Adventures in Madison!!

Below are some pictures of the fabulous time we spent in Madison with my sister and her family on our way out west. It was the first time we have been there, and the first time seeing my two month old nephew. We loved the city, loved our time there, and loved being with my sister and fam. It was so much fun!

You'll have to scroll down and start from the bottom because I am not thinking backwards very well today, and I don't know how to make posts from the same day show up underneath instead of above. Is this possible? Any help from you expert bloggers out there? (does anyone even know what I'm talking about?!)

Yummiest Ice Cream Award

I don't know how many calories were in this (as you can tell from the large sign they hang in the shop) and I don't really care, because this ice cream seriously was amazing!

The Best Hotel Pool Ever!

When we were choosing a hotel to stay at in Madison, I saw a picture of this pool on the Courtyard website, and that decided it. This pool was awesome! We went there whenever we weren't roaming the city during our two day stay. It was so much fun and a great way to give the kids some fun and exercise before getting back on the road.

Day 2

On Tuesday the adventure continued with a trip to downtown Madison. We saw the capitol building, ate lunch at an AWESOME african restaurant where we ate everything with our hands family style, and just had a great time exploring the city. I really love this place!


pigtail cousins!

some of the best food i've ever had!

the capitol building

sisters with sleeping babes

Lab Work

After filling up on Brats, we went to Jason's lab, where the kids all had a science lesson and helped Jason with his cancer research.

Brat Fest!

So who knew that the world's largest Brat Fest is held on Memorial Day in Madison? After trying to catch a few hours of sleep at the hotel after an all night drive, we started a two day adventure with my sister, her husband, and their two cute kids, one of whom I hadn't met yet (since he was born two months ago). First stop: Brat Fest! You wouldn't believe the amount of people that come out to chow down on the world's best Brats. They were actually pretty good. We had a great time!

Our Road Trip Begins

So here goes the summary of our cross-country drive. All in all it was a great adventure and we had a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong, we still spent four very long days in the car and there was definitely some whining and complaining from all of us, but overall it was a great experience. I'm glad we did it.

Here's Andrew trying desperately to drown out the sounds of kid songs. Don't worry, he only had this in one ear, so he could still hear any sirens approaching. Although it was ME who got pulled over the one night I tried to let Andrew sleep--because we had a headlight that went out. At least I got off with a warning. That reminds me, we still need to get that headlight fixed!
I was actually quite impressed that we fit as much as we did into the car without totally crowding everyone. We could even see out the back window and everyone had some leg room. The car top carrier we bought helped a lot.
Our first day was the longest. We headed out on a Sunday. It was the day after Andrew and I had spent all day and night at Kings Dominion (remember how I mentioned we sort of tried to forget we were moving the next day?!), so we had A LOT to do before we could go and didn't get off until after 12 pm. This was our longest day of driving, we had to make it to Wisconsin, which was about 14 hours of driving time, so we basically drove all night long. I knew we were in trouble when at 8 pm that night, EVERYONE had had it, and we were only halfway there. So, that was definitely our hardest day, but luckily we had a two day break in Madison, WI, visiting my sister and her family, so that made it totally worth it!

PS For those of you using internet explorer, please forgive the horrid red color. I am having some technical difficulties, and will fix it asap!

We're Here! ...and an attempt to tell you about our journey

Well, I have been avoiding trying to blog anything about the last few weeks because I can't really imagine how I can begin to summarize everything that's happened...and because we have been insanely busy. But, I've got to put something up here, so I'll try and begin somewhere near the beginning!

The last week we spent in Maryland was scheduled from morning until night and full of fun last outings with family and friends, Tyler's birthday celebrations, a fabulous date (and early birthday celebration for Becca) at Kings Dominion, Tyler learning to ride a bike, packing up and preparing for a cross-country trip, and sad goodbyes. Here are some pictures of that one week, the rest of the journey will just have to wait!

fun with family

Here are the kids hanging out with my brothers and sister a few days before we left.

Two-wheeling!

Tyler worked really hard for several days to learn to ride a two-wheeler. He was thrilled when he got it.

Tyler's Birthday!!

Three days before we left for Utah was Tyler's 7th birthday. Our day was a little less traditional and consisted of several outings instead of a normal party since we weren't really in our own home and living farther away from his friends. I didn't mean to pack quite so much in, but it just sort of happened that way. It was a really fun day. We started out with german pancakes for breakfast (hi Karin!:) ) and then took my brothers and sisters with us to a place called 'Pump It Up', which is a huge indoor area filled with all sorts of moon bounces. (thanks for the recommendation Laura!!) It really was quite the place. The best part was, adults can totally run around on things with their kids, and I had quite a bit of fun, although I was exhausted after about 15 minutes. The kids had a blast, and it was a lot of fun to watch them when my energy ran out.

Tyler's Bday part 2

Thankfully Grandma made Tyler this birthday brownie cupcake creation, because we weren't even home at all that day to do a traditional birthday cake. This was a lot of fun, and as you can see, the kids really enjoyed it. I couldn't get Annie to hold less than two at a time.


It was really fun to spend the afternoon with, first Grandma Hazel, and then Grandma Noelle. It would be the last time we would spend with them before heading to Utah.