An Ox Outstanding In Its Field

Blame Daddy for the pun, but it really is out in a field. This is Windy. After we went on a the wild ox chase trying to find this one, Mom looked up the address information again (using a different source). It was actually about one minute from the Green Ox! Plus, she learned she the newest map she had in her office had all the ox locations marked. Can we get an AARRGGHH!?! This was our last one, so I guess we were due for some extra excitement!

Windy has a lot of great details - angel wings, wind, a big wave, lots of little animals here and there. It was fun to crawl all around to find things tiny hidden on the inside of its legs and among the bigger pictures.

Back side of Windy. See the head of the caterpillar peeking out between her front legs?

This beaver is tucked on the inside of her back leg.

The top of her back leg has an outhouse. You can see the ladyslipper on her lower front leg.

We still have one more ox to post, but that won't appear until a very special day in December ...

Just Practicing...

We're getting ready for Thursday... actually Wednesday, Thursday, and probably Saturday.
Maybe by then I'll have the closing my eyes part down. Daddy is an expert.

Ain't He Adorable?!?

How could you not love Elmo? Can you tell he makes me smile? My two favorite Elmo things are when he sings his theme song -- I always sing along, and when he rides his bike. It makes me want to wear my helmet too!


Today, Elmo was finding all the letters of the alphabet on signs around Sesame Street. When they put the entire alphabet on the screen, Mom asked me to find the letter M. I surprised her...I DID! Everyone, including me, knows M is for Maddie.

Hey, Gunnar...

Celebrate, good times...come on! It's a celebration!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you have the best day yet...

It's a Great-Aunt Day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mom's Godmother and my Great-Aunt Jeanette!
I don't get to see her that often, but she sure makes me (and Mom) feel special! Hope you have the wonderful day you deserve. We love you!!

Flowery Ox

Me and Daddy posing with Oxygen. I think the ox is smiling right along with us. Oxygen was kind of a flower child ox, but we liked it a lot. It was very pretty poised in the middle of all the flowers. This one went off to auction too, so I guess next year there will be extra flowers in that spot.
Another shot of us and the front of Oxygen.
The back with more flowers and a butterfly. There were flowers painted up both back legs too.
Nearby I saw some paintings. One with "a deer, a deer!" and one with "a fish, a fish!"

Having a "Bar" at Grandma's

Last week I hung out with Grandma G and Boppa while Mom & Daddy did their errands. Grandma gave me one of my favorite treats - a BAR! At home I usually have to ask for one and request the flavor. This time, I sort of stole Grandma's from her. Then, when she came back with another (bigger) one for herself, I traded my mostly eaten one with her.




I even know how to use my napkin!



I don't like it when they start to melt too much. Mom laughs because I usually call melted bars MILK!

See how clean and girly I can be...when I feel like it?!



I have to tell Daddy & Mom to get some of this size. They only give me the little baby ones. Everyone knows I'm a big girl now...I even wear "big girl" pants a lot, but I'll tell you about that another day.

Art Attack Ox

We actually made two visits to Art Attack Ox. Not because we liked it so much, but because we had some issues with the photos. My pictures were taken on the second trip.

Can you tell I was a little tired that day? I tried to take a little nap next to the ox. See me in the front left corner?

Mom got me to sit up for a minute. I'd still rather be sleeping.

The backside of the Art Attack. Mom thought this was the nicest part of the whole ox.

Have you hugged an ox today?!

More Fun With the Oxtrot

This one is Daddy's favorite. It was titled Babe's Bank is Best. Mom thinks the Minnesota quarter is pretty cool; I just want to know how to get that coin out of there! Even though the bank "branded" this ox on both sides, they sent it to the auction.

Babe's back side and his bank...
The race track is home to Nitro Babe. Where's his steering wheel? I want to drive, drive, drive!

Nitro's front with all his sponsors.

Same ads appearing on the back...

Birthdays Are Fun!

Happy 19th birthday to my friend, Ahh-tee-yah (yep, that's how I say it)! Sorry I slept through the pizza party, but all of our playing in the afternoon really wore me out. I conked out within five minutes of leaving your house, and didn't even wake up when we stopped to pick up Daddy. Daddy didn't want to wake me from my nap because the last time he did, I screamed at everyone for twenty minutes.


Hope you have a great day!

Halloween Weekend (finally)

FRIDAY

We had fun at Auntie Sherry's for the big trick or treat fest. I even got to meet some new kids, Ty and Adi, whose mom is friends with Mom. She was going to try to get a hold of her friend Kris, but before she had the chance, we ran into them at the playground!

Friday, Daddy carved a pumpkin. We watched him pull the guts out and said, "Ewwww!"
I got in on the decorating with some markers. Auntie Sherry added the words; I'm not quite that advanced just yet!


I found some more of the Ewwww stuff while I was drawing on Mr. Pumpkin!

Like my Dora shirt from Grandma Mary? Dora lights up whenever I move...so it only stops when I take a nap.

This witch luminary cackled and spoke whenever we walked by it. It was funny. I don't know if Charlie liked it as much as I did, but at least she posed nicely with us.


Soon enough, it was time to dress up as one of my three favorite Sesame Street characters,

Abby Cadabby. Mom thought she would be easier to be than Elmo or Zoey. I did get to carry an Elmo bucket, though.
Here I am at the end of the first round of trick or treating. My skirts were riding up, my pants were riding down, and my shirt was off kilter, but I was having a BLAST! We had to come in for eat something other than snacks, so I ate...
MORE SNACKS! Don't worry. They did get some real food in me too. While I was eating, I took off most of my costume, including the pony tails, so Mom had to fix me up quick to do a little more candy seeking at Kris' house.
I had fun there. She let me help hand out candy. That may have been my favorite activity of the night. I got to help with that at Auntie Sherry's too; I really liked seeing other kids and their costumes.

My loot at the end of the night. Daddy didn't even wait for me to go to bed before he started stealing treats!

SATURDAY

The next day besides trying to get to my Elmo bucket for more suckers, we did some errands, then came home for my nap. I was so tired from the night before, I slept all afternoon. Mom wasn't sure if I would wake up in time for evening Mass. It was a good thing I had that long nap. After church (where someone gave me a quarter to put in my pocket -- and I didn't even have to say trick or treat!) we went to dinner and did a few more errands so we didn't get home until close to 9:00. I was tired again! Earlier in the day, Mom and Auntie Sherry took some pictures of me wearing this hat Mom got on a trip to Duluth when she was in school. She has a picture of her wearing it, and her friend Kris is in it too -- how funny is that?! If we can find that photo, Daddy and I may sneak it on here.
SUNDAY

We went back to the park for a little while so I could swing and slide some more. I love to swing as high as anyone will let me! The tallest slides are my favorites too!
Daddy flew some kites while we were at the park. I liked this dragon one a lot. I kept calling it Dragon Tales. It was a little chilly that day, so we cut the outdoor fun short, and headed back to watch my beloved "Bikings" play football. Unfortunately, I had to take a nap and missed most of the game. Then it was back to home for us. I was awake and unhappy for most of the drive. I don't enjoy sleeping or even being in my car seat as much as I used to!

AFTER THE WEEKEND

The next few days were we had such nice weather Mom and I spent most of our time outside. I got my first experience at filling birdfeeders, and now I am concerned every day whether or not the chickadees (yes, I know which ones they are) have enough food.

Ox Climbing

Paul's Friend looked like the kind of ox that needed kisses and hugs.


I loved the beautiful flowers around his neck. If I could have, I'd have taken them and worn them myself.


Paul's Friend solo.


And from his home outside the power company...Electrifying Ox. I had a blast weaving back and forth between his legs. We had a little trouble choosing a picture because there were so many fun ones!

Notice the details on his horns and tail...

It's a Great Day for a Trot!

Here we are posing with Warrior Babe. This was the one I saw the most, but it was sold in the auction. I still call it out when we pass it's old home. Maybe the new owners will have it on display so I can it give it one more wave.


Here's the backside of Warrior Babe. As you can see, he lettered in all sports...


This ox has more of a title than a name: Another Day and Night in Paradise. It might have been a wee bit sunny the day we did our big tour!


Kum-bay-ah...


The back of the ox has more camping scenes and a big loon. The artists really put a lot of work into all the detail.

Family Photo With Lakes Babe

When we stopped to get pictures of Lakes Babe, another couple was there. It turns out the husband and Daddy knew each other, so he offered to take a picture so we could all be in it. It was quite nice of him. It's the only one we took with all of us. If we stop at some again, we may have to remedy that.

I still got a picture of just me and my buddy. He was so shiny we could see our reflections! I gave him lots of hugs too.

There were many pretty scenic details, but they didn't photograph so well. Mom thought the water and trees were amazing...Daddy like the fishing scenes.

Some guys summer fishing.

And a winter fishing scene...