Madison

Last weekend we decided to head up to Madison for a few days. Justin had some time off, Clayton had a day off from school (although we let him miss two more after that), Noah is no longer in school, and we were really ready to see our other halves - the Petersens!

We left early on Saturday morning (well, early for us) and ended up getting there about 3:30 in the afternoon. As always Missy and Chase were gracious hosts and we had a blast.

Ready for a photo-recap? I thought so.

The first thing that happened when we got up there was sit and relax while Missy took all the boys to a birthday party. Missy makes AH-MAHZING cakes and she had to deliver a particularly lovely chrysalis one. They returned several hours later. The boys were so excited that they got to go to a birthday party. I don't think it even mattered that they didn't know the birthday boy!

Sunday was gorgeous! The sun was shining and it was H-O-T! Since it's a horrible shame to waste a day like that sitting inside we decided that it was time to get the pool out! After church Missy set up the pool, we gave the kids the hose and let them "fill the pool up". There was a lot of outer-pool spraying that went on, but the kids had a ball - and we had a blast watching them (from the safety of the swing on the deck).

In spite of all that spraying that they did, the pool did eventually fill up. The water then promptly turned gray and then brown because of the dirty kids that kept jumping in and out of it. Gross? Yes. Were we about to stop them? Not a chance!

 Drying off on the deck.

We had heard from Vanessa that Bratfest was going to be on while we were in town so we made sure to stop on by! Monday was not the same kind of gorgeous as Sunday was, but we were determined to have a brat! Bratfest in Wisconsin is no joke! There were tons of people grilling brats, huge condiment tents, four stages with live bands, tons of picnic areas, and a FAIR! My kids love a good fair so this turned out to be a better outing than we had even expected!

Clayton with his brat. This kid is a human garbage disposal lately. He really knows how to pack it away. My grocery bill is getting ridiculous.

 Poor Sammie couldn't have a brat. It didn't stop her from being insanely cute though.

The longer we were there, the more menacing the weather got. The sky got increasingly darker and it kept getting windier. We knew we probably wouldn't stay long so we gave each kid enough tickets to go on one ride. Poor Josie, both of the rides that she really wanted to go on (the carosel and a princess bounce house) were closed. I could see a meltdown coming but fortunately we found this train. Phew!

Both boys wanted to try the jumping harnesses. Justin waited in the longest line ever with them. While they were waiting it started to rain. Fortunately, they let both boys jump in spite of that (there was no lightning - otherwise I wouldn't have let them go).

 Sam decided that her stroller was a pretty sweet ride.

After the boys got off the jump harnesses we left. It rained on us all the way back to our cars and then, suddenly, it stopped. We decided that we could continue our day-o-fun and we headed off to Madison's FREE zoo. I've said before that I'm not a huge zoo person, but if it's free, I can definitely get behind that! We ended up having a very enjoyable afternoon at the zoo (which I took no pictures of). That night the rain came down - hard. I was a little nervous because we had planned a trip to a huge waterpark at the Dells for Tuesday and I didn't want the weather to ruin our fun.

Fortunately, Tuesday came with lots of sunshine. We got some discounted waterpark tickets from the local pool in Missy's town and headed out. The Dells is a town about 45 minutes away from Madison. It is known for its waterparks. They are everywhere! Outdoor ones, indoor ones, enormous ones, small ones. Every hotel looked like it had some sort of waterpark attached to it.

We chose to go to Noah's Ark. It boasts itself as America's Largest Waterpark! When we first got there I didn't think it looked so big (certainly no larger than Wet 'n' Wild) but then we went inside. It just kept on going. It was pretty awesome. On our way up we noticed that it was really windy. Waterparks in windy weather are not so much fun (especially when you forget your towels - as we unfortunately did). Thankfully the wind seemed to die down as the day progressed and it was a lovely day. Because it was the day after Memorial Day and/or the weather was less than ideal the park was basically empty. We walked on to all the rides. It couldn't have been better!

They had a great toddler area (you can see it in the background). That was where we set up camp. Sadly, it was about the only thing Josie, Tessa, or Sammie could do. Fortunately, they didn't know any better so it didn't matter!

Sammie had been loving these little geysers. Then, suddenly, she didn't. Poor Sam. It was a long day for such a small girl! For the most part though, she handled it beautifully.

This is Tessa. I love her. She has so much personality and she gives the tightest most squeezy hugs. I would seriously keep her in a heartbeat.

I didn't take many pictures of the boys going on the rides. We took turns taking boys on rides and staying at the kiddie area with the girls. I will admit though I was extra impressed with Clayton and Enoch. They went on just about every ride. (If you know anything about Clayton's anxiety you'll understand what a huge deal this is.) He was so brave! One of the last rides he went on was this one called the Sting Ray. It's kind of like a skateboard half-pipe, combined with a Der Stuka like drop (like my old school Wet 'n' Wild reference?). Super scary. Especially for little kids. But Clayton did it. I'm proud of how adventurous he was. I told him that his attitude made the whole trip worth it for me. True story.

 We're all looking at the camera and (mostly) smiling!?! Must have been a really good day!

Clayton with the Sting Ray - his biggest adventure of the day. (And yes, my boys LOVE goggles.)

Sadly, we had to leave on Wednesday. But not before seeing our other favorite people, the Zinke's! They came over to the Petersen's and we got to have lunch, play and chat before we took off. Seeing them always reinforces to me how much I miss them. No matter how long our visits are, they're never long enough.

Sammie and Bridgette. These little ladies are only four months apart.

Vanessa, Missy, and myself. I love these ladies like sisters. We can go a while without speaking but seem to pick up right where we left off whenever we get together. That's friendship!

Our drive home was long and mostly uneventful. The kids did pretty awesome in the car. It's always nice to get home after a vacation but we are missing our friends (Josie asked me yesterday if she could go to Enoch's house).

Thanks Chase and Missy for letting us invade your house and your lives for several days. It's always nice to be back with the team. Hopefully soon we'll be living on that compound and we'll have constant access to you (muah-ha-ha-ha)!

Until then though, thanks again and we miss you!