day seventy-nine

I am beginning to wonder if we have replaced our traditional Friday evening picnics with weekend breakfast picnics.

Here we are today at Goth Conservancy in the Town of Middleton.

just past Pope Farms

 We took a walk and blew some bubbles. Really neat how some bubbles just rise up and over the trees....who knows, maybe they went all the way to the moon!

It was just us today

After that, we did a little crafting. We have used prints with potatoes before, but now we took it a little easier and used these cotton balls. I have been told these cotton balls are at least 10 years old....possibly purchased in Kansas?

of course yellow, right?

 Here are all the cards we made. It was a fun craft. The way our home is oriented, a day that is 68 degrees can feel much warmer without any breeze and when it is sunny.

the final products

Lastly, our drive of the day took us to the car wash....

looks like it could be part of a horror movie....but we survived

....then off to find a park we were trying to find from a previous drive. We will need to visit this park again. It seems to be on the outskirts of town, but in between Madison, Fitchburg and Verona.

pictures through a car window are not very good...

Update - the bird feeder we started about three weeks is finally finished, filled with bird food and hung up.

no birds have visited yet

day seventy-eight

Today was another weekend date with breakfast not at home. A repeat of two weeks ago when we went to Festge Park. This time, we went out on the scenic overlook. It is a short walk, and worked out well.

overlooking the highway and the valleys

We also had a chance to do a little casting in the Black Earth Creek in Cross Plains. They re-did their downtown a few years back to open up more of the creek for people to fish and just stroll on the river banks. We will definitely be back this summer for a picnic.

The next part of the day involved doing things you should not do, which is going to two grocery stores in a day. I had a planned Hyvee pick up. Everything looked good....until we realized they missed about 25% of our order...chicken breast (no), frozen green beans (no), Silk Yogurt (no), pizza (no), hamburger patties (no)......Johnsonville smoked breakfast sizzlers (yes?).

So with the disappointment of coming home and realizing I had breakfast sausages to show for my efforts, it was time to go to Metcalfe's and make a good haul. Since we have a lot of vegetables from our CSA, I completely loaded up on protein. We should be in good shape for the next 10 days or so. With that, not many pictures today.

Since there will be no splash parks this year, he'll have to continue to enjoy spraying with the hose. It would be ironic if this fire hydrant caught on fire.

don't you think?

day seventy-seven

The Alpha-Bits box game was a hit. Since the cereal is almost gone, it gave me an opportunity cut apart the box and play this game. In fact, we played it multiple times at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mommy never won a game, so maybe we play again tomorrow.

using the cereal as game pieces, B (baby), D and H

Later on, him and Mommy made a train station

all aboard

When Mommy got the mid-morning cancellation, it meant we could all head outside for some bowling. Right now he isn't into the whole bowling ball thing when it is easier to just kick over the pins.

Mommy noticed some bird activity on top of her wreath earlier today. Turns out there is a nest up there....with eggs!

Then a little time for mowing....

helmet optional

The afternoon drive challenge was to find a statue. Since he went to sleep two minutes into the car ride, I took this quick photo out the window of the status of the guy chiseling himself out of a rock. We've long thought about playing a joke and putting a mask on him....some day...

he's back there somewhere in the middle of this photo....

Finally, the four-day craft is over now that these ladybugs have eyeballs.

day seventy-six

It rained all day...which I think is a reason he won't go to sleep since we didn't get any good time outside today. Tough to work out all the energy while being in the house most of the day.

Anyway, here goes day 76 and us blowing bubbles on the front porch. Was trying to show how when the bubbles got into the rain they would pop.

After that, we watched a little Sesame Street. Big Bird is going across the USA, and look where he landed! It's too bad the skit was so short. Not sure if I got anything out of it.

The afternoon drive took us to the town of Cross Plains and the swelling Black Earth Creek.

In the evening, he didn't want to finish his broccoli, so we found a creative way to get it in his mouth. I fed him most of it with chopsticks, then let him give it a try.

he got it closer, then just grabbed it with his hand

Lastly, the rock project that won't quite end. Here we are with Sharpies on the rocks we painted the other day. We should finish up tomorrow.

day seventy-five

Since we are kind of doing the daycare thing at home, educational opportunities have interesting ways of presenting themselves. I'll start with this. I'm pretty sure I have never bought Alpha-Bits prior to this box I bought a few weeks ago.

So we practiced a little spelling today. The "X" and "K" are so close...it took a lot of panning for cereal to find that "K."

more spelling tomorrow...

Over the last few days, the weather has been warm, and the bugs have been out. I think this might be what baby spiders look like? They are next to our house.

Our afternoon drive took us to the Enchanted Valley area. A bunch of wild phlox growing in the fields.

Our afternoon craft is a continuation of the prior day with the rocks. Today's craft was to paint them. This might end up being a three-day craft though as we are still not done.

being careful to not get any on the deck

our painted rocks

After that, pool party!

with Hawaiian music

Lastly, the lilacs in full bloom on our evening walk.

day seventy-four

Back to work for a short week. It was a warm one today, but we were lucky to get outside for a few quick strolls.

Then we just have random moments like this....I have no idea where this comes from...

Our drive of the day took us around town. The place I was curious about is the Princeton Club, which is the Madison area's largest gym. They have a tennis court on the roof. They're pretty fancy over there. Here are all the cars parked here today.

when I was a member, I never played tennis on the roof

While he was sleeping, the Wisconsin and Southern train came by, which is funny because we made a Wisconsin and Southern train out of cardboard on Sunday.

Our craft of the day is a two-part craft. Today's part of the craft was to get some rocks. We went to Greenway Station to procure some nice oval-like rock.

isn't it funny they both have Pete the Cat shirts?

Finally, the fountain made it's first appearance for 2020. We had been waiting for this day for quite some time.

Memorial Day

A repeat of our breakfast on Saturday, back at Epic and at the same dock. Since it is Memorial Day, I can wear white again....this is the closest my wardrobe comes to the color white.

Just looking at the calendar, I'm probably not the first person to notice this...this is the earliest we could have Memorial Day (as next Monday is June 1). Then, Labor Day is the latest it could possibly be, September 7 (the prior Monday is August 31). Get ready for a summer of fun!

The fun part about Epic is you can be anywhere. Here we are in non-crowded Europe.

the classic you take a photo of me and you take a photo of me

 Then the streets of England, I presume.

look out for the owl

After Epic, we found this on our doorstep. After a quick assembly, we were off and away.

Our afternoon drive took us past the splash pad. We were pretty sure they'd be closed....and we were right. Wonder if it'll be used at all this year.

splash pad is to the right of the playground

Finally, heading back towards home, we saw the big Memorial Day flag display outside the fire station.

day seventy-two

Before today got into the 80's, we did a re-run of yesterday, except we went to the 1,200 acre UW-Arboretum. This is a popular time of year since the lilacs and flowering trees are normally in full bloom. Here is breakfast.

minus the story and the waterfall today

We had our Christmas card photo taken here in 2017. We had not been able to find the tree until today.

my favorite snake branch spruce tree

Your tree of the day is the Royal Red Norway Maple.

what color would it be in the fall?

We finally "attended" our church today in Middleton. The mass only took about 45 minutes. There is another mass tomorrow for Memorial Day. Next week they can go with 25% capacity at the church, which is about 150 people. Please RSVP if you are coming!

I am writing this first update of the blog at 12:34, and all of this happened, including the craft, which is a cardboard cutout of a train and colored by us.

blue like Thomas

And then all hooked up. We used paper towel tubes in the back to keep it upright.

Wisconsin and Southern Railroad 101

Lastly, we took our mid-afternoon drive past the Pleasant View Golf Course. The course is quite busy these days as it is one of the few sports that is non-contact and kind of works these days.

Hole #9 on the Wood View

day seventy-one

This weekend appears to be a mixed bag of weather, so getting outside at the right time involves a strategy. With knowing that the first part of Saturday was going to be dry, we made scones on Friday night to get out quickly for our morning breakfast at the Epic Campus in Verona.

reading stories at the edge of the dock

a photo of photo being taken, my favorite

 While at the Epic Campus, we noted their landscaping has taken a backseat, since no one is really reporting for work these days. It did bring to light this little oddity. It is a dandelion going through the process of fasciation. Not sure if that is the correct usage of the term. Basically a mutant dandelion.

lots of plants can get this

The mid-afternoon drive was a quick one to the compost site a few miles up the road. Here is the picture of the pile of refuse.

lots of trucks here prior the rain that started at 1:50PM

Finally, crafting things up in the late afternoon with some bracelets.

careful not to drop the beads

Here are the final products

Tomorrow looks to be a bit warmer with showers starting around 6PM or so. Another good day shall be had.