Jackson Christopher Mead

Chris and Jen welcomed Jackson Christopher Mead to their family yesterday afternoon!
The new grandmothers are very excited.

Jeanine with her two grandsons

Scott with his mom, son, and nephew.

All done!

Well, almost all done... Everything is in place, but there are a few finishing touches left for next week. I am loading up the dishwasher for the first time!

Stay-cation

We had a great vacation in the Madison-area. We enjoyed BB Clark beach, which is walking distance from our house on Lake Monona.

On Tuesday we had a blast at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison. We rode our bikes and chariot on a perfect afternoon, and we started with a picnic at Vilas park.

Linden is very interested in identifying body parts these days. He pointed out the gorilla's nose.

After identifying these drawings as "cats", he showed us their noses too.

Linden is craning his neck around the bars and trying to see the animals in this area.

After the zoo, we biked to The Terrace for ice cream or beer. I don't remember what Linden is pointing out from this perch high above the crowd.

On Wednesday we hiked at Devil's Lake. Literally, hiked... I was expecting an easy walk around the lake on paved paths. No, no. Scott led us up to the top of cliffs with Linden in the Ergo on his back.
After a picnic, we swam in Devil's Lake. Linden walked in up to his elbows and blew bubbles with us. He's still not very excited about going under water. The highlight for me was a root-beer float.

Week at Kelly Lake

The week-long vacation started with a bear sighting about 1 mile from Kelly Lake. The corn is about mid-thigh high, so that was a big bear.
We stopped by to see the Mead grandparents while we were in Green Bay. As an added treat, we got to see Todd and Sammy.

We had fish fry with Grandpa Suds, Aunt Lori, Grandpa Mike, Grandma Jean, and Uncle Shaun.

Jeanine was a huge help all week! We cannot thank her enough. She even had Linden's crib in her room so that we could sleep all night.
Coca had a wonderful vacation, too. She loved playing fetch in the beach.
Shaun and Liz adopted an adorable Golden Retriever and named him Scotch. Once Linden had his 5 am snack, we'd often hear Scotch request an early morning walk. It's a good thing babies and puppies are cute; they sure are a lot of work.

house update

End of Week 3: The kitchen flooring wasn't able to be salvaged, so we had new red oak flooring installed. It was stained to match the refinished dining room floor. The walls were painted and texturized.

End of Week 4: The cabinets were installed, and they look great.


Next week appliances will arrive and measurements for the counter-tops will be taken.