Turning in the Thesis...

Finally, the reason we went to Madison in the first place: Daniel's Thesis. In his department, they required two copies of the thesis - one for the Geography Library:

 Here's him turning that copy in... and one for the main library. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go into the library as you have to be a student/faculty/staff to actually go in.

Giving a copy to his advisor.

and saying goodbye to Science Hall for the last time! (Isn't this such a gorgeous building?!)

Daniel turned his thesis in on the LAST day of their Spring Degree Window period (basically it was after the semester ended but they give a few weeks so you don't have to pay tuition for summer if you get it in by their deadline.) Congrats Honey!

The best part - 7 days after he turned in his thesis, he had a job offer. He's been working there for almost 2 months now. It's been a crazy two years, and we're glad they are over and the thesis is finished!

Ian's Pizza

There is a great little Pizza shop in Madison called Ian's Pizza. (I actually meant to post this with the Children's Museum Post...) This is one of the places on our 'eat' list. We stopped by after the Children's Museum... and shot these pictures of Eric eating the pizza:

 Look at those HUGE slices.

 HE enjoyed it, until it plopped over onto the floor.

 They also have some crazy pizza combinations... Our favorite of this visit: Smokey the Bandit (BBQ Chicken, Bacon, Ranch, BBQ Sauce and Cheddar Cheese - I loved the ranch and BBQ combo!)

Madison Trip: Zoo

Thursday we went to the Henry Vilas Zoo. Eric had been there once before... Luckily it had cooled off (after a tornado warning Wednesday night) and we actually took a jacket with us and he used it! Talk about crazy weather!

Eric looking down at the ground hogs...

Most of these photos I don't know exactly what he is looking at (I didn't do a great job of documenting them.)

This one was in the bird room. I love how he was leaning on Daniel's head.

These are some of the birds we saw. The third one over on the top has a crazy tail. I love the bird room at the zoo, it is amazing how little patience some people have. They just walk through expecting the birds to pop out and say, here I am, look at me! We spent about 20 minutes and saw most of the birds listed on their sign.

This one is Eric looking at some type of monkey...

Look at that wingspan -

compared to last time he went!

Eric looking at the otters.

Lion.

Camels

Animals I got pictures of... I'm actually quite impressed with the picture of the lion.

Carousel ride.

He loved riding it.

Eric fell asleep on the bus ride home and slept so well that afternoon. I would have to say it is nice having a toddler who naps because it makes you take a break!

Buying a house!

The other post about why it's taken me so long to get our Madison posts done (which I'm still not done with yet...) is that during the past month, I've been super busy due to driving an hour multiple times per week to look at houses to buy (and you can also add looking into lending places...)  The search is over, WHEW! and we are now waiting on the bank to appraise the house and then process a loan. 

So for those of you who want to know what the house we're hoping to be in sometime next month looks like, here it is: 

This is a photo taken from the real estate website (I did edit a bit though...). We're excited to finally be getting into a house in the next month or so (depending on how long it takes with the loan stuff.)

Madison Trip: Children's Museum

I'm finally getting around to posting about the rest of our Madison trip... why it's taken so long is another post ;). One of the places we wanted to visit was the Children's Museum. Eric was only 6 months old when we moved from Madison, so we never went to the museum (we learned that it is now a newer building and museum.) Eric LOVED playing there. He could have spent the whole day playing in this place.

 They have this really great car table, with holes in it so the children can access it from various points.

 Eric really loved the garbage truck on the right of this picture.

 and driving in this vehicle.

 Another fun point - they have a 'window' that they get to color on.

 He spent quite a bit of time here!

 Look at that concentration!

 A light table with color things.

 Here he is watching a train go around.

 Driving a cart. They have a place called the Wildernest, and they have various dwellings from older time periods.

 and a water room.

 Eric could have stayed in this room for a long time as well.

 These are reading cubbys, and I loved them. Eric was playing with a baby. He was super cute, being careful and then when he was done, threw the baby on the floor...

 Seriously, I want one of these in my house!

The hula-hoop. He didn't really get it.

Madison Trip - Splash Park

Daniel and I sure picked a great time to travel to Madison! One week earlier and we'd have hit the 60's (which is fine with me!) but as it happened we hit a heat wave... Basically on Monday and Tuesday (June 6-7) it was hotter AND more humid in Madison, WI than in Miami! Due to the heat, I decided to take Eric to the splash park so he could run around and have fun ;) as well as stay cool. He LOVED it, and basically ran around the splash pad for 45 minutes to an hour. I got lots of pictures that did not include him as it was hard to keep up with him! Luckily I did get a few that turned out pretty well.

 Every time he'd get under a place that sprinkled water on his head, he'd cover it!

  At some point he found a unattended bucket and had fun with it.

I wish I could say he likes showers more after this, but unfortunately he doesn't. He thinks they are just about the worst thing that could happen to him!

Madison Trip - Arboretum

We arrived Friday evening and got settled in a friend's apartment (thanks Margaret!) Saturday we ran some errands and such. Sunday we went to church, all took naps and afterward felt much more rested! After dinner we went to the Arboretum. When we lived in Madison, Daniel and I would take trips to the Arboretum to see the birds. We loved taking the less traveled paths and seeing all the different plants and animals that were there. We saw quite a few birds as well.

  I love how they have benches and such by trees.

 I loved this shot even thought it turned out a bit blurry.

 This bench has a great view and it was near here that Daniel and I saw a brown thrasher a few years ago.

 I think this bench would be a perfect place to take couple pictures, especially grandparents!

 This is the view from the bench. I love it as well.

 Daniel was sitting here and I loved the shot, so I made him look to the left to get a profile instead of just the back of his head.

 This tree intrigued me

 so I took a close up picture of it.

 LOVE this flower, so interesting.

And now for the birds we saw: 

Eastern Bluebird

Northern Cardinal

Tree Swallow (not a positive ID)

No clue.

No clue being mobbed by a BlueJay

Brown Headed Cowbird (bottom)

Blue Jay

Baltimore Oriole