Madison

Picnic Point

Dear everybody who said we would love Madison, 

You were right.

We were welcomed to town at a dear friend's parent's house who greeted us with glasses of wine and dinner made as we had just set up the camper in a down pour and had our first blow out tire on the trip from Chicago to Madison. It was so nice to collapse at their home for some conversation and the boys spread out with lincoln logs! After our visit with them, we also got to visit with some friends back home who have moved to Madison throughout the week! It was so great to catch up and watch the kids who did "playschool" together play together once again!

We loved the laid back attitude and the activities on the beaches of your lakes such as the water ski show, the jet boots (which are still talked about in the sense that Santa will brings some), and the music at the student union. We loved lunching at Hutchinsons and treating at Michaels Custard. The bike trail that took us from our campground at Lake Farm Regional Park all the way to the capital was flat and easy to navigate. The view from the capital's observation point was beautiful and we really enjoyed finding ice cream on State St. Our boys can now say they have peddled 9.5 miles fueled on by stops for treats!

Camper Day with a 3D puzzle

Home of the Sandhill Cranes

Our campground was awesome and provided miles of trails that we would walk or ride our bikes from, fishing poles in hand. There were a couple of pairs of Sandhill Cranes and we were lucky that one pair had a baby that would walk around in between it's parents feet oblivious of the admirers! The boys had plenty of room to ride their wheeled toys and came up with a way to "water ski" behind the big wheel using leashes and roller blades.

Setting up "camp." Supposedly they were going to sleep in the bushes...

Off and ready for anything

Fishin'

We loved the free Botanical Gardens that we visited a couple of times, once for an evening concert with some friends. We walked out to Picnic Point and took in the sunset and thought about how great all of the public fire pits were. The public library did not disappoint and I think we now will hold it as the standard for every other children's library to measure up against.

Madison Public Library

Spending the 4th of July in the parks was great. We started out by heading to the Farmer's Market which I had some reservations about as I hate crowds and though I love the idea of farmer's markets, I can't really get into shouldering my way through to the best brussel sprouts. This Farmer's Market was easy to navigate though and had such a great supply of food at reasonable rates I will reconsider my love/hate relationship with them. We ended up at Manona Lake where one of the Dream Parks is located and we got a spot directly under the fireworks as they erupted above and the lighting bugs put on a show when they stopped. We watched a "Carry Your Wife" competition which will be remembered as the strangest running race we've ever seen!

Madison's Farmer's Market

Chris, the boys and I celebrated our wedding anniversary on the capital square at Madison's which was a great spot to honor our nine years together in a city we learned to love.

The Gardens

The Gardens

One day we ventured out to Milwaukee to pick Chris up from the airport and the boys and I took in the Pabst Mansion as well as the Clock Shadow Creamery for some tasty cheese curds. Towards the end of the trip we decided to make things interesting and cram in some extra travels. My parents were scheduled to drive out to see us at our next spot in Waterville, MN but it so happened that my dad was already working about an hour from there, so it was decided I'd fly home on Thurs. and make the drive with mom on Friday to keep her company (and awake as the woman is known to fall asleep as soon as the engine purrs to life!).  Sometimes the most amount of travel can work out perfectly as I got some quality book reading time in AND I got to surprise my friend Caitlin of TWENTY FIVE years for her birthday! So though we had to leave Madison, it was done on a high note.

Pretty sure I'd rather do the carrying...

Chris is already trying to figure out how to get his PhD at the University of Wisconsin so we can relocate to those shores we like so much!