Life In Madison

On Monday we arrived in Madison ready to begin our new journey in Madison for a year!  Andy will be attending graduate school at the University of Madison.  We are thrilled to be back in the Midwest and close to family and friends.  Andy and I had the chance to leave Drew and Claire with Andy's parents for a week while we unpacked FOUR shipments of house hold goods! When we arrived back this past weekend for the first time with the kiddos everything was put away, pictures were hung, and sheets had already been washed.  We were so grateful and by far this has been our most organized move, with not even a box in the garage!

 

 Our home for the next year

We packed out in Spain the month of May, so it had been a long time since the kiddos had seen any of their toys!  When we walked in it was like Christmas morning!!  The train table we had put in storage before we left for Spain, to this was new to the both of them!

I think if Andy and I were to settle down in the Midwest we would choose Madison as our city.  The city has SO much to offer from festivals, parks, lakes, farmer markets, and our favorite hundreds of miles of bike trails! 

This past Saturday we went on a bike ride to the large farmers market around the capital!

Enjoying a bike ride around one of the many lakes

Few More Fair Photos!

                             This was Andy's first year at the Iowa State Fair and loved this sign!

  The fair had a really cute area called "Little Hands"  where the kiddos had an opportunity to see what it would be like to work on a farm.  When you entered each child was given an apron and a basket and continued on to several stations.  At the end each child was given a fake dollar bill where they went to the general store to pick out an item for their hard work.  Drew and Claire chose a Popsicle!

                                                                    Planting vegetable seeds

                                   Filling the baskets full of grain for the farm animals

                                                                    Picking up eggs

 They then had to jump on little tractors with their buckets in the back, pick up hay, and feed the cows

                                                                  Milking the cows

   One of the many foods at the fair is a GIANT turkey leg!  Drew and Claire had to try a few bites off of Brian's!

 And of course there was a large selection of tractors!  The cost on one of these bad boys is INSANE!  Many of them were as high as $500,000!!!  The kiddos loved climbing inside them and "driving."

Iowa State Fair!

   This weeks kicks off the Iowa State Fair!  The Iowa State Fair is listed in the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die.  And it is said that over a million people will come to the fair from all over the world!  We have been visitors to the fair ever since I was little and it's sad to say that I have not been there for five years!  However today we made up for all of that lost time and we spent TWELVE hours there today!!!  And yes, the kiddos were with us for the twelve hours with NO NAPS and NOT ONE melt down!!!  We had an amazing day with so many fun memories!

  One of the many attractions there was a butterfly garden.  In this garden one paid $3.00 per person to have all of the butterflies one could imagine land on them and pick up!  The kiddos were in heaven, along with the adults!

                                Mimi and Claire having a great time!!