Madison

The Capitol building.

Madison, WI is one of the Barlow family's favorite places. It's where Jon and I went to college, met, fell in love and made lots and LOTS of wonderful memories! And that's where Jon, Kylie and I went this past weekend to celebrate four years of wedded bliss!

The trip was short and sweet (about 24 hours), but we did all the things we wanted to do. We arrived on Saturday afternoon, unloaded at the hotel, and then headed to our all-time favorite burger joint for some much-needed hamburgers. The restaurant is called Dotty Dumpling's Dowry and if you are ever in Madison and craving a burger, you HAVE to go there! After supper, we headed to the Memorial Union Terrace to enjoy the warm weather and beautiful view of Lake Mendota. Jon and I spent many summer nights hanging out on the terrace with friends...It's one of the best places in Madison. Kylie started to get tired and restless, so we headed back up State Street to our hotel. We kind of meandered on State and stopped in a few shops to look for some fun Badger gear. One of my favorite memories about State Street involves Jon meeting me at my dorm on his bike, and then cruising to his apartment with me riding on his handlebars right down State Street, which is a Madison hot spot. I bet we were quite the site! Eventually, we made it back to the hotel...Kylie surprised me and slept like a champ!!!

Kylie enjoyed the burgers at Dotty Dumpling's as much as we did!

Jon at the Terrace...That's Lake Mendota behind him.

Kylie and I relaxing on the Terrace with the famous Terrace Chairs in the background.

Jon and I hope to own a set of those chairs someday! :)

 The Red Gym.

On Sunday we woke up, got ready, ate the free continental breakfast, packed up and headed out to the Henry Vilas Zoo. This is a free zoo, a little bigger than Oxbow Park, that has some pretty exotic animals including monkeys, lions, giraffes and a polar bear. Kylie loves animals and books about the zoo, so I thought it would be a great time to take her to one. She really seemed to notice the animals, although she thought every one said, "woof woof." I guess we'll keep working on those animal sounds! After the zoo, we drove around campus to check out our old stomping ground. We drove past the lake, the dorms, the classroom buildings and the medical center. At the medical center, Jon wanted to get out and walk around, which we did. We definitely got a little lost, but ended up crossing paths with Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy, and Jon was happy about that! :) Before we left town, we met our friends, Kirsten and Justin, for lunch at the Weary Traveler...It was great to see them and catch up. Sadly, our mini-Madison vacay had to come to end...But it was a fun 24 hours, and we can't wait to go back again!

Rhino.

Two giraffes. 

Pink flamingos!

 The grizzly bear looked right at us! Yikes!