Next Vacation Stop:: Madison WI

After a wonderful couple of days in Iowa, we drove to Madison, Wisconsin, only about 2.5 hours away. There we stayed with our dear friends from Haifa, Lua and Hadi and their baby daughter, Layli, and were also able to see some other friends we have met before that are also living in Madison. It is a great city, like a huge college town, with lots for families to do. We had a BBQ, attended the huge, annual "Brat-Fest" where Wisconsonians outdo themselves eating bratwurst, as well as a trip to the local zoo, and lots of hanging out with their friends. It was a really nice time. Below are a bunch of photos, in no particular order, so you can take a little trip to Madison too.

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Hadi, his daughter Layli born in January, and Jafred and Fazal

At the zoo
Lua and Layli, me and Fazal at the zoo. Holding hands, ahhhhh....
Layli and Fazal
Hanging out at their home

Cuteness at the zoo
Jafred and Layli getting to know one another

Jafred and Rumi, Layli's cousin. She was too cute, and being a few months older than Fazal, she taught him all about sharing and playing.
Rumi and Fazal, sharing food no doubt
Taking a rest at the Madison Farmer's Market, which is set up around the beautiful Capitol building. It was a beautiful day and a nice place to relax and see the city in action. I had heard sometime ago in a story, I think it might have been Garrison Keillor, that one particular uniqueness to Midwestern farmer's markets is that everyone moves in the same direction! And sure enough, the hundreds of people there were all walking slowly, quietly counter-clockwise, nobody in a rush, no pushing - a study in culture (Dude, I used to live near the farmer's market in Boston, and it was just loud, organized chaos). Only mishap here was that I left my purse, that contained both of our wallets, my phone AND all three of our passports in the Capitol building!!!! I had a total panic attack and raced into the building, only to find that someone had brought it to the reception desk and nothing was missing. Thank you, mystery person.

Rumi and Fazal seemed to agree that there's nothing better than chewing.

Rumi's mom, Khadijah, with the girls
Check out that identical profile
Rumi's dad Gino, a friend Michael, and Lua
Standing up at the coffee table
Enjoying the swings at the park down the street

Layli taking it all in
Dads and Kids
More sharing!
WAY too much cuteness
BIG BIG thanks to Lua and Hadi and everyone there for such a good time!