Mattie Poo: Back in the States

Our dearest peach, Mattie Poo Pie, has once again delighted us with his presence!  He came to stay with us from Switzerland for just under a week, see the Buckeyes, and enjoy some good old catch up time with one of his best buds, Brian.

Mattie Poo is a special guy in our household.  When Brian took a job in Scotland in 2006, he moved there not knowing a single person, other than the one who hired him.  Mattie Poo offered Brian a place to stay in his flat.  They introduced each other to their respective countries and traditions.  They became the best of friends.  And the rest is history.

Sometimes when I see these two together it is like the are long lost brothers... Naturally, Mattie Poo fits right in with all of us girls too!  Kate adored having Mattie Poo Pie here with us and once she heard his nickname, there was no turning back!  We heard shouts of it throughout the entire time he was here!  And when he visited Brian's brother, Mike, and Mike's family in New Jersey shortly after he came to visit us, they adopted his nickname quite quickly too!

We were so happy to have Mattie Poo here!  To entertain us, to enjoy all of our massive plates of food, to see the Buckeyes, and to just catch up with a best friend.  We did a lot while he was here, so here is the quick version!

First stop: Brian took Matt to Ohio Stadium.
While in Scotland, Brian's love of the Buckeyes
bled into the heart and soul of Mattie Poo.  He is a
true fan, and I think the Buckeyes were the main
reason for his visit!

Mattie enjoys some Sofia the First with Kate after
her bath!  She was enamored with Matthew!

American burgers...

While Matt and Brian were recovering on Sunday morning from the Buckeye game the night before, I took Kate and Maya to Sky Zone to get our jump on!

She's a jumpin' fool!

And a tumblin' fool!

Getting her bounce on:

Conquering the foam pit with NO FEAR:

That face says it all!

Foam pit fun!

Dodge ball fun!

Maya's not entirely sure what to think of this place.
She and I sat on the sidelines!

Also, I feel like I look like I'm 14 years old in this
photo.  Must be the angle and the lighting.
Look at me!  Taking a selfie at my first baby
sitting gig!!!

Later that afternoon, Kate was doing some marshmallow crafting and Mattie Poo and Daddy were very interested!

Mattie Poo Pie is the best!

Marshmallowing a ghost!

Pause for the pumpkin.  Taste test...

Daddy was so intrigued so I made him a spider.

He is so proud of his work...

On Monday, Brian had to work, so Kate, Maya, and I took Mattie Poo to the zoo!  He loved it!  And it was a Monday so we more or less had the place to ourselves!!!

Riding the train in North America!

Feeding giraffes!

Checking out the polar bear!

And the brown bear!  These bears were massive!

Riding the carousel with Mattie!

She picked him to go with her.

I'd say it was a huge success!

Showing Mattie Poo the enormous playground and
running back to the entrance to get back to the top
of the green slide!

And, of course, our stop at the bronze kimono dragon
with a little sit on it's head...

On Monday night, Brian and Matt headed out to see one of Matt's favorite bands, The Maccabees.  The Maccabees are a lot more popular in the UK and Europe, so seeing them in this intimate setting was incredible...according to Matt!

They even met the lead on the left!  Aka, Matt's man crush.

At the end of Matt's visit, we all didn't want him to leave.  We are 100% fine with a live in house guest like him!  We love you, Mattie Poo, and hope to see you soon!  Thanks for making the trek!!!

These two were best buds!

Back to Sky Zone

Almost exactly one year ago, we took Kate to Toddler Time at Sky Zone.  Once she warmed up a bit, she jumped her little heart out!  It was no different this time.  You see, the thing about Kate is she needs to warm up.  This is very similar to my personality.  When confronted with a new situation, she takes it all in and watches before she jumps in.  This is one of the many things that I love about her.  I totally get it, understand it, and respect it.  But once Kate warms up, she talks, she jumps, she tells you she's going to be a big sister, and she'll even pick her nose in front of you.  It's like you've been buddies forever.  But if you push her, like me, she will not warm up - to you or the situation.  She has to do it on her own.  (My, oh my, I've been down this road.)  Once again this is just one of the many traits of Kate that I love.  She is who is she is, and, to me, that is all she needs to be.

We warmed up at Toddler Time for a bit and then once we got our feet wet, we were all jumps!  This year Kate even jumped into the foam pit, twice, with absolutely no hesitation!  She loves Sky Zone and it's great for us to see her have so much fun!  It's also a great way to get a little energy out when you've been cooped up indoors all winter long!  We all start bouncing off the walls after a few months of Ohio winter!

Bananas has come with us everywhere recently!

Be still my heart.

Testing the waters?

Observing.

Observing from a different angle...

And more observing!  That bow, that hair, that monkey -
everything about that little girl just melts my heart!

Ahh, nice and warm!  Bananas even gets in on the action!

Jumping right into the foam pit!  No hesitation whatsoever!

And chasing the purple ball in the dodgeball court!

:)

Uh oh!  Purple ball is chasing Kate now...

Aha!  Captured.

Taking a little rest.

After Sky Zone we stopped for lunch and Kate
insisted on putting Bananas in her coat to "keep warm".

I love my monkey and she loves hers!  She's going to
make an unbelievable Mama one day!

Sky Zone - Part Deux

We headed back to Sky Zone this weekend and met a couple of wonderful friends for a little catch up!  Kate was all about the trampolines this go round!  She was so comfortable in fact that she decided that Sky Zone was her domain which included mindlessly running from one trampoline to another to another.  (You're supposed to stay on your square...)

The videos I took aren't that great, so I will leave you with the sweetest little photo of our tiny trampoliner:

Trust me when I say she was jumping around like she owned the place!

She just makes me smile!

Toddler Time

Since pulling the little trampoline up from the basement was such a HUGE hit, we decided to take Kate to Toddler Time at our local Sky Zone.  Sky Zone is a big indoor trampoline park with lots of trampolines, dodge ball, and even a pit of foam cubes to jump into.  Toddler Time is offered an hour before normal hours on Sunday, and it's so cheap - $10 per kid, $1 per adult if you are walking on the trampolines.  These fees cover your sky socks!

Fancy, huh?

Kate is very observant, so when we first arrived at Toddler Time she was a little hesitant to just jump right in and start bouncing around on her trampoline square.  (Each toddler was supposed to be assigned an individual square, but you know how that goes.  Controlling a toddler in a room full of trampolines is nearly impossible...unless that toddler is Miss Kate Madeline.)

She stuck by Brian and I and just took it all in.  She watched one little boy bounce, bounce, bounce, and then fall right on his bottom.  She watched one little girl literally running across several trampolines.  She watched another little boy jump on the wall trampoline (yes, there are trampoline walls) and bounce directly on the floor trampoline.  It was, in Kate's world, pure chaos, but very stimulating nonetheless.

Brian and I sat on either side of her trampoline and she started walking back and forth to each of us, still very intrigued by her surroundings and very hesitant to let either one of us out of a 3' reach.  Once she got a bit more comfortable, she started exploring more and warmed up to the idea that we were here to have fun!

Toddler Time chaos!

Just taking it all in with Mommy!

Walking across the trampoline!

Safe zone with Daddy!

It's a big, big world out there!

Still observing.

I love how everything around Kate in this photo is a blur.  You can
tell that she was literally just observing and watching!

Back in the safe zone!

Getting a bit braver!
See the trampoline walls!?

Then again, better play it safe.

Watching all these pint-sized people jump endlessly is tiring!

Venturing off!
Pinky over on the right is seriously tuckered out!

Feeling comfortable!

This was after she warmed up a bit and captures everything we experienced: observation, trampoline walking, and chaos!

So comfortable that Kate decided she wanted to take her socks off,
which meant we would not be able to stay on the court and jump.

So we walked over to the dodge ball court while we re-dressed.

Kate loved playing with the dodge balls.

Do we have a sports fan like her Daddy?!

Unfortunately, adults were not permitted to jump during Toddler Time.  I guess that makes sense.  But the trampolines looked like a ton of fun!

Sky Zone, we will be back!