Carnivale

Step right up and welcome to the first carnival of the summer.

Nothing like a roller coaster to get warmed up.

Next up were the bikes.  Ellie drove her motorcycle with determination.  Ryan and I couldn't help but think of next summer when that little seat on the back will have a Madeline Claire riding along.

But this summer, the three of us sat back and watched Ellie in her motorcycle glory parked next to this:

playing "New York" by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keyes.  And Madeline was happy just to bob her head to the beat in her stroller.

Then there were the 'Flying Bananas.'

Ellie was a little disappointed that she didn't meet the height requirements for the 'tea cups'

or the Scrambler.  But if Ellie keeps up her growin' to be a grown up {her main goal in life right now}, I think she'll have no problem hitting the 42" mark for next year.

The Bounce House made up for it.

Madeline was perfectly happy to just be chillin' watching her big sis get stuck in the canyons.

Then it was Maddie's turn to get in on the action.

After all of that fun, it was time to eat.  We were at Greekfest, after all!  So here is the best Gyro I have ever eaten in my entire life.  I seriously mean ever.

It was such a great afternoon.  Ellie compared every ride at Greekfest to Disneyland - in a good way!, we had great food and so much fun.  But to Ellie's dismay, we didn't win any games.  But that's okay, we don't really have room for bunnies in our backyard.

So much summer fun.

Uh-oh.

This morning we had the crew from our builder at our house to do the final fixes for our home warranty.  Ryan and I both had a sense of relief being covered for two years but unfortunately after today we are on our own.

The workers' power tools were zipping and whooshing so we tried to find a quiet place to some building of our own.

Madeline's tongue has been making more and more appearances lately.  Especially when excited.  And I'm not sure there is much more exciting than seeing a tower of blocks in front of you just begging to be knocked over.

The workers were in Madeline's room fixing her creaky floor and arrived a bit early so Madeline got to hang out in her pj's covered with peaches and banana a little longer than she normally would.

Madeline's been working really had on getting her words out.  This weekend she consistently added "ki" which is Madeline for "kitty" and "Eh-e" which is "Ellie." 

She has the first part of "uh-oh" down which she said when

she finally gave in to the temptation of knocking those bright, colorful, squishy blocks down.

Walking Wings: Product Review & GIVEAWAY!

Madeline is a daredevil.  The girl puts her face right in the water in the tub and thinks she can swim on her own in the pool.  She also is convinced she can walk all.by.herself. {which is exactly how she would say it if she was already making three word sentences}  But she can't.  She is close but she will inevitable fall flat on her face.

As much as I would love to be hunched over holding on to two baby hands all day long, it doesn't exactly feel great on my back.  Not to mention that we did that method with Ellie and she didn't walk until 14 months.  When Ellie was cruising all around the coffee table at 10 months we swore she would walk any second.

There are a lot of seconds in four months.

Anyway, so here we are.  Baby who only wants to walk and will not hold on to push her own walker.  Parents who value their backs.  What to do?

The solution:

Walking Wings. 

Walking Wings are a cushy device that goes around the baby's chest and then has two long straps with loops for the adult to hold on to.  You can hold low when the baby is first starting out, or move your hands all the way to the end of the straps for less stability.

Walking Wings allow your baby to find their own balance while you give them a little extra support.  Everything is adjustable with buckles to make it super secure. 

It's also comfy for the baby as you can see here when Madeline is catching a quick break.

In the last week or so since the Walking Wings arrived, Madeline's balance has improved and she is more steady when she takes her steps.  We anticipate she'll be walking very soon all on her own. 

Now for the REALLY exciting part:  you can enter below to receive

 your very own Walking Wings for your baby or to give as a gift!

It's easy to enter.  Just visit http://www.upspringbaby.com/ and then come back here and leave a comment. 

The winner will be randomly selected and receive their own Walking Wings shipped to them. 

To win you must be a Google Friend Connect Follower of Ellie-Town {click over on the right hand side to 'follow' if you aren't already}. If your profile is not linked to your email, make sure you leave your address in your comment so you can be contacted if you are the winner.

This giveaway will close on August 1st at 10:00 pm

Disclosure: Upsring Baby sent us our own Walking Wings to do this review and giveaway.  The above is our honest opinion and experience.