03.05 - Day 109 - Madison

Friday 3rd May - Madison, Wisconsin (Day 109)

The sun shines down on the garden expertly cultivated by Greg in the years they’ve lived here - it seems everything is blossoming from the bright purple crabapple trees to the small delicate bleeding heart plants. It’s hard to imagine the blankets of snow every winter. 

After negotiating Sienna and Seb’s school work whilst surrounded by lots of new exciting toys (no easy task says Kate), Team RJ plus Greg and Beckett bundle into their people carrier and head to Henry Vilas Zoo. 

Like St Louis, this is a free zoo and most of the visitors to see the flamingos, lion, polar bears, bison and badgers - the latter being the emblem of the University of Wisconsin - are young families with pre-school kids like Beckett. 

Our departure is timed to pick up Annie from her school bus - the classic yellow variety - and then homeward to relax, enjoy a beer and a wine whilst the kids play, whether it be racing cars - for which tickets are made for us all to spectate, a spreadsheet is drawn up (by Sienna, not me) to record the outcome of every race permutation. 

As when staying with Daniel and Maggie, it’s nice to slow down, do perhaps one activity at a leisurely pace, catch up with friends, let the kids run around and play and just enjoy the home life that Greg and Melissa have crafted and kindly let us join in on.