Today we all played hooky and took a trip to Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium.

We started the day as we start most of our trips south of the Mason-Dixon, at Waffle House so Daddy could get his hash browns…scattered, smothered, covered and peppered. Delicious AND nutritious!

It was then another hour or so until we arrived at the aquarium. The weather was a little overcast but overall nice. Madeline was incredibly excited to see the fishies! The dolphin show was awesome; Madeline was saying “WHOAH” and cheering every time the dolphins jumped. We also got a chance to see the new jellyfish exhibit.

After that, we wandered down to check out the shark tank. Madeline makes the greatest shark face, showing all her teeth, and the sharks obliged by showing us theirs!

We then attended the “4-D” Planet Earth movie, which was great until the snake “bit” me in the back and just about gave me a heart attack. If you haven’t yet had a 4-D experience, we all highly recommend it. Madeline had a blast!

After the aquarium, we spent a couple hours walking around the Inner Harbor. We even took out a dragon boat! [Daddy Rant: I would love to know when Philadelphia is going to actually DO something with Penn’s Landing instead of just talking about it for as long as I’ve been alive. Walking around today was awesome…so many great restaurants and museums and things to do. I love Philly but when it comes to the waterfront experience, Baltimore has it beat hands down. End Daddy Rant]

Despite being overcast earlier, the weather really turned out nicely. By about 4pm, it was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time just walking around and exploring. Of course, as we were looking for dinner, we discovered the Port Discovery Children’s Museum, which closed at 5pm…oh well, next time.

We headed to the Power Plant Live area for some dinner at Mex. After that, it was time to get in the car and head home.

Madeline slept the whole way home, dreaming of fishies and sharks and turtles the whole way, I’m sure!

Madeline went to see her first movie in a theater on Sunday, Pixar’s newest film, Up! Nonni and Pop-Pop wanted to take her, but Steve and I ended up tagging along too. Thanks for treating us Nonni and Pop-Pop

It was a great movie and Madeline seemed to really enjoy it. Her eyes got so wide once the lights went down and sound went up. She was a perfect little angel throughout the whole movie. She was very respectful of being quiet and actually had to tell me a couple of times to be quiet and “shhh”! I guess I was laughing too loud for her liking!

After the movie Nonni and Pop-Pop took Madeline for some ice cream (vanilla with sprinkles) and then we came back to the house to see Madeline navigate her new motorized Dora 4×4 around the back yard. It really was a great day and we had a blast!

Mary have a lamb from Steve Karsch on Vimeo.

A few days late but here are some Easter pics. It was a great day as we got to visit with lots of family! Madeline was fascinated by the eggs the Easter Bunny left outside her door. Once we all got ready, we headed over to Grandmom and Popper’s for mass, Wii Bowling with Great-Grandmom and Great-Grandpop and an early dinner. Next, we drove to Nonna’s for dessert and to see Nonni and Pop-pop, Aunt Terry and Uncle Flavio and, cousins Angela and Nicholas (madeline: “I LOVE Nicholas”) and Nonna and Nonno there.

Madeline had a great time with everyone and looked beautiful in her Easter dress (as she kept reminding us)!

NERD ALERT: Madeline has a Twitter account. You can see some her most quote-worthy content there as well!

Madeline got her ears pierced today! Nonni came along for moral support. Madeline was very brave and we had the nice girls over at the Piercing Pagoda do both her ears at the same time….except one of the guns jammed up for some reason, so they had to re-do Madeline’s right ear. There was minimal crying each time, and Madeline was rewarded with stickers, a lollipop, and a new stuffed animal, “Saddle” the horse!

Madeline looks so feminine and sweet in her new earrings. We picked out little round diamond studs set in white gold, a real classic (thank you Nonni)!

Story time is always fun. As you can see, Madeline’s really getting the hang of things.

Madeline Reads “Madeline” from Steve Karsch on Vimeo.

Just getting this one in under the wire…Madeline says “Merry Christmas!” (actually it’s more like “Mary Frismas” but who’s keeping score?) Here’s a quick video that highlights some of our activities from the last couple days! You can also check out some “photos on the right. We hope Santa brought you everything you asked for!

Christmas 2008 from Steve Karsch on Vimeo.

This Saturday, our little family ventured over to one of our favorite places, Linvilla Orchards, to chop down our Christmas Tree. As you can see from the photos, Madeline was very excited about this. We took a hayride out to where they grow their Evergreens and within about 10 minutes, found our perfect little tree!

When we got back from our hayride, we were pleased to see a bonfire going, complete with marshmallows to roast, and hot apple cider. Madeline especially liked the hot apple cider, she would giggle and laugh from her belly every time I’d give her sip!

This was so much fun it may just have to be a new Karsch family tradition!

Birthday Gal from Steve Karsch on Vimeo.

Let the onslaught of birthday presents begin. This morning we let Madeline play with her new kitchen. Hilarity ensues!

Madeline’s Kitchen from Steve Karsch on Vimeo.