Pink Race Horse

This is the pink race horse who lives in our house.

Grandma Milloy gave it to Maddie for Christmas. The horse has been sitting dormant, content living in Maddie's room, but it has turned into a racing horse lately. She doesn't look like much, but when Maddie saddles up, this horse takes off! Daddy races Maddie through the house on her horse and she loves it!

As you watch the video, note the following:

#1: A-Gee = again.
She loves to repeat fun songs and games over and over again, and we can't help but give into her "a-gee" requests.

#2: Excited Arms

You can see how excited she is when she realizes Dad is coming back to do another lap - she brings out the "excited arms"! I LOVE Maddie's excited arms. She does this whenever she is so happy that words cannot contain her enthusiasm.

Sunday Morning Hiking!

We went to the top of Meridian today and trekked off on an unknown trail. There are lots of trails that start out there, so we just picked one. We found out later this is part of the Mountain Pass trail, but we just figured we would hike for awhile and then turn back. The wildflowers are still blooming and it is just beautiul in the morning!

We saw lots of lizards on our hike sunning themselves on rocks. Maddie loves watching them run off into the bushes and tells Dada everytime she hears one.

We hiked about 2 miles in and found a mountain to climb to the top of. The breeze felt fantastic after hiking in the Arizona sun for a couple of hours.

Here is our trail guide having a reflective moment.

Me & Maddie... and some of the rocks she collected along the way.

Our little extreme hiker konked out on the way back. Don't worry, her eye isn't really pressed up against the canopy string - it's just the angle of the camera. She loves her backpack. She is definitely riding in comfort back there.

Maddie's Garden

Our second 2010 family goal is checked off the list ...
Maddie's garden is in full bloom!

We planted new flowers in the front yard and we planted strawberries and tomatoes in the backyard.

Our strawberries are really taking off - we can't wait to see what they taste like! Maddie calls these "debberries". We have to distract her from these when we're in the backyard. She doesn't understand that the debberies aren't quite ready to eat yet.

The tomatoes aren't too far behind. There are tiny green tomatoes growing on each plant. We have 4 tomato plants total. I'm hoping they produce enough tomatoes for us to make homemade salsa- yum!

Local wildlife spotted in the backyard...

UPDATE- I forgot to add this photo in! Maddie & Daddy actually planting our garden. Maddie's got the drip line ready for Dad when he needs it.

Petroglyph & Lost Goldmine Hikes

One of our hike excursions in the past couple of weeks was the Petroglyph Trail in the Superstition Mountains. A petroglyph is a rock carving made by ancient people. This trail takes you right up alongside some amazing petroglyphs carved by the Hohokam Indians around 1200 AD. It is amazing to think these carvings have been there over 800 years!

Maddie had lots of fun playing in the water trickling through the rocks. She is developing a beautiful Arizona tan from all this hiking! Brandon is the dad of the year and carries Maddie over miles of desert terrain on his back. What a rockstar dad!

Maddie & her dad also hiked the Lost Goldmine Trail a few days ago. They didn't find any gold, but they did find an abandoned mine.

There are ancient tales of lost gold in the Superstition Mountains. Brandon & Maddie are on the hunt - we'll let you know if we find any... or we may just disappear and move to a private island in Fiji with our treasure.

Welcome Summer!

It has officially hit 90 degrees in Arizona, so I am calling it summer. To the Milloys, this means the start of lake trips, watermelon, & flip flops!

Welcome back summer - we've missed you!

One 2010 resolution checked off the list...

Laura, Bryant, Maddie, and I ran a 5k on Saturday to benefit Haiti. Well, Maddie rode while we ran. Bryant did awesome and won a medal for his age group. Show-off. :) Laura and I almost died, but we finished.

We had lots of fun and it felt so great to get out in the beautiful Arizona weather and run.

After the run, we went back to Laura & Bryant's house where Maddie met their cat, Ginger. She kept pulling Ginger's food bowl around while the poor cat tried to eat. Sorry Laura! I hope we didn't traumatize your cat.

We walked over to the temple to see the beautiful new spring flowers they just planted. The landscaping is always amazing and we were not disappointed. Maddie had lots of fun pointing out all the "fowers" and running around in the grass.

What a fun Saturday!

Easter 2010

Last year, Maddie was 8 months old and crawling around finding eggs so she could gum them to death.

This year, she is 1 1/2 and she ran after those hidden eggs.

 

The Easter bunny left a basket for Maddie at each grandma's house - what a lucky girl! At Grandma Eatough's, she got a Disney princess basket with pink princess books, bubbles, and candy! At Grandma Milloy's, the Easter Bunny hid her eggs and basket in the backyard. She had lots of fun hunting them down with Uncle Derrick. She got a coloring book, crayons, markers, and a basket full of fun toys!

We got to spend some fun time at the park playing Bocce Ball and frisbee. Maddie loved being outside and being part of the fun!

Cousin Jasmine showed Maddie one of her favorite games - spinning around in Grandma Milloy's armchairs.

Hope you all had a fun Easter!