Family Time in Madison

We took our first mini trip as a family of 4 right after July 4th.  We only ventured a little over an hour away to Madison, WI, but it was perfect!  I don't think we stopped smiling the entire time.  Seriously.great.memories.made!  Okay, well except for the speeding ticket on the way home.  ;(

We started by meeting the Saylor Family at one of our favorite spots,  the Madison Children's Museum.  They were vacationing at the Dells and met us over in Madison for the afternoon.  The kiddos had a fun time playing together!

 Happy to be at the children's museum!

 Charlotte was even able to enjoy the baby play area this time!

After lunch with the Saylor's, our family headed to check into our hotel.  I'd found out about a hotel in Madison, through some local friends, that has a water play area geared towards little ones.  I've been dying to take MJ there for the last several months, and was so glad we could finally make a little get away out of it.  It did not disappoint, to say the least!

 MJ was quite at home in the hotel room playing with his beloved choo-choos.  Thanks, Miss Meg for this awesome take-along track.  Now we're never without trains!  ;)



Little miss hanging out in her baby jail crib.  :)

 I told ya we were all smiles!  The kids were so happy, which of course made us so happy! 

After settling in, it was time to gear up for the pool!  Who's ready for some swimming?! These two cuties!

 This was Charlotte's first time in a big pool, and she seemed to love it.  She happily played in her baby raft and enjoyed splashing in the water. 

 Mat and I were both shocked at how comfortable MJ seemed to be in the water!  Last summer he was extremely timid, even with swim lessons, but this year it was quite obvious he was ready for the challenge!  He started out with this water slide in the kid area.  It was perfect for little ones!  Lots of small water slides, fountains, and areas to climb about and wade around in.  He was in absolute heaven, and we were loving every minute of watching him! 



I was one happy mama!

We hadn't been there all that long when MJ really surprised us by asking us to go down the bigger water slide in the regular pool.  He had tried one last year, with Mat, at Dubuque's public pool, and was not a fan of it at all, so I didn't really think he'd even be interested in this one.  He insisted though, so we encouraged it.  I thought after going down one time, he'd be over it.  Not the case at all though.  I can't even count how many times he went down this slide.  The first day there we had a little system of Mat being at the bottom of the slide ready to catch him and me being at the stairs ready to watch him make it safely up the stairs.  Look at my boy go!!

After lots of water play time, we freshened up and got ready for dinner.  We were given such great deals at the hotel restaurant that we couldn't resist!  Free appetizers, two free drinks, and kids eat free?  Yes, please!  It was awesome food nonetheless as well! 





Charlotte was cracking me up at dinner that night!  Her hair was like a wild woman after the pool and she had worked up quite the appetite!  She was pretty new to eating baby food and puffs and I couldn't keep the food coming fast enough.  Loved this pic of her little personality coming out!

This was our first time all sleeping in a hotel room together, and we had no idea what to expect, but it went pretty well.  MJ started out on a sofa bed and Charlotte in her crib.  Both kiddos actually went to sleep okay, with a little coaxing, but in the middle of the night MJ ended up in our bed.  Charlotte did fairly well.  The next morning we geared up and got ready for the pool again!

Sportin' her first bikini and ready for the pool!

After sadly checking out of our hotel, it was off to lunch and then for a grocery shopping stop at Trader Joe's.  Love this store, and look forward to shopping there a few times a year at least when we visit Madison!



MJ agrees that it's pretty cool, too!

Then, it was back home, and back to reality.  This was an amazing weekend spent together as a family though.  There were many times I teared up just watching my kids and enjoying our time spent together.  I think one night away was perfect for them.  It was long enough to be different, exciting, and fun, but not so long that we got cranky or over tired.  We'll definitely be visiting this hotel again, and I see some annual family fun in our future in Madison!