickey Mouse. She was a bit shy at first, but warmed right up to him. I think this may have been one of the highlights of her trip!

Here's a fun little video of Madilyn's first roller coaster ride in ToonTown

All in all we had a wonderful day and can't wait to do it again in the future :)