Mischief Night Musings

Aww come on, how is that NOT a mischievous grin?

It's mischief night! So, to cause as much mischief as I can, I choose to do a blog post *grin*. We had a good weekend, a nice mix of household chores and fun. The fun this weekend turned out to be the Newark Halloween Parade. Maddie gave her Halloween costume a test drive, to which she chose to embody the "cowardly lion" and sit huddled against Daddy while the big bad marching band went past! After the first two, however she was enjoying herself and waving to everyone in the parade. After the parade was over, the Main Street stayed blocked so the children could trick or treat all of the businesses along Main Street. I wasn't sure how Maddie would do...but she was holding onto the orange pumpkin bucket and we held hands walking up to Bing's Bakery....her very first "Trick or Treat". I told her what she was supposed to say, when we got to the man at the door, she said "trick or treat" and the man put some candy in her bucket. Maddie stopped. She looked up at the man, looked at her bucket, looked at the man again, then looked in her bucket again! The power of three little words....you could see the wheels turning in her head. These three little words would change her life! Never again would she be without a lollipop or candy, these three little words were the key! She used those three little words at each business that was on the way to the car, stopping and grinning after each successful use. Yes, my friends, Maddie is a Trick or Treater...and she'll be out there tomorrow!

Maddie in her Lion Costume at the Newark Halloween Parade.
Maddie playing the role of the Cowardly Lion.

Tonight, we tried to keep the mischief to a minimum...so we decided to carve pumpkins. One for Daddy, one for Mommy and the one that Maddie picked at the pumpkin patch with Mom Mom. I think it was pretty successful...no screaming or tears from Daddy so all in all it went well *grin*

The pumpkins "before"....

The "during"....

The "after".... Our first successful pumpkin carving!

Autumn Adventures

Maddie enjoying a makeshift "playground" outside of the Camden aquarium with the Philadelphia skyline across the river.

We've had some autumn adventures so far, that is for sure...this weekend is finding us at home *gasp* Although there were like 4 different things we could have gone to... But the weather is beautiful and we're doing stuff around the house, taking it easy.

This past week/weekend had been busy enough. Let's see...last Saturday we went to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. The aquarium is located just across the river from Philadelphia, PA. It was a beautiful sunny day, if but a tad cool. I don't know why I thought about trying to go to the aquarium, but we did. (actually, we wanted to not do too much walking until Ron's toe healed all the way from his surgery, and the aquarium would be less walking compared to our normal fall haunt of the Maryland Renaissance Faire!)

Maddie and Daddy fighting off the crowds at one of the observation areas of the shark tank.

We really liked the aquarium, even compared to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I do think it was mostly due to the lack of crowds which let us spend as much time at the exhibits up close as long as we wanted compared to fighting to wait in line at the Baltimore aquarium! They had lots of interactive exhibits that would work for Maddie if she was a wee bit older, but she enjoyed watching the fish and animals (birds, penguins, seals, hippos) We did buy a picture taken of her there that was just too cute to say no to...(unfortunately you'll have to believe me on that one as our scanner is down for the count right now.

Here is a picture of Maddie resting in front of one of the self picture taking areas.. I don't know exactly what to call it, but it's where you can put your heads through holes and be a "fish", "turtle", etc.. They were too high for her, but she was able to sit nicely =) The T-shirt is not a bullseye by the way...It was something I couldn't help myself in buying. It is a picture of a record (yes, there are those around that remember vinyl) and it says "The Time Out Blues Band: Ain't Misbehavin' No More" I thought it was quite appropriate for her. Found it at Baby Blend Tees.

Last Sunday, I had to work again at the Blackbird Fall Festival So, for two weeks in a row Ron has had to entertain Maddie while I worked. Last Sunday though he brought her to the festival and she got to sit and listen to music, had her face painted with a rainbow and sun, and scampered about outside on another beautiful day.

Maddie all dressed up ready for Halloween! Yes, we do know what she's going to be...she picked it out all by herself! It's making its public debut most likely next Sunday at the Newark Halloween Parade!

This past week was also exciting as Wednesday was field trip day at Maddie's school! Mom Mom and Pop Pop came down from NJ and Mom Mom and Maddie enjoyed the field trip to a pumpkin patch where they picked corn, picked pumpkins, fed ducks, drank apple cider and went on a hayride! They had a blast! It was an extra special day as Mom Mom and Pop Pop spent the rest of the day with her picking out some mums for the flower garden in the front and went to the playground too! After a lovely dinner out, they had to depart - but we all had a good time together!

Our wish for you...

BE NATURAL. Be peaceful. Be happy. Be kind. Be yourself. Be gentle. Be silly. Be funny. Be creative. Be loving. Be stylish. Be inquisitive. Be playful. BE HEALTHY. Be charming. Believe. Be original. Be hip. BE CARING. Be friendly. Be active. Be fascinating. Be adventurous. Be brave. Be aware. Be calm. Be a good friend. Be knowledgeable. Be honest. Be merry. Be earth-friendly. Be your best. Be nice. Be comfortable. and most of all. BE YOU!

Fall (?!?) Fun for the Family...

I hope everyone is having a good start to autumn! (Although with the temperatures in the 80s here this week, I'm beginning to wonder when it will ACTUALLY get here)


This past weekend we went to Milburn Orchards on Saturday. They have fall festival type stuff, hayrides, pumpkin picking, apple cider donuts, farm animals, etc - we went last year as well and Maddie enjoyed herself "milking" a pretend cow, playing with the pumpkins, going through the haystack maze, hayrides, sandbox fun and her very first actual pony ride. Sunday I had to work at Coast Day while Ron and Maddie went further south on Delmarva to visit Nana.

Playing in the pumpkin house at the orchards.



Daddy and Maddie enjoy the hayride. Whee!

Probably the biggest hit of the day was the milking of the pretend cow...she kept wanting to go back and do it some more!


Other things we've been up to...We also hit another milestone...Maddie got her very first hair cut! Despite her worried and pained look, she actually had a good time, Mommy is just bad at timing a picture with the camera on her cell phone. We went to Kids Kuts, and Maddie got to sit on a horse and brushed the horse's hair while the hairdresser cut hers. We are a NO BANGS family and will stay that way thank you very much. Maddie is now sporting a lovely little bob that goes past her shoulders. The good thing is that she didn't freak out at the hair dressers....so return visits will hopefully be smooth!