Madison

This past weekend we took a little getaway to Madison, Wisconsin. We got up there around 4pm on Saturday and headed home at about that same time on Sunday afternoon. It was a short but fun trip.  We didn't really have any plans of what we were going to do while there, but on the way up we kept an eye out for billboards of stuff to do.  Once we crossed into Wisconsin one finally caught our eye. Cave of the Mounds would be our first stop once we made it to Madison. Marley has never been in a cave, and when we asked her if she knew what a cave was she said no but said she wanted to go.  I had no idea that Wisconsin was so hilly and pretty.  We made it to the cave with 10 minutes to spare before their last tour of the day started.  The tour lasted about an hour which was just long enough because on our way out Mason started to cry. It was a neat experience and cold too! It was 50 degrees in the cave.  To get into the cave we went into a building/gift shop then through a door into the cave. Marley thought the cave was in the building. I don't think she realized that we were underground.

After we left the cave we took the long way back into Madison and headed downtown for dinner. I have never been to Madison, but I figured it would be a large city like Chicago. It wasn't! It was so cute and clean. There were people everywhere. One thing we really liked was on just about every other corner there were bicycle rental machines. Madison is a college town so it makes sense that there were people everywhere, but it was definitely not what I expected. After we ate dinner we walked around a bit then headed back to the hotel to swim.  Sunday morning we were up 7am (thanks to Marley having a bad dream) Mike and Marley went swimming while I got everything all packed up and got myself and the baby ready. At about 9am we headed to the Henry Vilas Zoo. There is no admission or parking fee. It's a fairly small zoo but wasn't crowded at all. It took us about an hour to get through and see all the animals.

This is her turtle face

And this is Mike's

Love Marley's romper outfit but she didn't- of course!

After the zoo I had my pageant (the whole reason we went to Madison) Mike took the kids to the mall to play, since it was raining out, then we headed home. On the way home we stopped at Fuddruckers!

All in all it was a short but fun little trip. We loved it out there. It was so pretty and we're glad we're going back in October.

Homemade dishwasher detergent

I figured that since everything else was on Pinterest there had to be a way to make my own dishwasher detergent. BINGO! Found an inexpensive way and decided to give it a try.

Recipe calls for 1 box of borax, one box of washing soap, 24 packs of unsweetened lemonade, and 3 cups of epsom salt.

Just mix it all together and you're done! Put 1 tbsp in each load.

It made enough to fill up the container I usually keep my detergent in and I put the rest back into the borax box and it filled it up too.

Overall, I think all of this cost around $10, but it should last me a long time.

Update- I wrote up this post a few weeks ago. I have used this detergent a few times and I'm not sure my thoughts on it. Some loads come out really clean. But all the bottles and some of our clear plastic cups look cloudy. I'll continue using it for a while and then decide I guess.

11/9/12 update- I stopped using this because it was making all the plastic cups, bowls, and bottles very cloudy and weird feeling. I now just use it for cleaning out the sink, tub, or toilet.
If anyone has a better recipe, feel free to share it!

Walking Taco Casserole

I love walking tacos and usually get them at every festival or fair we go to.  Again, I found this recipe on Pinterest.  It was fairly easy to make and very delicious.

Walking Taco Casserole

1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
Fritos
Shredded Cheddar cheese

Brown 1 1/2 lbs ground beef. Mix in taco seasoning and cook according to directions on package. 

Layer in a casserole dish in the following order: Fritos chips, meat mixture, shredded cheese. Repeat layers once again.

 Bake at 350° for about 15-20 min or until cheese is bubbly.

After removing from oven I added more cheese on the top.

I really liked this and so did Marley until she got up from the table and Zeus ate it.  The only downside is when you reheat it the next day the chips are all soggy. Maybe next time I'll do a half size so that way I don't have soggy chips.

A tooth!

On July 13th I noticed a spot on Mason's gums on the bottom. I wasn't sure what it was so I touched it and it's a TOOTH! In the last week it looks like another one is starting to pop through too!