Furlough Friday

As a state employee, I get 8 unpaid days off per year as part of the effort to cut the state budget. While the "unpaid" part stinks, the day off does not. Today Allie spent part of the day in daycare so I could get a few things done by myself, and then I picked her up and we had a mommy and Allie fun time. We decided to go to Olbrich Botanical Gardens.

Doug and I had our wedding reception there nearly three years ago, and I hadn't been back since! So after running an errand near that part of town, I decided we'd head over there. Above, Allie was fascinated by the (unpictured) fountain.

And she really enjoyed seeing this duck, who came up to explore us!

They have a really neat Thai garden with a pavilion and reflecting pools. Its a neat place that is electronically protected with lasers at night, according to a sign at the entrance. From Olbrich's Web site:

"The pavilion was a gift to the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the Thai Government and the Thai Chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association. UW-Madison has one of the largest Thai student populations of any U.S. college or university."

Interesting. Allie didn't seem to care for the pavilion, but she liked the pool. Then she got hungry, and then after eating, both mommy and Allie were hot and tired. So we went to join daddy for drinks:

She's getting pretty good at drinking from a cup!