The Zoo Adventure in Madison and More Family Arrivals June 11, 2013

We continued our days outing with a trip to the Zoo in Madison.

Lots of family Monkey business!

Time to head back to Aria and Daniele's apartment for a bbq. Tonight  more family coming in from out of state arrive for the wedding.

BBQ'ing for a crowd

Athena, Rocky and Amanda (just arrive from Ohio) and Mat

Let's eat!

The two brother Rock and Mike

A couple hours later our niece 

and nephew and their son arrive from Los Angeles.

Another great night with family and friends. Tomorrow the wedding rehersal and gathering at an Irish pub.

Canoeing on Lake Mendota, Madison Wisconsin June 11, 2013

Some summer fun canoeing at scenic Lake Mendota.  

Enjoying some quiet pre wedding time with Aria, Daniele, Marino and Mike

Mat and Athena are off for some fun on the lake.

We thought the two brothers Marino and Daniele should rent the swan paddle boats and have a race but,

we could not convince them!

Later on when Mat and Athena return we head to Trader Joe's and pick up some lunch for the park.

Fun times and another nice day in Madison.

A Morning Visit to Olbrich Botanical Gardens June 10, 2013

Pre-Wedding fun in Madison Wisconsin one year ago.

During the days before the wedding there was time to do some sightseeing. One morning we spent touring    through the Olbrich botanical gardens in Madison Wisconsin. http://www.olbrich.org/

Watch out for the protective mother birds who were swooping down to peck passerbys that got a little too close to her little chicks.

The beautiful Thai pavilion was a gift to the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the Thai Government

First Night's Arrival to Madison, Wisconsin Sunday June 9, 2013

Looking back one year ago at all the pre-wedding festivities for Aria and Daniele's wedding. 

We had a wonderful week in Madison preparing for Aria and Daniele's wedding on June 13th, 2013. We arrived on the sunday prior. Here's some pictures of the first night reunion at Aria and Daniele's apartment.    Happy and fun times.

We arrived at the Milwaukee airport and had a short hour and half drive to Madison through the countryside.  

Arrived to the heart of Madison's State street where our hotel is located.

Checked into our hotel and now it's off to see Aria and Daniele...

Yayyyyy we made it and here they are!

  Excited for the big event in a few days.

Barb, Daniele and Mary our first night in town.

 We love their apartment and their nice backyard with big picnic tables

Woohoo,  the sisters are reunited.

Our friends David and Mary have come all the way from California to join us.

 and Athena and Mat have travelled from Sydney Australia for the big event. 

Time to move the party inside as the rain is threatening.

All set for dinner and it's cozy inside.

A nice beginning to a fun filled exciting wedding week.

Let's Fall In Love

A year's time has quickly passed since the announcement was made for our daughter Aria's engagement to Daniele.  In 2013 the month of June approached and all things were in order for the arrival of the big day.  What I hope to do in  the next blog posts is to share some pre and post wedding day fun.    There were two weddings for this couple.  The first on June 13th in Madison Wisconsin followed by a wedding on the 27th of June in Daniele's town of Palazzo San Gervasio, in southern Italy.