Musings from Madison, WI

Four excited little boys!

     Last week, my husband needed to take a class for work in Madison, WI. Since he was already going, and planning on staying overnight, I decided to go along…and take all the kids.  Staying in a hotel is a HUGE treat for our kids, and they were so excited to go along. We picked a hotel with a pool, of course, and a free breakfast, of course!  We left on a Monday night, and arrived about 7:30pm. We saw our room, looked at the breakfast place, and of course, sought out the pool! I knew I was in for a challenge as soon as we saw the pool. There were no steps, just ladders into the pool, and the shallowest depth started out at 3 feet! The kids wanted to go swimming right away, but since it was already getting late, we went for a walk and put everyone to bed.
        Tuesday morning: Everyone was up early…and the first question was “When are we going swimming?”. We went and ate breakfast, dropped Roger off at the hotel down the road for his class, came back to the hotel and prepared for swimming! Thankfully, I am fairly confident in Garett and Chandler’s swimming abilities since they’ve taken classes at the YMCA. Since I was taking all of them, however, I had all the boys put floaties on their arms. Travis did not appreciate that! I gave the children instructions about staying close to mama, looking out for Travis, and listening, and off we went. Well, I didn’t have to worry about Travis, since every time he looked at the water, one of the boys was grabbing on his arms! Garett could touch the bottom, and Chandler is part fish, so I really had just two little leaches…Wyatt and Travis! Wyatt wasn’t crazy about the pool since he likes to touch the bottom, but as long as I was holding him, he loved it. Travis fussed about the floaties and since I was holding him, we took them off…much better! We played in the water for about an hour, and then I told the boys that we could go to the zoo if they wanted to, and everyone hopped out of the water!
        Dressed and in warm clothes, we headed off to the Henry Villa Zoo in Madison, WI. I highly recommend this zoo, as it’s free and perfect for families! It was cold, but the kids loved it! The polar bear got in the water to play and that was a highlight for them. The monkeys were playing in their cages, and the boys were fascinated by that as well.  We spent a few hours at the zoo, and when everyone was getting cold and tired we headed back to the hotel. Everyone took a 3 hour nap and then it was time to get daddy-YAY! After we picked up daddy, we ate supper and then went swimming again…it was  much easier this time around!
Wednesday morning, Roger had class until noon. We had to check out of the hotel by 10, so I wasn’t sure what we would do for two hours. We were ready and checked out of the hotel by 9 and the Lord allowed us to find a McDonald's with a play land! The boys played for a while, and then asked if we could go back to the zoo. I was surprised that they wanted to do that again, but they had had a really good time…so off we went. The day was warmer, and it made it a little easier for Travis and Wyatt. We were able to see the giraffes and the rhinos (they weren’t out the day before as it was too cold), we saw the tiger up close through the glass, but Wyatt did not appreciate that tiger at eye level! We were able to ride the little train there and of course, visit the monkeys again! Then it was time to get daddy again.

Wyatt at the pool

Ready to see the zoo!

Train time

Kids and giraffes

The friendly lion...Wyatt wasn't too sure!

Orangutans ...fun times!

Garett

My amazing husband and Travis

        While it wasn’t a relaxing vacation for me, I wouldn’t trade the moments with the boys for a relaxing time. Seeing their delight about swimming and the animals at the zoo,  brought great joy to my heart. I only have a few short years, so I’m soaking up the memories!