Weekend in Madison

Just over a week ago now, Andy spent the weekend camping at Devil's Lake with his buddies--and Jess & Simon spent that weekend in Madison hanging out with Jess's folks. We had a lovely time, as evidenced below:

Just chewing on this spoon with Grandpa John...

...and Grandma Phyllis

Hey look, grandma & grandpa's jumbo-sized kitchen sink is just perfect for my bathtub!

We had to do a little car-swapping with the guys who were camping, which provided impetus for the four of us to take a little daytrip to Devil's Lake on Sunday.

We had such a great time! We went on a lovely hike, and saw some beautiful views of Devil's Lake.

This was a good test of the Ergo carrier for us, too, as Simon rode in it the whole hike. He did great--a bit fussy at times, but mostly was quite content, and he even fell asleep by the end, so we got to use the awesome sleeping hood feature (love it!). (And Jessica didn't faint from exhaustion, either, by the way.)

Being at Grandma & Grandpa's house also means different toys to play with!

Thanks for a great weekend Grandma & Grandpa!

An aside: Simon really loved these little cogs that go with this old-school Fisher-Price activity table (he's not quite pulling up to standing yet, so most of the time we had the activity part of the activity table down on the floor for Simon, as above). It reminded me that I've been meaning to get an activity table for him, since he'll soon be working on standing--so once we returned to the Cities, I took a little trip to Once Upon a Child (as I've vowed to not buy brand-new toys unless I can't find something used, or its just such an awesome toy that I can't resist). Unfortunately, while I did find two activity tables at my local OUaC, neither were what I was looking for: an activity table that would still function when the batteries die! In fact, I would prefer a battery-free one. Well, the kind lady behind the counter almost laughed when I asked about a battery-free activity table. I looked online when I got home and it appears as though all current activity tables on the market (not wooden activity cubes, mind you, but those are more expensive, it seems) use batteries--and some don't have ANY battery-free functions. Seriously?! (Luckily, I am now entrusted with the education of some 40 or so undergraduates, and therefore have a soapbox from which to spout my anti-toy-establishment rhetoric...so I won't bore you with a lecture on how infants need real objects & experiences, not virtual ones!)

If anyone knows where in the Twin Cities to get a good battery-free activity table (or riding toys, or push-behind walking toys, for that matter), please let me know (not that we need one of course)!