9 Months going on 10 years :) And the longest Blog Ever!

Miss Madison turned 9 months old on Thursday. We had her well-baby check-up and her stats are: Weight= 18lbs, 4.2 oz, Length= 28 in, and Head Circum.= 17.2 in. She is progressing very nicely around 50th percentile in all categories. So we are blessed that we have a healthy baby! She has 6 teeth, is crawling on hands and knees, can click her tongue and will do it back if you do it to her, does not like being told, "NO", is waving hi/bye and just started to pulling up on things. On Friday we lowered her bed to the bottom notch when I noticed she was standing when I entered the room; frightening! Tony found her messing with the DVD player this morning. She had the Disc Drive open all the way and was pushing all the buttons; aaaah we have a GROWING CURIOUS BABY!


We have been busy with site seeing this week. We took Missy to a Wild West Show, and a few hikes. All the actors are volunteers and they pay for all their own costumes. The "Old West" town is an old movie set that was used and can be seen in lots of the Western Films from the 1950's. Gene Autry and of course "The Duke", John Wayne; as well as, even earlier movies with Barbara Stanwyck as Annie Oakley were filmed there. It was kind of neat being surrounded by so much movie history. Tony and I have been to Pioneertown before, to Pappy and Harriets; which is like a biker honky tonk with live music and great bbq. This was the first time we had walked through the little town and saw the show. It was their first show of the season and it was a little rough but alright for unpaid acting!

The first hike we went on was 49 Palms Oasis; in 29 Palms. We took the Bailey Dog with us but it was against Park Rules to have her on the trails. Don't tell anyone; please :)! She had a good time but we won't take her again because we could have been fined. It was a great to day to go because the wild flowers were blooming and the weather was wonderful. We had a nice breeze and it was late enough in the afternoon that the sun wasn't going to FRY us to death. It was a very treacherous hike (I didn't remember it being so tuff) the baby and dog made it a little more risky. I guess that is part of the adventure. We all made it out safe and sound. Bed time was right around the corner when we got home!

Today we went to Tahquitz Canyon; in Palm Springs. After today that makes Madison's 5th hike to date. She has decided that she loves hiking but that stopping stuff has to go! We tried the toured hike in the Canyon today and she was none too thrilled with our tour guide stopping to explain the desert flora and fauna every few steps. We ended up ditching the guided tour and just visiting the Water Fall by ourselves. Oh well, you take what you can get with a little woman! We found out before we ventured off on our own that Tahquitz was a bad Native American. He actually was a bad man that would steal the souls of young maidens and some of the male's of the tribe too. The Story is that he was not about promoting health and well being for the other tribe members so they banished him to the canyon. He supposedly disappeared in a green puff of smoke to the top of the ridge. Some of the tribe members would say they could see him on the ridgeline and would yell out, "Tahquitz leave this place and leave our souls they are not yours", they say he still lives there today. We decided we would kick his butt if he tried to take our "young Maiden" from us! Thankfully for him we didn't see him today ;)! Our biggest problem is trying to get Madison to keep her hat on! She doesn't like it at all so we have to do a "hat check" every few feet. It is usually off or covering her face -it's a little big still. But I like it because it has a big brim and keeps the sun off her face and arms when it sits right! Really important in the Desert. . .

It was really hot out there but when we got to the waterfall it was perfect! The water is very cold and you are allowed to go swimming in it if you dare to. We dipped the babies feet and hands in the water, but she didn't like it. She started crying when we put her feet in it. . .too cold for her. It was a neat little hike. About 1.8 miles and on our way back we met up with our group again. We would have never made it if we had stuck it out with them! The guide was a good at telling stories so we missed that but I don't regret a thing about today. It was great; enjoyed the scenery and all the wild flowers, seeing all those colors was neat. We were told that some blooms haven't been seen in 50 years so that was a real treat!


I have included pictures from the circus and the cookout with our friends at Luckie Park, in 29 Palms. Missy had Cotton Candy for the first time and she was trying to figure it out. She didn't quite understand why it went away once it got in her mouth. But she liked it because she opened her mouth for more! The Circus was very small but I didn't mind because my camera battery was dying on me. I didn't get a pic of the little Palomino Pony :(, oh well I will get one from someone else that went and got it. At the BBQ chasing bubbles was a blast and her little pink car was a hit for her boyfriend Peyton. I know his mom will use the pictures she got oh him in the car later for torture when he starts dating!!!! We had a good time that day and as usual the grass was cool and a great change from our sandy/dirt yards!

Hope you were able to see all the pics and read all the info. I know I put too much information in one blog. Happy Reading and I will upload more video now that I know how to do it!

Love and Miss you all