On Friday we went out for breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Linda, Uncle Don, Sydney, Brea and Julia. Brea had found a great place to eat and we had a wonderful meal. That afternoon, Brian and I walked down to the university to explore a bit and had a beer at State Street Brats. Ben, Deonne and Will arrived later that afternoon so Oliver got to meet his Aunt and Uncle and cousin for the first time. Will was very cute with Oliver and (for some unexplained reason) called Oliver “little hipster” all weekend. We hung out with them and the grandparents for awhile and then all met up again at the rehearsal dinner. Brea arranged for a babysitter at the hotel so while Julia and Oliver got to hang out for awhile at the dinner, Brian and I had somewhere to drop them off when they got fussy. (One of the best things about the whole weekend was that everything was within walking distance of the hotel. So, the babies could participate but then could get home quickly if they started to melt down).
Saturday morning we got up early and went to the Farmer’s Market that surrounds the capitol building. The Farmer’s Market is huge! There are tons of vendors selling baked goods, produce, meat, cheese (lots of cheese), and fresh flowers. We bought a pastry and some cheese curds (they squeak! who knew?) and some cherries and three mini loaves of bread (zucchini, banana walnut, and bacon cheddar). All of the fruits and veggies looked so good it made me wish we had a kitchen so Brian could cook some of them for me. After the Farmer’s Market we went to a coffeeshop and read for awhile and then headed back to the hotel. I went and hung out with Brea and her wedding party while they got their hair and make up done. Before we knew it it was time for us to get ready for the wedding. The wedding was on the roof of the modern art museum in Madison. It was a beautiful ceremony - Brea looked gorgeous, the flowers were amazing, and the woman performing the ceremony did a great job.
After the ceremony, Brian and I headed back to the hotel to pick up Oliver and Julia (they stayed with the babysitters during the ceremony) and then brought them over to the reception site. When they had had enough fun we took them back to the hotel to stay with the babysitters and then got to be grown-ups for the rest of the night. It was a fantastic party - great food and wine, lots of dancing and great conversations with the family. So much fun!
On Sunday we spent the day hanging out with Ben, Deonne and Will. We went to brunch and then walked down to the university where we hung out on the Union Terrace for awhile. We then walked back up State Street and went to the Madison Children’s Museum. Ben, Deonne and Will had been there the day before and kept saying how much Oliver would like it. I thought it would be too old for him and he would be bored but, boy, did he prove me wrong. After a rough start (he had a major blow out all over me while I was feeding him when we first got there), he had a blast staring at all of the big kids playing with the exhibits and spent almost an hour laying in the infant area playing with the toys. For those of you who don’t spent much time with Oliver, he’s a high maintenance kid and never does anything for more than fifteen minutes so this was a landmark. Brian and I decided right away that we’ve got to join the Austin Children’s Museum. After the Museum we walked down to State Street Brats and had lunch since we hadn’t eaten there on Friday. After lunch I took Oliver back to the hotel for a nap. That evening we all went swimming and then out for a late dinner. It was nice to have a full day in Madison after the wedding to explore a bit and even nicer that we found so much to do within walking distance of our hotel.
Monday morning, we got up early, packed and made the drive to Chicago (unlike the first drive, Oliver slept the whole way). We had initially thought that we would try to cram something touristy into the five hours we had in Chicago but, thankfully, we came to our senses and instead spent that time hanging out with Brea and Julia. It was so nice to get to spend some time with Brea and now we’ve got even more incentive to get back to Chicago so we can do the touristy thing. After a nice visit we headed to the airport and after a not so eventful flight we were back in Austin (Oliver got a little fussy on the plane but that’s to be expected).
It was a great trip and there are tons of pictures of it on the Photos page. Oliver is a great traveler - he slept pretty well for us the whole time (got up twice every night) and put on the charm for the family. He had cranky moments but who doesn’t get a little cranky when they’re away from home? I hope this is the first of many trips we will enjoy as a family.
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