The view from the backdoor

The temperature hit 100 F here this week and all my northern neighbors who are used to slightly cooler temperatures are dropping like flies. I was going through all the hundreds (yes, hundreds) of pictures that we've taken in the past year and found a couple of pictures that show the variations we get up here in Indiana.

Here's the view this week:

And here's the view at thanksgiving.

A day at the beach in Indiana: we get a great view of the corn. 

Mom and Madelyn take a little dip. Madelyn, surrounded by water, becomes fascinated with a bottle full of it. 

Dad and Madelyn at their Indiana beach. 

"Everything looks good in this cabinet." 

The bathing beauty in her environment 

While her parents thought that they had put Madelyn down for a nap, Madelyn shows that they've really only put her in her newest jungle gym. 

"I don't like this show, let's see what else is on." 

Mom shows how she washes dishes. Madelyn shows how she helps. 

"There's something in this cabinet I want, I just know it." 

Madelyn's newest hobby: Checking the coffee table for new things that she shouldn't play with 

Madelyn at midnight: Deep asleep, Madelyn finds the most comfortable position possible. Incidentally, this position is also completely sideways in the crib. 

Madelyn demonstrates her Paddy-cake proficiency 

"Happy Birthday, Grandma King!!" 

Madelyn says, "Give us just five more minutes." 

"Why is Dad always pointing that silver box at me?" 

"Ummmm, Mom? How good a grip do you have on me?" 

No new pictures to post today, so I thought that I'd dip into the archives a bit and put up a few pictures that we have "laying about" on the computer.

Here we see Madelyn at Halloween being tortured by her Mom, who has her dressed for ridicule in a pumpkin outfit. Madelyn is not happy about this at all.

In this picture, Madelyn and Dad, the great debaters argue over the relative merits of early bedtimes.

Harry the hippo stares down Dad after a hard day.

"Who the hell is that, and what is he doing here?" Madelyn makes early notes on Dad as Grandma helps her get a better view.

Grandma King assures Madelyn that she is gearing up to do some serious spoiling.

Why settle for just one stuffed friend when you can have two? 

Just what every girl needs: a bear as big as she is. 

The mighty bear vanquished, Madelyn laughs at the simplicity of her foe and demands the minivan's finest meats and cheeses be brought to her. 

On the ride home Madleyn grapples with a stuffed dog and a stuffed bear locked in mortal combat. 

A view from the top: Chicago's finest look down upon the masses and decide their pitiful fates as they soak in a game of baseball. Not really, actually we sat in the box and sampled as much free food as we could. 

My view from the 'box at Comiskey Park (U.S. Cellular Field).