The kids had a winter break from school - the MLK holiday + a few extra days so we opted to join Dan on a work trip and visit our beloved Madison.
You know that we cannot visit Madtown without a creepy drive by of our 101 Powers place.
And - as long as we are in the neighborhood, we gotta zip by our rental on South Bryan.
Did we cruise by Lucy's old day care? You bet! I loved Big Oak so much!
Of course we showed the kids Mom and Dad's old graduate school residences. ;) Downtown Madison is growing so fast and getting so many nice apartments and condos - where are the broke students supposed to live? These historic, drafty, huge multi apartment houses are the best.
Eeks - I am so hoping that one of these Storm kids will land in Madison for school.
We checked into our hotel and the kiddos hit the pool right away. Side note - when Leo came up from his swim, he pounded on the door and said, 'Open Up - FBI!' Where does he learn this stuff?!
We dined on Indian food in the lobby - 10 out of 10 recommend. It was so freezing out that we opted not to leave the comfort of our hotel that evening.
Is it even a vacation without a puzzle and glass of wine in the hotel room while your family watches a movie? ;)
This year MLK day happened to fall on Inauguration Day. Our crew opted to skip the news and head to Milwaukee for the day to think about the entire arc of history - the current state of affairs is just a blip on the radar, right?
Dan had the day off, we had not been to the Public Museum in years so we made the quick trip down I-94 to Milwaukee.
Our boys could not wait to see the dinosaurs!
This place is so cool - There are floors of critters, fossils, and dioramas.
The dinosaur exhibits are always a favorite - especially when they show a carnivore feasting on guts - Hah!
We love mammoths!
There were so many animals to see - from snakes to armadillos.
The Streets of Old Milwaukee were in their last days of Christmas mode. It is always interesting to see all of the immigrant groups that made their way through the city and to think about how different nationalities lived at the turn of the 20th century. Shout out to the sausage makers!
Everyone wanted to jump on the replica trolley and needed a turn on the giant bike.
I am not sure that Leo could even reach the pedals.
The children adore the Night of the Museum movies and they are big fans of dioramas depicting life in other eras and places.
There were animals to see from all over the world from the tundra to Asia.
We visited the African animals too.
Of course I get one kiddo who is pretending to pick a giant nose in this picture. Insert palm to face emoji here.
We went to the Giant theater to see a show about the Wisconsin night sky.
We learned about chariots.
Our llama lovers snapped a picture in South America.
We paused by the mammoth that was found on a farm in Kenosha County, not even 30 miles down the road from the museum.
We walked through the butterfly house.
Leo exclaimed, 'Take my picture for Grandma!'
He knows how much Grammy Sharon loves butterflies. ;)
We saw more critters!
And took some breaks - it was a FUN and FULL day.
All of our tall kiddos took pictures by the T. rex skull.
Dang - this girlie is a couple of inches taller than mama now and still growing. Slow down, kiddo!
Our next stop had been on my bucket list for quite a while - an authentic German dinner at Maders!
The interior is awesome - the boys were so excited to see the list of former presidents and celebrities who dined here.
The art and stained glass windows are so cool!
The children got Shirley Temple's served in glass boots. So fun! Of course one of these nuggets spilled all over the table - ai yi yi! This is why we can't go to nice places.
Mama enjoyed a beer.
Just for the record - this was their smallest option!
Cheers!
And now for the food - spaetzle, potato dumplings, sauerkraut, red cabbage, breaded cutlets, and schnitzel. So so good!
Here is Lucy's dish - a brat and giant pretzel for the win. This was such a delicious meal and the experience/ambiance was top notch! Highly recommend if you find yourself in the Deer District of Milwuakee.
It was a great day - more on our trip to Madison in my next post.
