So as mentioned in my previous blog, I took my own vaca with Maddy to Colorado. She really liked the plane ride and did well. She laughed at take-off and landing, looked out the window, and tried really hard to buckle her seat belt on her own.

The first few days I spent with Melissa. And boy did we pack in the activities. On the first day we went to the Colorado Springs Zoo, which was awesome and now my favorite zoo. When you walk in you can feed giraffes, and they are right there, you can even pet them! It was great. Maddy got a souvenir shirt. I thought it was funny.We then went to a friends house for a BBQ and Maddy played with two little girls, Delanie and Savannah. By then end of the day she was soooo tired. Yes those are bags under her eyes.

The next day we walked to the park where we played and went to this huge fountain. It was so cool. We didn't know that Maddy was going to get so wet, so by the end she went white trash and was playing in just a diaper. We then walked back through downtown where we stopped for lunch and Maddy kept trying to crawl on my lap because she was sleepy. She did perk up at the toy shop where she had a hard time picking a stuffed animal, she eventually went with the cat. She was exhausted by the time we got back to my sister's place. We had to keep giving her flowers (which she is obsessed with) to destroy to keep her happy, thus the aftermath in this pic.

After visiting Melissa, I headed down to Arvada to visit Kendra, Catherine, and Chelsea. It was so fun see how everyone was doing and reminiscing of our crazy college days. Ah, youth. We were so excited and chatty that Kendra's little boy Alex had to tell us several times to quiet down. Yeah, he's 4. Ha ha. Maddy loved playing with Alex and Lydia. It was just great!

Maddy has been growing up fast these last few months. She can say so many words, communicate her needs, she's climbing, having tantrums, and she can even say her own name and identify herself. Crazy, I know! Here she is just cracking up at Ethan spinning her ducky in the tub. Sorry for the nudity, I usually am more careful in my filming!

Saturday was a beautiful day and I convinced Ethan that we should go to the Iowa State Fair. It was tiring, but worth it. Maddy loved seeing and naming all the animals. We were in awe of how huge all the animals were. Here is the worlds largest bull, 3,404 lbs. Other pics include the butter sculptures and the 4th place 998 lbs pumpkin. I am a little bummed at the lack of good pics. It was a really crowded day!

Probably my favorite part of the fair was the butterfly house. There was over 5,ooo butterflies. So cool. You just stand there and they just land on you. Here's one on my head and some other cute pics.

Maddy definitely was exhausted by the end of the fair! She got pretty grumpy and practically passed out on the shuttle on the way back to the car.

It was really crazy, but really fun! Now that we've been once we feel like we have a better handle of what's going on, next year we will go crazy... chocolate covered bacon on a stick... you never know... We love the Iowa State Fair!!!

So last week was really rainy and Maddy definitely had a case of cabin fever, so we went to the mall to the children's discovery museum. She had fun playing with the pulleys, the ginormous blocks, etc. But her favorite thing was the 3 way mirror. She giggled, squealed, and just loved it.

Maddy has become such a big girl here she is with her first pig tails. Can you believe it!? She's not our little baby anymore!