A Very Full Day!

What a full day! After reading this post, you'll find it hard to disagree! We started out innocently enough: we were waiting for our heating and air maintenance guy to come visit with us in order to do the semi-annual check-up. Sounds pretty mundane, right? Yep.

But he called and told us his van broke down, and that's when the fun began. Mommy and Daddy decided right there and then to make the most of a day that had no more appointments on the calendar: Mommy packed a picnic, and together we piled into the car to go to Cleveland where we'd check out the new location for Babyland General Hospital!

Ah, the glory of Babyland! Those little Cabbage Patch Kids are moving up and down in their cabbages, which struck Madison as very funny. Actually, it struck Daddy as funny too.

It was such a dreary day today, cold and windy. You'd never know it was April outside, nearly May. But we had a great time indoors as we checked out the new building for the Cabbage Patch Kids. Madison had a huge smile on her face as she ran inside the building, going from room to room to check out all the little babies. The new building was set up nicely, with more room. From the outside, it looks more stately - though the interior of the older building had a bit more character. On the whole, I'd say it was a good move for them!

We did get to see another baby born, as the nurse came out from the spot by the tree to announce a new Cabbage Patch Kid was born. It was a she, and I think her name was Abbie Michelle or something like that. The nurse asked for a first name, and a young girl called out "Abbie!" So Abbie it was. Then it came time for a middle name: Daddy suggested "Normal," but only so Mommy could hear. "Abbie Normal" would be a great Cabbage Patch Kid name, right? Okay, maybe not.

Over the last few days, we've been bidding on Ebay for a special Cabbage Patch Kid. We've sort of dropped Ebay over the years, but now are bidding because this particular auction is for a good cause. It is for a group called Love Without Boundaries, which "provides the most loving and compassionate help possible to orphaned and impoverished children in China. They provide humanitarian aid in five key areas: education, foster care, healing homes, medical and orphanage assistance."

In any event, we were considering a donation anyway, so this auction is a great opportunity to give, and maybe get a little something nice for Madison. It's been funny because we've had our minds set on a certain amount - and we keep outbidding everyone else. Hopefully we'll get it. If not, I know we've helped drive the price up and raised more money for a good cause.

If we win, we'll put a picture of the doll here. Otherwise, we're content with the Cabbage Patch Dolls we have already. Of course, there are the two Indian dolls. And Madison has one of the plastic-headed dolls in her room right now. But today I heard we might be getting a few more from Florida... Madison will like that. She likes these Cabbage Patch Kid dolls.

We had a great time at Babyland, and decided it was time to head back home. The weather was too cool and wet to have a picnic, so we ate in the car. Nana was having surgery on her shoulder today, so we dropped by the Wal-Mart in Cleveland for the first time ever - and picked her up some flowers.

On our way back home, we thought we'd check out a prospect for Madison's upcoming birthday party, a little place called Monkey Joe's. We happened to drop by at just the right time. Can you believe it? They were letting kids in for free today!

Mommy, Daddy and Madison went inside and got to see the place first-hand. We even met some friends inside, so Madison had someone to jump around with. She is so fearless! She was climbing up so very high, and sliding down these huge slides without any problem at all! Just look at our tiny little girl climbing up this huge monster of a slide!

She just about jumped down that slide too. She was having a great time, and we wound up staying there for over an hour.

Look how high up she is on this one "inflatable rock wall." She doesn't even flinch when climbing upward like that. She scurries up the wall with a great deal of speed too, certainly able to keep up with the boys. Daddy was cheering her on from the side, as Mommy got an opportunity to sit and talk with our friends. As soon as Madison would get through an obstacle course, she'd race right back to the starting point again. Sometimes she'd look like Mr. Bean, we laughed: she'd run in circles, not quite sure which direction to go first. It looked so funny, because she was so excited about doing every single activity she could while there. And, of course she did. There's a little bit of her Daddy in her there.

Madison even met Monkey Joe himself, and gave him a high-five. But she didn't hang around with him for long! Not when there were slides and inflatable obstacle courses to be conquered! She wasn't scared of any one of them, although Daddy certainly was. All the while, she had the biggest grin on her face, and ran around with an amazing amount of energy. She had take a nap on the way there, so she was completely rested and absolutely wired when she started going down slides and jumping around. She had such a good time that Mommy and Daddy decided this would be the place to have her birthday party in June. We get a nice little room, pizza, and plenty of other neat options - so we've decided to make this the place to go to. Daddy's mind is already thinking of jungle themes for Monkey Joe's. It should be a great birthday party. We were thinking this would be the best place, simply because it gives the kids something to do that they really love: jump and run around.

But soon it was time to leave. We were thankful for another fun and free thing to do while out. So far, we had only invested money in gas to drive to these places! We found our way home, and visited with Nana and Ye-Ye. Nana is doing just fine after her surgery - according to Ye-Ye, everything went perfectly and the doctors are very optimistic. Now for the hard part: keeping still!

We headed home, but the day wasn't over yet. Mommy is always quick to make sure we celebrate any holiday we can, and today was no different. Today is National Pretzel Day, so we were all in for a special treat! Mommy had gone to the grocery store and purchased some of those nice, big, thick pretzels - the kind you pour salt on. We cooked them up in the oven, and made a big platter of pretzels to put on the table. Pretzel sticks, pretzel squares and delicious vegetable pretzels surrounded our big, tasty ones. And Daddy made sure there was mustard nearby!

Madison enjoyed eating her pretzel, mainly because of the salt on top of it. Mommy and Daddy love that salt too - we got to talking about salt bagels. Have you ever had one? The really salty ones are so good! But they do leave you thirsty, that's for sure. These pretzels left us thirsty as well. In case you're wondering what the story is behind National Pretzel Day, I just had to look it up myself: It started 27 years ago in 1983. That's when a Pennsylvania congressman wanted a special day named for his favorite food. The tradition started there and spread across the country. I think the Congressman's name was Snyder or Wetzel, or something like that.

Fun Fact: The average person eats about 1.5 lbs. of pretzels each year. In our house, that average is much higher, naturally. Since the 7th century, there have been several documented recipes for the pretzel. One story says that in 610 A.D. a monk took rolls of leftover dough and shaped them into criss-crossed arms in the shape of praying hands. He called the treat a "pretiola" or "little reward." Others dubbed his treats "brachiola" or "little arms." The actual word "pretzel" has German origins and it is said to be similar to the word for "bracelet."

Pretzels can be used for other things besides eating, of course! Here, you can see Madison making something out of her pretzels. Can you see what it is? That's right, it's a house! She actually told us it's a house, and showed us the windows she put along the inside. Our daughter is a pretzel architect!

Moments later, she ate the house.

Daddy took our pretzel platter over to Nana afterwards, after filling it up again with soft and hard pretzels. Nothing like a good pretzel platter to cheer you up. I'd say it's the sort of thing that's more appreciated than even flowers!

Tonight before bed, we watched "Phineas and Ferb" on DVD again, and soon found ourselves yawning and ready for sleep. Madison was quite ready for bed herself, and went down very easily tonight. We all will go down easy tonight: it was a very full day!