The Red Stick (aka Baton Rouge)

Yesterday we took the kids to see the sights and sounds of Baton Rouge--the state capital, yet another Mississippi bank settlement, and home of Louisiana State University (LSU). It is about an hour from our house and there are many fun things there, so I am sure we will be going back for more. We visited the USS Kidd, a WWII Naval destroyer, which is docked on the Mississippi in downtown Baton Rouge. The kids had a great time climbing all over the ship…and really how better to spend a 100+ degree day? We stopped at a Cabela’s on our way home, which for two animal-loving kids was the topper to the trip.

Super Hero Birthday and Super Hot Trip to the Zoo

Last weekend William attended a super hero birthday of one his friends. It was at the Louisiana Children’s Museum, which the kids love. As you can, they were asked to wear capes and t-shirts to help get into character. Earlier that same week I took the kids to the zoo. It was very hot—110+ with heat index by 11:00 am that day. As you can see everyone, including the bears were trying to find ways to cool off.

Family-Filled Fourth

Just before the 4th of July holiday weekend, Andy found out that he could have an extra day of leave added to the already extended weekend. So, at the last minute we decided to pack quickly and headed North to see family. The Brennecke’s celebrated on the 4th at the cabin. We were actually able to surprise Andy’s parents by just showing up there. It was the quintessential July 4th with blackberry picking, lake swimming, fireworks, tire swimming, and duck racing. Really, what more could you ask for? We had a wonderful day! The next day we went to Mary & Tim’s to celebrate and visit with them and my parents. We swam in their pool and had a nice lunch together. It was so great to be able to spend time with family, especially unexpectedly!

We also had a chance to deliver some big new to our families…we are expecting baby #3 in December! We are so excited and our families were too!

Plantation Parade

Yesterday we explored two plantations, Oak Alley and Laura, along the Mississippi River between NO and Baton Rouge—about an hour from us. Both came to existence in the mid 1800’s and sugarcane was, and still is, their crop. They are located only a few miles from each other, but are very different in style. Oak Alley is a Greek revival style and the arch of live oak trees up the front walk have made this plantation the scene of many movies. The other plantation, Laura, is a creole plantation (hence the bright colors) where the caretakers still speak creole French and very much live the creole culture. The kids and I had a great time learning all about these families’ very different lifestyles and walking the beautiful grounds of the plantations.

NASA Space Center

Today I took the kids to the John C. Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, MS—only about 45 minutes from us. It is NASA’s largest rocket engine test center and all shuttle engines are tested and qualified there before launch, including the engines for the Saturn V rocket that went to the moon. The kids are in awe of anything space related and even sat through a movie about the training that astronauts go through. They have a museum with fun exhibits including a rocket engine test simulator and a shuttle landing simulator. Of course, no NASA trip is complete without purchasing some astronaut ice cream which we enjoyed on the way home.

A Fitting Father's Day

It was a very hot day here on Father’s Day (heat index around 105-110), so after a nice breakfast together and the kids gave Andy his gifts, we spent the day at the pool. Everyone had a great time and after some fatherly encouragement, William went down the slide--many times. Clark also loved the slide, but because of his size had to go down with a parent. Andy was actually off all day on Sunday, so it marked the first day in a really long time that we had the entire day together as a family! What a great father’s day!

Girls Weekend

The oil tried its hardest to keep us down, but we just wouldn’t let it! Laura and I had been planning a girls weekend trip to the beach for this past weekend for several months, and several times along the way it looked like it was not going to happen. First of all, Andy was actually off work and able to be at home with the kids (his first days off in over a month, I think). Secondly, we had originally planned to go to Pensacola, FL, but just a few days before our trip the oil made it to shore there. So, we quickly reorganized and found a great alternative in Gulfport/Biloxi/Ocean Springs, MS. On Friday we went to Ship Island, MS via the ferry boat. The boat ride alone was great as we saw LOTS of dolphins, but the island was WONDERFUL! Just like two kids would, we spent the entire day in the sun going from the water to the sand.

Because of a little too much sun on Friday, we decided to spend Saturday out of the sun and went to a huge outlet mall in Gulfport. It was amazing how much fun it was to shop when we could actually take our time and look. We ate at a neat restaurant on the beach in Biloxi for dinner that night. For a Saturday night it was really not crowded at all. After talking with the waitress we found out that many tourists are keeping away from the area because they think there is oil.

On Sunday we headed out to Ship Island again. This time the water was completely different. There were almost no waves, and we saw lots of different marine animals--dolphins as we were sitting on the beach, as well as jellyfish in the water. Luckily neither of us got too close to the jellys, and we again had a very relaxing day! The National Parks Service, who runs Ship Island, thinks that the oil will be there eventually, but it certainly wasn’t for our visit. Those who run the ferry to the island said that they usually have 900 passengers on a Saturday, but they only had 300 that Saturday. It is so very sad that so much is going to be destroyed by the oil, but even sadder that so many are missing out on the good that is still left—at least for now!

Laura had to return home on Monday late afternoon, so we spent our day shopping and eating our way through the French Quarter. I think we both deserved a bit of a break, and neither of us had ever had the chance for a getaway like this. All in all it was a fantastic time and I hope we get the chance to do it again!

Andy and the boys had a good weekend too. I think Andy mostly just enjoyed being off work and spending time with the kids. Of course there aren’t any photos as I had the camera, but they went to the zoo, which means Andy has now seen the swamp monster, and they went to the pool over at the base.