Carnival!

We have the best little shopping center near our house (orchardtowncenter.com). They are always holding events & activites. This past week, they've had a Carnival! (or "carmel" as Addie calls it) Addie could see the rides from the road & has been asking to go every day, so we decided to check it out.

Here she is, ready to go! (mason is not nearly as excited, but fell alseep nicely in the double stroller a.k.a minivan)

First ride was teacups with Daddy...she had a white-knuckle grip on him :)

Next were the airplanes...she loves that she was able to "drive" & make it go up & down.


Then came the Dragon roller-coaster..another white-knuckle ride. Daddy tried to coax her to raise her arms up, but that was just too much for her.

Lastly, she was ready to ride alone...she was soo excited (can you tell?!)...and just barely tall enough to ride alone.

Cowie...RIP

Well, the infamous Cowie is no more. If you've hung out with Addie anytime in her first 3 years of life, you've most likely met Cowie as well, her security blanket. This post will tell the story of Cowie, from inception to demise, through pictures and stories (more like comments).

We'll start with the end. A few months back Addie had to go to Mason's daycare during the day because her usual daycare was on vacation. While Addie played upstairs with her new friend Jacob, the family dog sniffed out Cowie from the diaper bag downstairs and proceeded to destroy the only valuable part of Cowie; the arms. Cowie is nothing without arms.

At the end of the day when we picked up Addie her daycare was so upset, and apologetic, but this was a blessing in disguise. The end of the security blanket. the end of the washing this thing daily. the end of dragging this stinky thing every place we went. But we were a little concerned about whether or not Addie would be able to sleep without Cowie.

Addie would wake up in the night if she couldn't find Cowie, usually lost in the blankets. She wouldn't take a nap without Cowie. This was the point at which we purchased a back-up Cowie so she had one at daycare as well as at home. We'd left Cowie behind too many times to risk only having one Cowie. In fact, we purchased about 6 Cowies in total, 4 yellow ones and some green ones. but to our dismay the greens ones didn't take, they were not the right color. The newer yellow ones we bought also didn't take, they didn't work as well as original Cowie according to Addie (their arms were too puffy). We would try to do a swap in the night, but that never worked. So we were stuck with just 2 "working" Cowies, and for 2.5 years that was great.

The night Cowie was destroyed Addie slept like a log. She was sad at bedtime "i miss Cowie" she pouted. "Cowie has an owie" we would say, and asked her if she still wanted Cowie anyway; "no, Cowie has an owie." she replied. And we never looked back!

The first picture of Cowie. Addie was sad, but Cowie made things better

With the Grandparents

getting professional pictures done

when Addie wasn't feeling well

sleeping with a book on her head

when daddy falls asleep in her bed

sleeping in the corner

must-have for road trips (here in Minnesota)

Christmas morning

Even Tigger couldn't de-throne Cowie

in front of the TV

Tigger and Pooh wait their turn

at church in Pastor Aaron Britton's office

asleep on her chair

asleep on the stairs

asleep in Mommy's bed

asleep on Daddy

among the toys at bedtime

must-have on plane trips (here flying home from Cali)

even with over-sized pillows (aka Polly's bed)

Addie tried substitutes, none worked

with rain boots

even when wearing a shirt for pants

comfort after watching a scary cartoon on accident

looking like a rockstar

and the last photograph of Cowie, Easter 2010

Rest In Pieces Cowie, thanks for comforting Addie all those times, thanks for helping Addie to be brave to sleep in places other than her room (Cali, Minnesota, the Boyles, the Brittons, the Chases...), thanks for making upsetting situations into bearable situations, thanks for everything!