The Carousel of Happiness

Needless to say we have kept very busy this summer during our Colorado visit. One of the first weekends that we were here, we headed up to Nederland to fulfill two wishes. Wish one was Hailey wanted to go to "her mountains" and wish two was that the girls wanted to go on a carousel ride. Check and double check, thanks Gra and Grandpa!!

The story of this carousel is actually kind of neat. A man bought the carousel about 25 years ago and began carving each of the characters on the carousel by hand. The profits from the carousel go to children with special needs, and the rides are only $1.00 a person. What a great way to spend a Sunday in Colorado. For more information about the Carousel of Happiness visit: http://www.carouselofhappiness.org/flashcarousel/flash.html

Hailey riding the mermaid.

Grandpa, Madi, and Hailey

Grandpa had a pretty good time!

The girls enjoying the mountain air!

As we were headed back home Hailey said to me "Mommy, I said that I wanted to go to my mountains today." I replied, "Hailey, we were in the mountains all day today." "No Mommy, this is just a bunch of rocks and trees, not the mountains!!"

Breckenridge

Here are a few more pictures from this last weekend.

Hailey and (Great) Aunt Mary Alison on the gondola.

Madi and Mommy

Hailey flying high!

My Little Dare Devil

This past weekend we rented a townhouse and spent the weekend in Breckenridge. Oh how I miss the mountains! It was so fun to take the girls, they loved being outside, swimming in the pool, feeding chipmunks, watching a fox, "hiking", and riding to the top of the mountain. Breckenridge has a great fun park, that you get to by riding the gondola. Hailey rode down the alpine slide with Aunt Mary Alison, and loved every minute of it. They also had a bungee jump with a trampoline. Hailey said to me "Mommy I want to go on that one." I thought, well, if she wants to do it, we will get her a ticket and then see what happens. In the back of my mind I was thinking, there is no way that she is going to do this, I bet I am going to have to do it. We stood in line and patiently waited our turn. Hailey was near the front of the line, and I asked her if she was going to do it. She looked me in the eyes and said, "Mommy, I am a big girl now, and I am going to jump!" With that, it was her turn to get her harness on, and away she went. The video doesn't really do justice to how high she was actually flying, but you get the idea... She loved every minute!!

If you listen closely, you can hear Madi crying in the background. She kept saying "I jump, I jump!" She wasn't quite big enough to do it this year, but maybe next year!!

Fun with Lollipops

We have been in Colorado for the last four weeks. We have been having a great time visiting family and friends. The girls got a taste of real lollipops. Some of the cousins had visited the Hammonds Candy Store in Denver, and brought back some tasty treats. Wow, real lollipops make quite a mess, but the girls throughly enjoyed them!!

Cousins:

Lauren, Rayne, Hailey, Madi and Abby

all enjoying their lollipops.

Hats

Just a cute picture of the girls in their hats!!

Madi is 16 Months

It is so hard to believe that 16 months have FLOWN by! Madison keeps me on my toes and keeps me running most of the time. She is definitely my little spit fire, and watch out, if she doesn't want to do something she can throw a tantrum that puts Hailey's tantrums to shame!! That being said, she really is a sweet little girl. As a tribute to her sixteen months, here are sixteen things I love about Madi:

1. I love how she gives kisses, and then promptly responds "nigh, nigh."

2. I love to watch her dance.

3. I love to watch her make Hailey laugh.

4. Even though I do get a little tired of it, I love how much she loves being with me!

5. I love to watch her little face light up when Dave comes through the door at night.

6. I absolutely love her blond curls!!

7. I love how she holds her lovie bunny, and has named it "nigh, nigh," and she must always get it out of her crib whenever we go into her room, but yet she puts it back before we leave.

8. I love how she nods yes with her entire body.

9. I love her love for the outdoors, and can't wait to take her skiing and hiking.

10. I love those sweet moments when she snuggles into me and just lets me hold her.

11. I love that her and Hailey get to share such a special bond as sisters, and I love to see how she admires Hailey and the things that she does.

12. I love to watch her excitement as she discovers something new.

13. I love her stubbornness, because I know that she is becoming her own little person, yet I hope that it goes away before she is a teenager!!

14. I love her sweet, gentleness and hope that this remains with her forever!!

15. I love seeing her smiling face first thing in the morning and right after naps. It is such an amazing unconditional love, that I swear grows each day, even though I am pretty sure I can't love her anymore.

16. I love that she was such a surprise yet I could not have asked for a better surprise. Even though life can definitely be crazy with the two of them being so close in age, I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING in the world!

Lunch time wore her out!

Playing in the fountains at the Botanical Gardens.

Sisters

I love it in the mornings when I bring the girls downstairs and they just want to be right next to each other. This usually only lasts for a few minutes, and then Hailey takes something from Madi, or Madi irritates Hailey and then the fighting begins!! But they do really love each other!!

This is Hailey's cheesy smile... such a goofball!

I love the look on Madi's face.

Intently watching some sort of morning cartoon!