Picnic on Ponchartrain

Bob and Joyce returned from their cruise today. We all took advantage of the beautiful weather for a picnic lunch on the shores of Lake Ponchartrain. I really do feel bad for those to the north that have had less than favorable weather, but is sure is nice to be able to enjoy more time outside!

Andy had concrete delivered this week for the widening of our slab. Some wonderful men from our church in JC are heading this direction on Saturday to help us put up a garage. It will be so nice to be able to take our bikes, kayaks, and motorcycle to somewhere other than the living room and master bathroom.

Something happened this weekend that I never thought I'd see...my father retired!!! He is one of the hardest working individuals that I know and he definitely deserves a break. In over 40 years as a meat cutter, I don't think he missed many days of work, especially few due to illness. My dad's work ethic taught me much in life and I am very proud of him. It will probably take two or three people to replace the work that my dad did. Congrats, dad, and enjoy it!

Mardi Gras

Andy and I were lucky enough to be choosen to ride on the Coast Guard float in the Mardi Gras day Rex parade. Rex is the oldest Krewe still riding in a parade and Rex is the king of the entire Carnival. He even arrives via a Coast Guard boat on Lundi Gras (the Monday before Fat Tuesday). It was so much fun!!! The parade began at 10am and we arrived at the end at 2:45pm. We were throwing beads, balls, and animals for miles through the city, and there were thousands of people along the route. After the parade ended we walked around the French Qtr, including Bourbon St. to check it out. Again, lots of people, many in costumes and masks. For those that have not had the chance to take in a Mardi Gras in NO, it is difficult to truly describe the atmosphere, but it was a great time and thanks to Bob and Joyce, we didn't have to worry about the kids.

Move-In Day

Well, it finally happened...we actually moved in to our house with all of our stuff (a whole tractor trailer full) being delivered on Monday. It worked out great as Bob and Joyce are in town visiting before departing on a cruise and Andy was off work for the president's day holiday. They took the kids for the day and the movers brought in all of our stuff. It is amazing how different it feels to now be living with our things in our house. Still have plenty of boxes to go, but we have been working to unpack boxes all week. It's been great to have Bob and Joyce here as they are helping with boxes and helping to keep the kids busy, so I can work on boxes.

Oh, and a note on the hardwood floors. They were finished on Sunday night, just in time for the 12 hours required before foot traffic. They look beautiful and in fact more than I even imagined they would.

When the Saints (and everyone else) Goes Marching In

Andy and William attended the Saints victory parade two Tuesday nights ago. Estimates are some 800,000 people attended the parade and many Mardi Gras veterans are saying that they have never seen so many people at a parade. There are some bleacher seats along the uptown parade route (which this parade mostly followed) for military personnel, so Andy and William were lucky enough to have seats, and they came home with some neat football beads and even beads thrown by Drew Brees himself. Most of the big Mardi Gras parades donated their biggest/signature floats for the team to ride on. The photos taken after it got dark didn't turn out too great, but wanted to post one to give you an idea of the size.

Let the Parades Begin

The bigger Mardi Gras parades hit the streets of NO this past weekend with the biggest yet to come! The kids and I went to Excalibur in Metairie on Friday night (while Andy worked on the hardwood floors) and we all went downtown to Sparta on Saturday night. It was chilly by NO standards, but our Missouri blood kept us warm. The kids caught lots of beads, cups, and even a few stuffed animals. The AB clydesdales are staying at the equestrian farm just across the canal from our house, and somehow seeing them in the parades makes us feel a little closer to home. We are considering going to the BIG superbowl celebration parade that is at 5 pm today. Schools and businesses are closing early and everyone is planning to be there. It will definitely be CRAZY, so we'll fit right in.

By the way, the floors are looking great! The living room and entry are finished and the dining and master are up for installation tonight and tomorrow night. We have scheduled the delivery of our stuff--all 10,500 lbs of it--for Thursday, so the hope is that the floors are done by then. I'll post a picture of the floors once I take a couple.

Sunday at the Sea

Andy took a little break from working on the floors to spend some time with us on Sunday and we headed to the Audubon Aquarium (also part of our zoo membership thanks to the Fitzpatricks). It is a wonderful aquarium located in downtown on the water front with lots of great exhibits including sea horses, sting ray petting, sharks, sea otters, frogs, eels, penguins, jellyfish (0ne of Wm's favorites) and of course lots of fish.

The House That Andy Rebuilt

Many have been asking for pictures and updates on the house. So very much has been done since we bought the place in August (most with Andy's own hands). It was very much in disrepair at that time with only studs for walls, no electric, and much demo still needed. The flooding that followed Katrina caused about 5 foot of water to sit in the first floor of the home for approximately 3 weeks. The prior owners did do some demo immediately after the waters receeded including mold remediation. The biggest blessing of this house is that the upstairs has 3 bedrooms and a full bath that allow us to live there comfortably while working on the rest. While plenty remains to be done, much progress has been made including new walls and paint, new electric, tile flooring, complete redo of the interior steps (with much thanks to the hardwork of Andy's mom & dad), new carpet on the steps and upstairs, entirely new kitchen, new hall bathroom, and as of today, we are half-way to getting the new hardwood floors installed downstairs. Having the floors done is the milestone we have been waiting for to get our belongings delivered --which we haven't seen since the moving truck left JC on Oct 16, so hopefully soon! I can't find a good photo of the new kitchen with cabinets and appliances, but the 3rd photo down is the kitchen before and I will take a few after photos and post them soon.