Ali and I got started up to the Madison area after getting the van packed up after lunch on Friday. Everybody had a hand in it--both Mom and Dad were helping with soap trimming and wrapping and even Sky and Ali helped. This was just about the only weekend Ali would be able to go along on a show this summer...she is one busy kid. The drive up was easy--no traffic until we hit Madison and even then it was pre-rush, so we were good.
The hotel turned out to be really nice...although I think the pool and slide were no big deal after the places Ali has been in the Dells! We got unpacked, settled on a place to have dinner before heading out. We found the Glass Nickle Pizza Company near us and ordered a "Cardiac Arrest" pizza which of course was the all the meats version. We are good little farm girls after all! LOL It was terrific--this place has been voted Madison's best pizza the last 10 years--and we agreed.
We got back to the hotel and decided to work off some of the pizza in the "gym". I was hoping that meant a nice long soak in the hot tub, but, Ali had to meet some requirements for volleyball, so we headed to the machines instead. Ali, by the way, takes Jodie's place as a good Torturer. We did about 10 minutes on each machine. Ali was running and doing the bike at the highest level. Let's just say I wasn't!!!
We had to get to bed early for our 5 a.m. wakeup call. We stopped at Macs for Ali before heading the last 15 or so miles to Mt Horeb. We found our space but weren't too impressed with it. We seemed to be out of the flow of things on the first block of the show on a street that wasn't even closed to traffic. But, after talking to one of the vendors across the street who requested the same spot every year, we were relieved.
The show got off to a good start and continued that way throughout most of the day. We were to be opened until 5 p.m. and other than a few times where it was very slow, we kept busy. Ali picked up the sales end of things very fast. I was able to let her take over the big chair, handing out samples and helping with most things the customers needed. It was so nice to have such a great assistant!
The show had a silent auction to benefit the local Art Council. So, at one point I headed down to bid on a few items. Most things I was interested in were already priced out of my range, so, I just tried to bid on the things that didn't seem to have much interest. You never know, maybe I would end up with a few treasures!
Saturday at closing time, we got packed up quick and headed back into Madison to go to the West Towne shopping area. I was trying to do some late birthday shopping for Ali--but that girl is hard to pin down. LOL We ended up with some really cute bracelets, earrings and a necklace--that one she is wearing on the top picture. Then we headed over to Olive Garden for dinner. Our waiter was great and the eggplant rocked!
We were able to take advantage of a great breakfast at the hotel on Sunday morning. Omelets, waffles, sausage--yummy! Sunday went by pretty quickly even though it was a much slower day. Overall I would do this show again. Our spot turned out to be excellent. We were in the shade and people loved stopping by and cooling off...oh, and maybe buying a few bars of soap. Even the pack out went smooth as we weren't packed into the street chaos in the other blocks of the show.
Perhaps the most funny part of the day happened at Culvers (ice cream/burger place for those of you who aren't familiar). We pulled into the drive through before getting on the highway and ordered two cones. When we got to the window the kid wanted $14 dollars--obviously he had the wrong order. He may have been new, who knows, but he took his time figuring out what we wanted FINALLY and then getting the total amount right (all though now that I think of it he shorted me a few bucks on the change!). But when Ali and I saw the first ice cream cone, we started laughing and didn't stop laughing until we reached Madison. The cones he gave us looked like a two year old had pulled them. LOL That and they had been sitting for about 15 minutes, melting. When he handed me Ali's, I told him it was the wrong size--she wanted two scoops. So, he said he would give her an additional scoop in a dish. But then a couple minutes later he gives us a third, very melted cone. LOL And a minute later, a dish, and a minute after that a spoon! LOL Maybe you had to be there, but, I swear we must have been on candid camera. That guy was a mess and he needs some more training on how to make a cone! I am still laughing about the whole mess though!
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