Last day at Taft

Today was Madeline's last day at Taft.  After all the work the parents put in, the center is closing.  Sad.

Happily, however, a major subset of the community there is moving on and will reconvene Tuesday at a new center.

Speaking of happily, we were released a bit early today in anticipation of the long weekend and so were able to play for a while on the back patio before dinner.

Madeline made good use of her time by dismantling the cattail she'd carted home the other day.

And so the long weekend began!

Owl & Julia

Now that Madeline's a toddler, she has to have a lunchbox.  Earlier this week she picked out one that looks like an owl.  She calls it "Owl" and carries it with her to and from the car.

This afternoon we brought Julia home with us.  She read books to Madeline ...

... who then needed a little time for rowdy play ...

... before settling down and saying she was ready for bed.

After bedtime, Julia held down the fort while Summer and I went out to see Beasts of the Southern Wild -- you should go see it too! 

List of animals

Despite having a functional camera, we took no pictures today.  Morning was the usual rush, and after daycare pickup we stopped at the farmers market (and playground!) before heading home to make and eat dinner. Then came bedtime.

Instead of pictures, here is an incomplete list of animals Madeline can correctly identify and name out loud:

Ant
Ape
Bear
Bee
Bird
Bug
Bunny
Camel
Cat
Chicken
Deer
Dinosaur
Dog
Duck
Dolphin
Fish
Frog
Giraffe
Goat
Horse
Lion
Monkey
Mouse
Octopus
Owl
Penguin
Pig
Rabbit
Raccoon
Sheep
Snail
Snake
Tiger
Toad
Turtle
Whale
Zebra

18-month checkup

School started today in Rhode Island!  Madeline watched out the kitchen window as parents dropped off their little ones at the elementary school less than a block away.

Then this afternoon, she finally had her 18-month checkup!  She's in perfect health and, according to the doctor, is exceptionally verbal.

Her checkup meant we got home early, so we spent a few hours outside playing and lounging.

I asked Madeline to go get some basil.  She went to our herb planter but returned with thyme instead.

She spent some time playing with dinosaurs.

And she hung out drinking milk while I grilled salmon, potatoes, and kale.

After dinner came a long, happy bath and an easy bedtime.

Update

Charger arrived today! There should be halfway decent pics again tomorrow.

Yardwork & chicken

We spent most of today in our yard, too. This morning I added a border to our small backyard grass patch while Summer and Madeline played. Then while Madeline napped, I pulled up more crabgrass and Summer weeded a frontyard garden and planted irises.

When Madeline woke up from her nap, we made our first visit to a Rhode Island institution: Wright's Farm. Read up on the Rhode Island tradition of family-style chicken here.

After gorging ourselves, we returned home and finished up the front yard, cleaning up debris and sweeping the front walk. Then we brought out the sprinkler, partly to give the parched lawn a little drink, but more for Madeline's enjoyment. We didn't even have a chance to strip her down before she was frolicking in the water:

Then came bath (naturally) and bed.

An outdoor day

Still no charger, but I did take a few phone pictures today.

This morning, Madeline really wanted to go for a walk.  So we did!

She found a cattail that someone else had left at the edge of the wetlands, and she carried it for the whole walk.

We discovered that the wetlands path actually has a terminus by the baseball diamonds across the street from our house -- much more convenient than the route we've been taking.  Next we have to explore the path on the other side of the creek.

When we returned from our walk, we did some yard work. Madeline helped me pull up crabgrass and other weeds in the yard, while Summer mowed our little patch of backyard grass and pulled up some weeds from the gardens.

Madeline took a break in the shade ...

... and soon afterward took a nap.  After that, we ran some errands -- Home Depot, of course, and then a couple home-goods discounter-type stores.  I had intended to finish with the crabgrass, but by the time we were home I had to fire up the grill and get cooking.  We ate on the patio ...

... and kept an eye out for any birds that might be nibbling at the feeder we put up a couple days ago.  No luck yet, though the seed I scattered on the ground below the feeder is gone.

A happy day

Amazon says our camera charger has shipped but won't yet tell us where it is.

In the meantime, Madeline had a happy day complete with lots of playing in the yard and another eager bedtime. What a good little kiddo.

No pictures

Hi there.  For the last two days, we took no pictures.  Don't worry, having finally given up on our previous charger as lost forever, we ordered a new camera charger tonight.  Here's what we've been up to:

Yesterday we had a lovely afternoon/evening at the Lippitt Park farmers market.  We ran into some friends, we slid on the slide, we swung on the swings, and we ate delicious fresh food in the park.  Madeline was happy.

Today Summer and Madeline kept me company in the kitchen while I made dinner.  After dinner, Madeline was very sleepy and asked for an immediate bedtime.  We complied, and she smiled as she started drifting off in her crib before we'd even closed her bedroom door.

Cheese

Madeline has named this little creature, which we think Kait's mom made for her as part of a wedding gift bag, "Cheese."

She loves Cheese; she fed it lots of lettuce at dinner and brought it to bed with her.  And she asks for it when it's in another room: "Cheese?"  No, she does not want a snack -- she just wants her little friend.

Gnocchi

This evening I attended a meeting of the Providence Zoning Board, while Madeline ate delicious gnocchi.

When I came home, she was asleep.

NY and back

Saturday was wedding day.  Here are Summer and Madeline at the hotel in the beautiful Hudson valley, just before the wedding.

And here's Madeline cutting a rug at the reception.

Today on our way home from New York, we stopped at Connecticut's Dinosaur State Park.  Madeline enjoyed the opportunity to stretch her legs just as much this time as she did last time.

We looked for frogs and turtles and snakes in the swamp, but didn't find any.

Madeline likes to sing about things she appreciates.  On the drive between Dinosaur State Park and home, she sang about tomatoes and apples ("'matos, 'matos, apples, apples, 'matos, 'matos, apples, apples").

She also asked today, "Why is trees?"

We went for a walk after dinner.  We returned to the wetlands near our house, this time wandering over in the evening with the bugs chirping and the frogs cthunking.  Madeline liked making frog noises and checking out the wildflowers.

Tomorrow it's back to the workweek for us.

Wedding #3

Tonight was Adam and Kait's wedding! The whole shindig, all of which took place on an organic farm, was lovely. Madeline was again a party animal.  Pictures when we can get them.

"Hi, birdies!"

!!!!

Dinner!

Sidewalk chalk!

Hugs!

Toothbrush!

Carnitas

This afternoon when we arrived at daycare to pick up Madeline, she rushed at the door shouting, "Eeeeeeee!!!!" and waving her arms around like a little wild child.  We were hungry, so we proceeded directly to dinner.  In the car, we asked Madeline what she wanted for dinner and she said, "Taco!"   So at the restaurant we got her a taco, but she preferred to nab carnitas from my plate.

18 Months!

Today, Madeline is 18 months old!

All of our picture-taking devices (except our phones) are out of juice, and all of our picture-taking-device chargers (except the ones for our phones) are in Minnesota or boxes or somewhere else inaccessible, so we've had to resort to cellphone chair pictures:

Madeline had a nice day at daycare, and also a fun evening playing and using sidewalk chalk on the back patio while I cooked salmon and couscous.  Then came a bath and bed.  Normalcy should return soon!

Victory Day

Today is Rhode Island's special holiday commemorating the U.S. victory over Japan in World War II.  Madeline celebrated by riding a prone Petey.

We also took a walk along the path through the wetlands near our house.

And we did some gardening and yardwork (after buying a push-mower this morning!).

That's all for today.  New job starts tomorrow.

Back in Cranston

The airport this morning had a playground where Madeline made a friend.

She did well on the flights.

And soon enough we were back in Cranston.  We had dinner out on the back patio.

I saw this dragonfly in the garden.

Petey was especially happy to welcome Madeline home, and she was especially glad to see him too.

Seriously, he sought her out for for that.  What a cat.

Epic three-day post

Those of you with slow connections, be forewarned: this is an epic post.  It is so by necessity, as we had no internet the last two nights.  Now, however, we do.  So:

Thursday we started out slow, doing some coloring ...

... and some tickling.

Then we went to the beach at Lake Nokomis.

Madeline enjoyed this.

She also enjoyed the lake, and we all enjoyed her enjoyment.

We played on the beach itself, too.

Friday we played in the yard.

And we went to a park.

There, we found a dragonfly.

There was also a parental bird feeding a nest full of baby birds.

After that park we walked to a playground.

Madeline now starts and ends most days with some combination of "Walk?!" and "Swing?!"

Today we first went to the St. Paul farmers market.  Madeline was a little overwhelmed.

So we found an amazing playground nearby!

Madeline found a turtle ...

... and musical playground equipment ...

... and a train ...

... and then everyone joined us to operate what seems to be a play-goldmine.

We got a nice little family picture in this boat.

Then magically it was wedding time.

Kyle and Zanna were married at a nature center that houses rescue birds like this bald eagle.

Madeline couldn't make it through the ceremony, so we made a quiet exit and hung out with this bunny instead.

The nature center was a great venue for climbing and playing.

And for sitting and eating wedding cake.

When we needed some contained running-around, we went into the center itself, where Madeline could commune with the animals ("SNAKE!  Turtle.  Frog.  Birdy.  SNAKE!").

But most of all ...

... the center proved to be a great venue for dancing.

Madeline kicked things off on the dancefloor and kept the party going.

And finally, well past Madeline's usual bedtime, we said our farewells to the groom (pictured) and bride (not pictured) and headed back to Eagan.

Our Minnesota sojourn has been very nice; tomorrow, though, it's back to Rhode Island and reality.