Easter Weekend

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We sure had a great time! We went to Dauphin Island beach in Alabama (about 2 hours from our house) on Saturday of that weekend. The kids really enjoyed playing in the water and chasing waves. We collected seashells, made sand castles, and even got to see a dead dolphin on the beach—which was a highlight to Wm—all I can say is YUCK, especially of the smell! We went to this same beach last year with the kids, but they were both much more in to it this time around. Everyone had a great time! On Easter Sunday the kids dug right into their baskets and then went outside to use their bubbles the bunny gave them. Later in the day they went on an egg hunt. As you can see they had lots of hiding possibilities from paint cans, piles of wood, extra tires, etc—that’s in everyone’s backyard, right? Also, I think Andy did lots of eating contest practice with hard boiled eggs—I think he ate 6 or 7 in one sitting and may have set a record for the number ate in a week. We went for a picnic at City Park to end the day. It was a beautiful day!

Easter Preparations

Here are the kids dying our Easter eggs, and not just any old eggs—these are farm fresh Missouri eggs that Janet and Junie sent our way. The colors the kids made turned out beautiful! We also made cupcakes with “eggs and grass” on top, yummy!

Easter Party

William’s Easter party at school was the Wednesday before Easter, and with a big thanks to Trudy (Andy’s boss’s wife) for watching Clark, I was able to attend my first school party. It was lots of fun with an egg hunt, egg coloring, ice cream snack, two games, two art projects, singing, and dancing—all in an hour and a half! I also enjoyed getting to see all of the other kids and meeting a few of the parents. I actually met another mom of an almost 3 year old boy and a daughter in William’s class that lives close to us. We exchanged numbers and I am hopeful that we are able to get together at the park or something fun this summer.

CATastrophe Catch-Up

OK, so I recently learned what is worse than not having internet at our house…not having a laptop at all!! The cat knocked it off a shelf while we were out more than a couple of weeks ago and shattered the screen. The cat is still living with us, though it was a rough couple of days for him. It was great timing because all of our tax forms and info were saved on it—and I don’t think the IRS is much on excuses, especially the old cat ate my taxes! Anyway, the new screen arrived yesterday, and with a BIG thanks to Andy’s handiness, we are back in business today. Thank goodness!!!

We’ve been as busy as ever with lots of fun things to do and see here. We went to the Strawberry Festival in Ponchatoula, LA a couple of weekends ago. Everything you could imagine made from strawberries. Of course there was a parade where the kids caught lots of beads. There were also some interesting people there that we had the good fortune of standing next to during the parade--Andy couldn't resist, not sure what they are called here (rednecks, hossiers, WT, ???), but this family definitely came from the bayou to the festival.

We also recently went to a Tulane baseball game. They lost badly, but the real fun came with all of the heckling the fans were giving the umpire. He was making some terrible calls and they were not afraid to let him have it.

The kids are really enjoying the zoo here. We have been many times, including this past Tuesday and Saturday. Anytime we get anywhere near it they are asking to go.
They have a LA swamp section with alligators, nutria, raccoons, bears, and other things you’d expect to find in the swamp. This section is their favorite, but not because of anything alive. They have a swamp monster that is as tall as Andy and all dressed up with sharp teeth, red eyes, and fur—kinda LA’s version of a sasquatch. The kids used to be scared of it, but Wm has figured out that it isn’t real and Ck is starting to come around to it. They really want their daddy to go see it too, but it hasn’t worked out yet—hopefully soon!

For the last several weeks, Andy has joined in practices with the NO rugby team. A neighbor of ours is on the team and has been helping him learn the rules. Apparently the team is pretty good because they are heading to the second round of playoffs in Charleston, SC next weekend.

I have been swimming with a group of gals that are training for a triathlon that is on Sunday. Their coach is the kids’ swim instructor, Chris, and it has been lots of fun learning how to turn and improving my stroke. I was hoping to do the triathlon with them, but it was too late to register, but maybe in the near future I’ll get my chance.

I know we are going to pay for it, but the weather has been outstanding! Only 2 days of rain in the last 4+ weeks and perfect temps! I am sure my comments will be different in a few short weeks when it feels like Missouri’s August in May, but I’ll take it for now!

I realize that I have not yet posted from our Easter, so I’ll do that next! Hope everyone is doing great! Have a wonderful weekend! It’s the first weekend of Jazzfest here and we have our tickets in hand, so there will be LOTS going on for us!

Cubby's Visit

On Friday, William’s classroom bear, Cubby, came to our house to spend the weekend with us. The idea is that you take him along with you and then write a story about what you did to share with the class on Monday. Well, we had quite a busy time with Mr. Cubby. He went on our picnic at City Park with my parents and to the golf ball driving range. He also went on a long bike ride with us through City Park on Sunday and to the French Quarter for a picnic lunch down on the riverfront. I think we wore him out, because he spent Sunday afternoon sleeping in the bed that William made for him.

Grandma and Grandpa’s Visit

We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa here this past week. Since it was their first visit to NOLA we showed them around and did all sorts of wonderful things…went to the horse races, zoo, aquarium, the WWII Museum, Lake Ponchartrain, the French Quarter (to Margaritaville for dinner), Café du Monde, the Riverwalk, City Park for a picnic, and a golf ball driving range. My dad helped Andy remove the entire front and side lawn and plant grass seed. He also planted bushes and flowers out front. Mom read no less than 150 books to the kids, and put together numerous puzzles. It was great having them visit and we miss them already!

Top O' the Mornin' to Ya

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday, the kids and I made green cupcakes with green frosting. It was very fun to try to separate egg whites with Clark’s egg smashing style, but a couple of extra eggs later and we had it. We then had homemade green pepper pizza for dinner—I know we should have had corn beef and cabbage, but who wants to eat that!?! William had a leprechaun visit his school too. He didn’t see him, but apparently all sorts of mischief were caused by the little elf. The leprechaun also left candy, which made him alright by William.

After dinner we walked across the canal by our house to City Park and fed the birds and ducks. Then we walked over to the equine center and watched some horse jumping. It was a beautiful evening and it was so nice to be outside later with the time change.

Yesterday we reached the halfway point on swim lessons. I don’t have any photos from this week, but the one above is from last week. Both kids are making great progress. William is really strong in the water and is getting much more trusting of himself all the time. He is also getting braver about jumping in, though we still have some work to do there. Clark is such a water baby; he loves to play in it—kicking, splashing, jumping, you name it. They both work so hard at lessons that by the time we get home they are starving, and once they eat they sleep immediately.

My mom and dad are heading south for their first visit today. We are all very excited to see them! They are also bringing our kitty, so we are hopeful that the car ride goes well for all 3!