We'd been scheming for awhile on a trip back to Madison sometime this year, probably in May or June. Then a couple of months ago, we received an invite for a friend's graduation party which was this past weekend. That sealed the deal. A kill-two-birds-with-one-stone kind of thing. We began planning where we wanted to go, which old stomping grounds to revisit, where to eat, who to see.
In all the ways I thought the weekend might go wrong: kids melting down over crazy schedules, sleepless nights in a different place, car trouble, etc., the thought that the weather might completely crap out on us never even crossed my mind.
Guys, the weather completely crapped out on us.
Rain and cold and wind and awful and it basically felt like March. A terrible day in March. Saturday, our only full day in Madison and the day of our friend's OUTDOOR party, was just the worst. The twins cried basically the entire 40 minutes we were at the event because they were so cold and miserable. Tyson had to take them into our van with a plate of food just to get out of the wind and the cold. Other people were showing up with their kids dressed in full winter gear: hats, puffy coats, gloves. Guess what I didn't pack for a weekend trip to Madison at the end of May? Anything at all required for winter. Especially since when I was packing, on Thursday, the forecast was 70 degrees and rainy, but by Friday morning as we were driving, (aka TOO FREAKING LATE), the forecast had dropped to 50 degrees and rainy. Plus wind. Cool.
It killed most of our plans. No outdoor farmer's market, no trips to the park, no beer garden visits, not a chance of even taking a walk. All of our favorite Madison things are outside! Oh well. We're taking this as a sign to plan another trip soon.
The weather did give us some indoor library time at one of our favorite spots. Caden and Brooklyn basically learned how to slide on this very slide, yet when Brooklyn saw it she said, "Oh wow, there's a slide in here!" The way she said it was surprised, like she had completely forgotten. Which, I mean, she probably had, but my heart still broke just a little.
Meeting, or as the case may be, re-meeting, friends, both old...
...and new.
Sunday. We had a small window of time after church before we headed out of town. It wasn't the warmest weather in the world but it wasn't raining. We'll take it. We headed over to The Terrace.
Now this...
...this felt like we were in Madison.
(Did I wear these on purpose? The answer is a definite yes.)
(Do these look a little familiar?)
"I want to go in one of those boats!" is all Caden kept saying. With our current Moana-obsession, his entire life's goal now is to ride in a sailboat. Though he did launch into an entire "How Far I'll Go" musical theater routine when he was on the dock with Tyson. (Sadly not caught on video.)
I'm happy to report that the ice cream is still as good as ever.
As is the beer.
You really can't terrace anywhere else.