Cows at the Capitol

One on one

One Saturday morning I wanted to go to the Farmer's Marker and walk around. Elsie and I had been having a rough week, so I invited her to come with me. We had a fun time walking around looking at all of the food and goodies for sale.

We ended the morning with a little lunch of sweet bread and spicy cheese bread.

While we were gone Alan and Alice walked over to the local bowling alley to play a game or two.

A little hard to see, but Alan said she did a "Go Ball Go" dance every time she rolled it towards the pins.

Brat Fest

Madison claims they are home to the World's Largest Brat Fest. I have never been to another Brat Fest, so I can't really refute that claim. It's held once a year around Memorial Day weekend. Even though this is our third year being here during Brat Fest, this was our first time actually going. With the girls still being small enough not to really appreciate the live music or ride most of the rides, we treated it like it was a big picnic. They thought it was so fun to go somewhere and eat dinner outside. It was a win for everyone.

The girls had regular hot dogs while Alan and I had brats along with our grilled corn on the cob.

Being in Wisconsin, we also had to get a little dairy in there somehow. What better way than with a big bowl of Zanzibar Chocolate.

Water play in a sunny backyard

We had a nice, warm, sunny afternoon so I filled up a big tub and let the girls splash around in a little water in the backyard.

When Alan came home from work, Elsie told him all about it and showed him the pictures. He told Elsie how much fun it looked, and then after a while said to me, "Did you guys play like this growing up? Because aside from you and your mom, I have never heard of anyone just playing with a bucket of water in the backyard." I thought about it for a little bit, and while we did have the traditional kiddie pool, we did just play with tubs of water some of the time. Even as a teenager, we would run around on our property in Central Oregon with just buckets of water and cups and have big water wars.

I can't have been the only one who played like this, right?

Big girl beds

The time finally came to upgrade Elsie and Alice's beds. Elsie was getting too tall for her toddler bed and her toes could reach the end of the bed when she stretched out. Alice is getting really close to starting potty training and we figured she needed to be in a bed that she could get out of so she can make it to the potty when she needs to.

Ready to get started!

Eventually Elsie will need a new comforter set, but right now she is very attached to her bear blanket. Alan mentioned that she would need a new blanket and she started crying. Too much change at one time. I figure it will last her through the spring and summer, and in the fall we will take her out to let her pick out a new one.

 They are both very excited about their new beds.

Alice is still trying to figure out how big girl beds work... 

Nap times have been a little difficult for Alice, but we have only had one day so far (knock on wood) that she hasn't given up and taken a nap. Other than that, it has been a fairly smooth transition.