Maddie Birthday Recap

Maddie made a visit to the office today and it reminded me that we had not recap'd Maddie's birthday weekend. It was filled from start to finish. It all started on Friday with a Friend party at Paint the Town. Twelve 8 year old girls painting pottery...Yikes!!! They had a great time, and it was a true sign of things to come. We then moved to Sunday, where the original plan was have the grandparents over for lunch/cake, etc. But them Maddie made a comment about, wanted to go to Mariners game...she is a big Griffey fan now...and since they were playing on her actually Birthday, we thought that was a great idea. So we packed up and headed to the game, parked a block or so away, got Kettle corn and enjoyed the game. With Maddie involved in softball she is actually getting into/understanding how it all works, out, hitting, etc. Kenzie on the other hand, well, she was about ready to leave by the 3rd inning. Oh well. After the game we topped of Maddie's bday with a trip to her favorite restaurant, The Old Spaghetti Factory. I think she would eat there every week if we would take her. We met the grandparents, and great grandparents there and she got the full Birthday treatment from the OSF.

Finally this last week, I was able to dig up her annual birthday pictures like we did for Kenzie last month. This took some looking into the digitial archives, but we found some. Enjoy...Maddie from 1-8...Happy Birthday Maddie!!!

Opening Day at Maggie Lake

This weekend marked the opening day of fishing season.  As is our new tradition, we were up at Maggie Lake for the Opening Day kids fishing derby.  The community reserves opening day for the kids, with a little help from adults.  As we were heading to bed on Friday night, we asked Maddie,"OK, so we will get up at 5am?" to which she answered..."Ummm...how about 6?"  So, 6am it was...alarm was set...poles were rigged up.  6am came early, but we loaded up the boat and headed out on the lake.   After about 30 minutes, we settled into a spot and made a short cast of power bait with the brand new $14 Big5 spinning rod...suddenly the line starting peeling away...partly because this new fancy rod didnt have the drag set, but mainly because we hooked into a big boy.  After finally getting the drag set, and luckily not losing the fish, we were able to haul it in to the boat.  You should have seen how big Maddie's eyes were!  

Not to be left out, after we got the big one in, we (I) headed back out to get a fish for Kenzie. OK, it wasnt quite as big, but KK loved it!



With fish in hand/bag, we headed over to the park for the official measurement. Maddie's fish came in at 18 1/2 inches, and Kenzie's was 9in. With Maddie's we thought we had a chance to be in the top 4, however, in looking at the sheet, there were 2-20in fish on the board...but in the end, Maddie's fish placed 3rd in the age 5-8 category. In the 4 and under category, an 18mos old caught a 19in fish...umm, sure. Anyway, they had a great time, and loved getting their trophies and candy bars.





So, opening day was a success. We had a great time....never hurts to catch a big one for once.

Play Ball!

Tomorrow marks the first regular season game in Maddie's softball season.  Last year was her first year playing softball (after 2 years of t-ball), and this year she is the "veteran" on the team along with her best buddie Mikayla.  We have a total of 9 girls this year, so everyone will get a lot of at bats and play every position.  Maddie is becoming quite the athlete as she approaches her 8th birthday (this Sunday).  Today she participated in her first basketball clinic and she has been practicing her dribbling in the back alley when it is sunny out.  Rumor has it that she might be getting a portable hoop for her birthday (hopefully she doesnt check this blog at school.)

Aside from Softball season starting up, we just returned from our annual trip to the Oregon coast for Easter.  This year we had a packed house with 11 adults and 5 kids.  The kids were 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7.  It was a a bit crazy...but fun.  The weather cooperated for us on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was a down pour all day, and for the drive home.  Stacey and Haas flew up for the weekend so it was great to spend some time with them.  Here is a slideshow of pics from the weekend: