saturday.

Another Badger tailgate, followed by attending the game. Marshall jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but the Badgers quickly picked it up and pounded the Thundering Herd, 51-14. A few notes: the right side of my face is sun burned, my cousin Austin played "Name that Tune" and won, and Eric is sick of his picture being taken :)

After the game we headed home and went next door for Jake's 2nd birthday party. I think Evan already is taking after me (see 4th picture) - he kept picking up the balls and putting them in the pool. A little OCD, maybe?

Later on, it was over to our friends house for dinner and some games in the backyard. Evan learned how to "golf" thanks to the teachings of Eric. I got beat at soccer by a 5-year-old. That may have bothered me a few years ago, but I'm much more mature now.

a brewer game.

Labor Day we headed to Milwaukee for the Brewers vs. Mets game. We met a bunch of friends there, tailgated, and cheered for the first few innings. After that, unfortunately, there wasn't much to cheer about. But we did have a really good time, as we saw friends we haven't seen for awhile and finally met little Drew and Brenna (see second picture). What a great way to end a fantastic long weekend.

sunday night at the union.

Adam, Julie, Casey and Cameron met us at the Union for some ice cream and to catch up on what we've all been up to. The kids really enjoyed running around and kept us older ones on our toes (Evan may like the water, but he's not yet ready for Lake Mendota).

the splash park.

Middleton has an awesome (and free!) splash park, and with the last few days being so hot, it was the perfect place for Evan to cool off. I've never seen him have so much fun. He laughed and screamed the entire time, running around with his arms in the air. I think we'll go back this weekend!

middleton football.

Friday night Evan went to his first high school football game and went in style. We watched only about 30 seconds from the press box. He thought he was hot stuff, that's for sure. Maybe next year they'll let him do play-by-play.

Saturday I had to work the tailgate for the first Badger football home game. There's nothing quite like Saturday gameday. So much fun. Hopefully we'll be able to do a lot of celebrating this season! We also went back downtown for the Taste of Madison and a walk down State Street. Evan had his first taste of ice cream, and preferred chocolate to mint chocolate chip. If I wouldn't have been there for his birth, I don't think I'd believe he was my son.

EVAN'S FAVORITE TOY AT GRANDMA'S HOUSE.

He'll walk around with the strainer to his face, talking and screeching as loud as he can. It's rather amusing (it's less funny when he runs into things, but we still chuckle.)

It was another nice weekend so we took advantage of the weather and headed downtown for the farmer’s market. It’s one of my favorite Saturday traditions. You’ll find the season’s best bounty of vegetables, flowers, and specialty products from approximately 150 vendors. All of the agriculturally-related items are produced in Wisconsin. We bought some zucchini bread, raspberry jam, honey, and some snow pea pods. Evan needed a break from the stroller so we played on the capitol lawn. Later on, Eric had to head to the pool to work, so Evan and I went to visit him and to be sure that Evan got one more swim in before the summer ends. He had such a good time. I think he laughed the entire 15 minutes he was in the water.

It was also “Good Neighbor Fest” weekend in Middleton. Sunday we went to the parade with some friends and walked the fairgrounds. To end the weekend, Eric and I went to the Dark Knight on the IMAX, and oh my, it was SO GOOD. A very, very good movie experience.