Milwaukee day trip, and how I met a camel in Wisconsin

Last Saturday, Elysha and I took baby Clementine on a day trip to Milwaukee.

First, we stopped at Cafe Hollander for brunch with my college pal, Mary. It was delicious!

And no, Clementine was not the smallest one in our group: we also brought George, a traveling gnome from Ravelry.com, who was spending some time with Elysha and on his way to Iowa:

George hangs out in Clementine's pocket at the restaurant.

Next stop, the Milwaukee Zoo, where we met a variety of animals:

Toucans! 

Penguins!

Flamingos! 

Cows (of course)!

And my favorite: Lippy the camel. He was happy to pose for some photos.

The sea lion show was adorable:

When we were about to leave, we were privileged enough to witness a peacock mating ritual (unfortunately, this stud was turned down by his lady friend, but we applaud his efforts):

"Look at my feathers! I'm so handsome!"

"Even from behind, I'm still handsome!"

Oh, and I found a cow to pose with (surprise, surprise):

All in all, a nice day outside of Madison. Clementine loved the birds!

Unusual things I've seen in Madison: part 4, Ryan Gosling in chalk.

I stopped by my friend Andrea's house last Wednesday and wound up finding yet another unusual thing in Madison.

Sighting #6: Ryan Gosling in chalk on a Jenifer St. driveway.

Drawn by Andrea Miller, Hannah Stern, Nina Reynolds, and Veronica Sandoval
(photo by Veronica, of Paper Robot Design)

Andrea is a metal sculptor and a high school art teacher. In an effort to inspire her students while studying portraiture, she recruited her neighbors to help her bring Ryan Gosling to life in their driveway. The result is at once lovely and humorous (I think Andrea did a particularly good job on the eyes).

Never a dull moment!
For more of Andrea's work, click here.
For more of Veronica's work, click here.
For an amusing Ryan Gosling Tumblr, click here.

Another round of cuteness: Great Midwest Alpaca Festival, take 2.

Last year's trip to the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival was a day full of furry cuteness, so when I saw that the event was back in town this year, I knew I had to give it another go.

Accompanied by fellow knitters, Kat and Caitlin, we bonded with a variety of Midwestern alpacas and checked out a lovely assortment of yarn.

We had a feeling that we'd run into Mindy and Linda from Galpaca Farms, and sure enough, they brought a few adorable friends to the event, like this guy:

Meet Tsunami! He was happy to pose for a photo with me.

Snacking on some hay for the camera. Total diva.

The cuteness was everywhere! Kat and Caitlin also made some new friends:

Kat experienced some first class fluff.

Caitlin found her soulmate.

A few more alpaca shots (double click any of these images for a larger view):

And just in case alpacas weren't enough to draw us to the event, there were many yarn vendors for us to see, too:

Diving into some freshly sheared alpaca wool. SO soft!

Lovely blues.

Great colors!

Oh, and then there was this alpaca who really enjoyed dinner to the fullest:

All in all, it was a great day, and I think I'll make this an annual thing. We ended the day with a delicious dinner at Pasqual's, complete with refreshing sangria:

Cheers to alpacas!

To read about my visit to the 2012 Great Midwest Alpaca Festival, click here.
To read about my trip to Galpaca Farms, click here.