How do you get to Wonderland?

The weather outside is frightful, but inside it's sure delightful. We had plans to go out and do a few things this afternoon, but when we started seeing frozen rain we thought better of it. On one hand, there was the safety issue when it came to driving later in the evening.

But the truth of the matter was that today is the sort of day where you just want to hunker down inside and snuggle under the covers. That we did, as we had our third movie night, continuing a fun family tradition.

In February, we're going to Wonderland. For research this week, we listened to Alice in Wonderland (both Zena and I heard the unabridged novel as we were cleaning house). But tonight, we thought we'd take Madison along with us for a journey through the looking glass. We figured it was her unbirthday, so what a perfect way to celebrate!

So how do you get to Wonderland? Simple: snuggle together, and get a great big bowl of popcorn. We watched as Alice entered Wonderland once more, saying hello to the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and poor Bill the Lizard. Madison was very entertained, especially by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. I think it was their honking noises that cracked her up each time - honk! Slapstick humor gets Madison all the time. As you might suspect, the tea party was a big hit as well: that's Daddy's favorite part too.

Earlier in the evening, there was another kind of party: it was Madison having fun with some of her toys from Christmas. One toy in particular has captured her fancy, and that was the Playful Penguins. The ice was falling down outside, but inside the kitchen the penguins were making the best of the ice - and the automatic escalator that took them up to the top of their slide once more.

You may remember this as the toy she was so fascinated by on our trip to Helen a few months ago. Mommy and Daddy got this and wrapped it up for her, and she very much remembered it Christmas Day as she opened up the box. It is an instant baby sitter, and I can't explain the magic behind it. This is simply one of the most captivating things she's ever seen. Today, for example, she sat and played with this thing for about an hour. Sure, there were interruptions here and there. But she kept coming back to the penguins!

Madison has enjoyed her other Christmas presents as well. A few of her favorite things would include the doll you see here, a gift from her Great Grandma. The zhu-zhu pets are another favorite too. I could go on and on, of course. She's been going from one toy to another - it was a huge Christmas with lots of toys and other childhood delights!

She still plays with last year's toys too! For example, the Princess castle that Ye-Ye and Nana got her is dragged out all the time. Daddy has to go in there on occasion, and the two of us have tea.

It's nothing like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party though. Not yet anyway. After tonight's movie, our tea parties might change a little...