Thanksgiving weekend

Happy Thanksgiving!

**The video below needs an explanation. Madeline enjoys songs a lot and asks for them by "name" - that is, she'll say her favorite part of the song! There's "e-i-e-i-o," "waa-waa" (Wheels on the Bus, her favorite line is "the babies on the bus go waa waa waa"), and "boom boom" (Ants Go Marching). She also knows that a duck says "quack," but the only other animal sound she says is the rooster, and it sounds like she's clearing her throat! Ok, enjoy her Thanksgiving Show...**

My mom has a Droid phone, and she found an app. (game) for toddlers. Madeline had a BLAST! Now she gets excited when she holds my phone, thinking it'll do the same things.

This weekend, Caleb's cousin Darren came with his family for a quick visit. Darren and Jessica have two kids, Devon (5 1/2) and Keely (18months), plus they're housing an exchange student from Mexico (Maria, she's a junior in high school). Madeline LOVED having kids around!

It was great to see them, however briefly. We spent a lot of time at the Mall of America - and who wouldn't, it's such fun!

Maria and Devon, with Squidward and Sponge Bob (TV characters)

Devon with the Wonder Pets (TV characters)

Maria took Madeline to meet them, too!

Darren and Jessica took the kids on a bunch of rides at the mall, with the favorite being a roller coaster called the Pepsi Orange Streak. Devon had a blast "driving":

We tried taking a couple pictures of the other roller coasters, but those rides go so fast that no pictures came out well. However, (being a family-friendly mall) they had several (slower) options for toddlers:

Keely and Jessica rode the carousel several times. So fun!

 Madeline rode it, too. At first, she refused to sit on the horse,

but once it started moving she couldn't stop smiling.

 Madeline drove a "bus."

Maria and the kids standing in front of the Lego sculptures.