Madeline’s Kitchen from Steve Karsch on Vimeo.

on your marks from Steve Karsch on Vimeo.

It’s become a tradition on bath nights to race up and down the hallway. Madeline loves to run!!!

So,it looks like we’re officially ready for Halloween now! We’re just hoping to get good weather for Friday. And if things go right, we may even be in downtown Philadelphia for a parade that day too!

She did amazingly well and we are very proud of what a big girl she was through the whole process. She brought her lovie “Monkey” along to the hospital with her and he even got his own hospital bracelet!

Monkey AND Madeline are both doing well after their little stint at Dupont Children’s Hospital. Thank you Doctor Barth and Staff for being so great to us during our brief stay!

Fenwick Island Slideshow from Steve Karsch on Vimeo.

We are very lucky that Jennie’s Uncle Joe and Aunt MaryAnn are generous enough to let us use their place down in Fenwick Island. It’s a great place in a very quiet location and it has a long hallway that Madeline loves to run up and down!!! We headed down on Monday, grabbed a quick bite and immediately hit the beach to see how Maddie would react. To say she loved it is an understatement. After some initial hesitation, she was right in the water with us, splashing around and riding the waves! Nonni and Pop-pop joined us later that afternoon for some beach fun.

Tuesday was more of the same (BEACH! OCEAN! WATER! SAND!) I had fun digging in the sand with Madeline, probably more fun than she had. That night, she went to the park with Nonni and Pop-pop while Jennie & I went out to Smitty McGees for some team trivia! We were in 2nd place after the first half, and would’ve ended up in 2nd place overall had I listened to Jennie on the final answer! Oh well….we didn’t really need any Smitty bucks anyway!

Wednesday we had a nice breakfast out at Warren’s Station courtesy of Nonni and Pop-pop. Madeline kept asking for “more egg”! That kid loves eggs. Uncle Greg came down to join the fun as well! Once again, another great day at the beach although the water was cold. This was the only day that the water was almost too cold to go in…We had amazing weather all week and the water temps were nice.

Thursday was essentially our last day, and what a marathon it was. It was also probably the best day water temperature-wise; absolutely beautiful! Oh, I forgot to mention the dolphins! Two years ago Jennie came down to Fenwick (when Maddie was negative 3 months old) and were lucky enough to see dolphins about 50 yards off the shore. Well, the dolphins were back this year. We saw them every day except Wednesday (must’ve been the cold water). Of course, Madeline was excited. I’m not sure if she actually saw them, but she sure enjoyed saying “DOLPHIN” over and over. Thursday night we all went out for a nice dinner at Macky’s. Macky’s is nice because it’s RIGHT on the bay (literally….our toes were in the sand as we ate). After dinner, we headed up to the boardwalk for some rides. Madeline rode the bumper boats and the train and carousel, which is amazing because she was going on no nap! By the time we got home it was 10pm, but she was a trooper and sang her ABCs the entire ride back to the house!

Sadly, Friday it was time to go home. We had lunch at Harpoon Hannah’s and proceeded to head home. Madeline slept the entire ride home.

What a difference two years makes. When we were here when Jennie was pregnant, I read 4 books in 5 days (Odd Thomas, Sea Biscuit, Ruffian and The Big Horse). This time I barely had time to sit down but it was awesome! Hanging out with Madeline is a total blast and it’s such a rush to see the joy and wonder on her face!

Surfer Girl from Steve Karsch on Vimeo

This week we’re down at the beach with Nonni, Pop-pop and Uncle Greg. Madeline is having a fantastic time. She absolutely loves playing in the sand and in the surf. She would stay there all day if we let her.

I’m taking lots of pictures but have limited internet access (oh my!) so here’s a small sampling until we get back this weekend and I can upload the rest!

It’s amazing the difference a year makes. She had fun in Florida last summer, but she wasn’t even crawling then. Now she’s walking and talking and destroying my sand creations and splashing in the ocean. She really is a busy little bee.

Time is flying by and we only have two days left now but I’m sure they’ll be as action packed as the first three!

Congratulations Dave, Suzanne and Ben!