Off to the Gilbert House we go....

Now that Madisen is such a "big girl", we decided it was time to let her go check out AC Gilbert's Discovery Village (aka:the Gilbert house) The Gilbert house consists of 3 historic houses all together filled with fun and exciting interactive exhibits... they have a kids supermarket to go shopping in, a undersea cave of frozen shadows, an exhibit on China, a Brazilian Rainforest theater, and Madi's all-time favorite the BUBBLE room! There are TONS more but too many to list... :0)
This was the first trip we've taken where Madi could just explore everything on her own... although Mommy & Daddy were there to give her a lift from one exhibit to the next (and to play along with her) she loved being able to walk (sometimes run!) through all the new exciting exhibits. I'm thinking we may need to get a family membership since she loves it there SO much! Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Learning about China

Checking out the toddler room

Trying to figure out how the locks work

Maybe Dad can help

Peek-a-boo!

BUBBLES! Yay!

Daddy giving Madi a close-up of the bubbles

Madi & Mommy checking out the storybook room

Our Little Rock Star!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADI-CAKES!!
Wow!! Where did the last year go? They really weren't kidding when they told us to cherish every moment (even the endless screaming until 3am moments) we shared with Madi since it will all go by in a flash!
January 8th 2010 our little Madisen Ann turned ONE YEAR OLD!!
We celebrated, of course, by throwing her a HUGE Birthday Bash!

The theme? ROCK STAR!

Picture hot pink, black, white, & lots and lots of ZEBRA print! (Yes I had way too much fun planning and decorating for this!!) We invited tons of friends and family to come help us celebrate our little Madi...
We had animal print balloons and inflatable guitars & microphones everywhere to play with! Pizza and finger foods to munch on. And the Best CAKE EVER! (Made with love, by Grandma!)
Here are some pics from the big day:

Part of the group checking out the spectacular slide show of Madisen Brendan made.

Grandma making sure the birthday girl gets enough to eat!

Madi & Mommy opening up her birthday gifts.


Madisen loved having all her "kids" at our house all at once!


Even Auntie Ann got to join in on the fun! (Yay for Skype!)


Wow all this singing for ME??

YUM! This is SO GOOD!

MMMmmmmmm!!

The aftermath.... what to play with first?

We had SO much fun! The planning, the trips to the craft store with my party-planner partner Peggy (try saying that 3 times fast!), picking out the perfect outfit to go with Madi's super cute zebra tutu (from Grandma, of course!), blowing up a million balloons and party favors, hanging way too many decorations (I may have gone a bit overboard) and the hours ( well weeks!) Brendan spent perfecting the best slideshow of Madi ever! ... it was all worth it to see how happy Madi was on her special day!
I can't wait to start planning for next year!!! :0)