On April Fools the girls pretended to be asleep when Jeremy got home from work, and they did such a good job...he totally believed them and then got scared when they jumped out of bed!
A trip to Fairview state park. The fish were jumping like crazy and I couldn't stop laughing at how funny they looked because they didn't just jump up, they jumped and practically flew in a horizontal line...like they were getting flung out of the water. Ok, so its hard to describe but it was hilarious to me. The girls even dared touch the worms which I was super impressed with.
The park was beautiful, with gorgeous cypress trees and a swampy area.
There were also lots of ghosteses trees.
Across the water there were apartments with boat slips right underneath like garages...it was so cool!
The girls spent a lot of time dragging these mossy branches around.
There is also a historic house there called the Otis house. Which was originally built by a man who ran a saw mill.
I was impressed by the bathrooms, they actually had soap, working drinking fountains and ceiling fans in the pavilion!
Everyone had fun on the playground.
April 2 we picked up my parents at the airport after a long ordeal with a missed flight and arriving through standby. We headed to the French Quarter and they wanted to see Bourbon street so I braved it. Its just a bunch of bars one after another. We ate po' boys and were leaving just before dark when they were closing off the street and we could tell it was getting crazy.
The next day while Jeremy was working we went to Instagator Alligator Ranch. Here they only raise them for a few years before releasing them back into the wild. It is very research based and not as interactive as Klieberts, but it was good to see the difference.
They gave us marshmallows to feed these alligators.
Our tour guide made it very interesting for kids...I bet he does a lot of field trips.
My mom wanted to see Marie Laveau's grave so we found out which cemetery is it supposed to be in and this is the tomb that they suspect is hers. She is the Voo Doo Queen.
This is Nicholas Cage's Tomb, a nine foot pyramid.
We drove down Claiborne street to see some of the Katrina wreckage...its hard to imagine the loss and total destruction but every once in awhile you would get an idea.
We rode the Creole Queen steamboat to a war memorial park, it was pretty cool.
The girls helping Jeremy navigate on his phone.
Domino sugar refinery...it smelled SO good!
Picking out our Christmas ornaments and having a little fun with the masks.
My dad's birthday cake. Coke cake doesn't work so good with all my fancy skills.
Last day with Grandma and Grandpa. We are headed to La Place for a swamp boat tour.
First gator.
They're getting bigger....
Our guide actually drew them into the boat...using marshmallows, and then fed them big chicken breasts. They do this so often they name the gators and actually call to them, "come on, come on!"
An old cemetery. Ozzy Osbourne's son filmed a reality show about hauntings and camped out here...
We watched a raccoon nervously try to get the marshmallows the guy threw to him out of the water...probably seen one too many of his buddies swallowed up by getting too close to the water.
I think this is what I expected to see a lot of in Louisiana.
All smiles again.
The girls are getting braver.
After we dropped off my parents we went to city park and looked at some statues and walked past some of the other attractions.
The girls playing statue.
Almost sitting up.
Jeremy made it interesting for the girls by asking what they thought the sculptures were about.
This is called the dualing tree.
Traditional Conference Morning Breakfast.
So relaxed.
We went to a semi annual consignment sale and this is what Ellia picked out.
I also found a bigger size of these silky jammies so now they have matching pairs.
Visiting the house for a final walk through. They had to repipe the entire house and when we went there were still holes in the walls so even though we figured they would finish we decided to push the closing back a day or two just in case.
Taking a walk around the neighborhood.
My first attempt at red beans and rice.
Ashlyn loves picking flowers for me.
Caught sneaking treats into their closet.
Quincy's first solids.
She sneezed in the spoon.
Story time in the apartment.
Attempting some nights in her crib.
Closing day!!! We celebrated with a pizza dinner.
and a sleepover. It was nice they left two mattresses, it made the sleepover much more comfortable...we just had to bring blankets.
Ashy got to sleep on the chaise lounge they left.
Jumping on the bed.
Getting started with the paint. I had my mind set on a pale turquoise for Quincy's room, but we let the girls pick, and guess what they chose? Purple. So I found some bedspreads and got a hue of purple that matched them.
We had a much harder time choosing a color for the kitchen, and finally went with a color I saw in a friends house.
The girls room before.
It had a wallpaper border (like Quincy's room) but in this room it was so hard to take off...Jeremy spent a ton of time working on it.
The girls got to help this time.
Dad's idea. Yup, he kept giving me technical pointers on how many coats and how to paint, and then he lets them go and do this!
One of Ellia's first friends here...Aniya, had a super fun birthday party at the Marriott. We were sad to find out they are moving in July :(
Seriously? I go to turn the light on in the kitchen and i find the last cookie - it's going to be a long week with Jeremy away from home in Houston.
Yup, while I am dealing with three kids and cookies on light switches, he's enjoying Major League Baseball and room service.
Ashlyn showing me her gymnastics on the chair and baby toy.
She always has a smile for me.
Workin on the new house while dad's away.
The first thing these girls do when we go to the house is check the mail and bring in the trash cans- man I hope that lasts!
Some furniture we got in the negotiations.
Since the Albertsons tour in Bakersfield was so successful I decided to set it up again here to get out and get to know some of the moms here. It was very different, but still very fun.
Learning about good drugs and bad drugs.
The milk monster! (He was nice)
Decorating a cupcake.
I decided to take the girls out for dinner while dad was gone. I was a little nervous, but they did so good I think I will make it a tradition. We ate at Waffle House and they ate so good! Ellia was reminded of Jami's double straw trick, and tried it again this time.
So Ash joined in too.
Ready to get out.
The Uhaul we rented and ended up filling totally full...we didn't realize we had so much stuff at the apartment.
So I'm at the house waiting for the movers and there's a knock at the door. I assume it's them and greet them giving them permission to park in the driveway. A minute later Ellia comes and says, "mom, that's not our stuff in their truck." I had seen them go around the back of the house too, so now I am confused and panicked...when I walk out I am a little horrified to see that the stucco replacement company has chosen the SAME DAY to tear our stucco off as the day our movers will be coming...oh Jeremy, you better hurry home from work!
Ellia also had her school picnic that day so I had to rush over to eat with her.
Then while the movers were taking a break I hear Jeremy shout and sort of scream like I have never heard before. I wasn't sure if he was just playing with the kids, but when I went to him, he asked for a spider trap and this is what had been crawling up his leg. I think one of our next calls will be to pest control.
Somehow she got a hold of the rest of the girls jelly beans in this bag, and was trying really hard to eat them.
the unpacking begins.
The stucco replacement was quite the process and we never quite knew what we would have to decide in any given day so it was a bit stressful too.
Done.
I think I like the shutter from when the house was first built, but they are dang expensive and weren't included in our escrow.
Picture of the house when the second owners purchased it.
When we found it...the second owners had repainted it and taken off the shutters.
Now.
Driving away one day in a storm we saw this guy....different from the red eared sliders and soft shells we've been seeing...maybe a box turtle?
