Happy 5th Birthday Maddie!

Maddie had such a fun birthday this year! The morning started out with a few presents to open, including:

a doll complete with hair stylist tools to play with

(Maddie quickly discovered to her disappointment and to mom's relief
that the scissors were only "pretend")

and a pink gaming system
(not exactly like Aujelle's Nintendo DS she had hoped for,
but mom and dad liked this price tag and educational possibilities better.)

After Maddie's favorite breakfast of German pancakes and chocolate milk, we were off to the waterpark!

Cowabunga Bay

Despite the blustering winds and lower temperatures, we had a lot of fun! Maddie is a brave 5-year-old and enjoyed many of the big water slides. Although, much like her mom, she didn't always enjoy the frigid water. Luckily the pool and lazy river could always warm our body temperatures up again.

Enjoying some sun.

Since the waterpark was more her parents' idea, Maddie got to choose where she wanted to go to dinner. And we all knew what her choice would be, since she had been asking to return there every day since her cousin Martha's birthday party in June:

Chuck E Cheese!

Then back to the house to celebrate with cupcakes, more family, and more presents!


Perhaps the funniest moment of the day came late afternoon when we all wondered where Kennedy had disappeared. We found her asleep in Maddie's bed, complete with her bike helmet and Maddie's nightgown! What a cutie...


And here are some fun facts about Maddie at five years old:

Favorite color: Pink (Maddie believes you should change your favorite color annually on your birthday)

Favorite foods: macaroni, german pancakes, snowcones, rootbeer floats

Favorite tv show: all!

Favorite movie: Up! (this changes frequently)

Favorite hobbies: dance, swimming, playing the computer

Recent accomplishments: learning to swim, learning to read

Time-out Length, according to Madelyn: Zero Minutes (Traditionally in our household, the length of one's time-out corresponds to how many years old the child is. As we were warning her in the weeks preceeding her birthday that her time-out period was about to be increased by one minute, she informed us that her time-outs would be zero minutes when she turned five because she would be old enough to obey all of the time!)

Time-out Length, in reality: Five Minutes.