America's Dairyland

Though Sarah says that there are WAAAY more bugs than cows (and there are lots of cows) and thinks it should be called Bugville USA.

The kids were so excited to see their cousins that they had a hard time settling down Sunday night after our arrival in Madison.  Juile & Brent had some yummy dinner ready for us and we ate outside on their awesome patio (I keep trying to convince Brent that he wants to come and build one for me too).  The kids were so excited to have a sleepover --Sarah slept in with Clark and Soren and Emily hosted Kate and Ella in her room.

Since Monday was Memorial Day, we got to go watch Brent march in a Parade in nearby Menona.


Leah enjoying the view from the backpack.

The kids were stoked that some groups were throwing candy!

Brent gave a little impromptu concert for some people who'd been riding on a float and missed his pipe band


That afternoon, Julie invited a bunch of friends and neighbors over for a barbecue. It was fun to have faces to put with names that I've heard in phone conversations over the years.


Brent grilled some tasty burgers, brats,hot dogs and corn


One bit of excitement was that someone had brought some cookies. Sarah dutifully asked one of the kids what was in them and after hearing that it was just raisins, she proceeded to eat one. 2 minutes later she came in and said that she was having an allergic reaction. EEK! We gave her some Benadryl and watched her for signs of anaphalaxis. She seemed okay, so we sent her to bed, only to have her down violently throwing up a few minutes later. We called Candice who said we should take her to the ER. But Julie wasn't sure which hospital to take her to, so she called a neighbor who is a doctor. He said that he was the backup doctor on call at the ER of the Children's Hospital and offered to come over and check her out. He said that we'd done well giving her Benadryl and that at the hospital they would admit her to monitor her for a few more hours (apparently the worst reaction happen almost instantly, but there can be a rebound a few hours later). He said that if we felt we could keep a close eye on her, he would be just 2 doors down as a backup and we could skip the ER. It was pretty scary, but she was okay in the end.

The Allen kids were in school the rest of the week, so we did some outings without them.  We went to an exhibit called "Odd Wisconsin" with weird wisconsiny things at the history museum.


The kids liked the farming exhibit with a life sized dairy cow.

We went to the Madison Children's Museum where the kids played in a musical hallway

Got to pretend to be construction workers



Got to design a city


Climb through a giant fish


Milk a cow in farmer clothes


Dig for dinosaur bones



Hang out in a tent


Plant an organic community garden


Work at a cafe



And sail a dream machine



For the most part it was pretty chilly during our visit, but one afternoon it was warm enough to set up the little pool in the backyard.


We went out the the headquarters of the American Girl Company and looked at all of their displays


We attempted a trip to the (free) zoo, but alas were too late to see very many animals


As a consolation prize, we took the kids to a great restaurant called "Ella's Deli." As you can imagine, our Ella was pretty thrilled.



They had a wonderful carousel which the kids were all excited for

Except maybe the little ones

We had some great deli food

In a very interesting environment


They had a great baby meal. Perfect for its target audience.

The girls were thrilled with the chance to got to school with the Allens on Friday


And we were all glad when Brent pulled out the fire pit that night to roast marshmallows and make smores.


On Sunday after church, Julie invited some more friends over for Norwegian Pancakes. Yum Yum.

(Notice that Kate and Emily are wearing matching nightgowns in the middle of the day and pretty much any time we would let them -- what could be cooler than matching?)


The big kids were excited to finally have an audience for their very elaborate production of Esther.


On the drive home we stopped at Winter Quarters in Iowa where the girls got to dress up an learn about pioneers



Leah was ready to try out the ship bunks.



They thought that perhaps our 3 days in the car were a better deal that tne pioneers 3 months.