And the Summer Drags On...

Well, I have not really written much this summer, mainly 'cause there's not too much to tell. We've basically spent our days at home, hiding from the heat and the swine flu. We did start to going to church again and he is doing pretty well. He was somewhat bad the first time, but since then he seems to understand. I tried to send him to children's church last week but he is still a little young. Hopefully this week he wont remember that he got to leave last time! Donny changed jobs. He was laid off for a couple of weeks and his company kept dodging his calls about work, so he went with a different company. He's climbing a lot of stairs and a guy that's been there for a while told him he's probably going to lose about 20 pounds. And he gets to grow his sideburns back! He had to shave them about a year ago because he had to wear a mask at the plant he was working at. I wont lie, i cried when he shaved them. He came out of the bathroom yesterday after shaving and the burns were back! I was happy. With Donny off of work we too the opportunity to do some things around the house and town. We painted Justins closet doors with chalkboard paint. They turned out pretty neat and he actually uses them to draw on. He does not color on the walls either. This was not a concern of mine but several other folks asked about that. He seems to understand that the chalk is to stay on the closet only. We also took a couple of local road trips to the river to search for locations listed in my book "Along the River Road-Past and Present on Louisiana's Historic Byway." by Mary Ann Sternberg. It lists historic sites along the river. Some are still there, some are not. I got the book several years ago and have always wanted to make a trip. We quickly learned that if you stop at each place it takes you about 3 hours to go 20 miles. I took lots of pictures and posted several of them in an album on Facebook. The first trip we went from St. Rose to LaPlace, then hit Airline Hwy to go back home. The 2nd trip we went from LaPlace to Gramercy. If you look on a map these places are not too far apart but it took all afternoon to drive along the road and check out the locations. We are looking foreword to our next trip, which will probably take us from Gramercy to the Sunshine Bridge. Since we started with the East Bank, we have to plan where to cross back over the river, since there are not too many places. We also took a quick weekend trip to Hattiesburg to visit with my sister Sara. She taught Field Training in Birmingham this summer and part of the training was learning how to go overseas or something, how to suffer and survive in the desert. So, where do they send the kids for that part of the training? Camp Shelby. No surprise really. One of Sara's teaching buddies said "I was in the desert for a year and it was not as bad as the 2 weeks I've spent here". We met up with her for dinner one night out at Leatha's BBQ. Always an excellent choice. I got to see Peaches, one of Leathas granddaughters, who I went to college with way back in the day. It was a nice visit. Today is the 4th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It seams like a lot longer ago to me. We were pretty much okay here in Houma. Only lost power for 2 days. My folks were stuck in Idaho and our best friends, the Turcottes in Waveland MS, well I didnt know at the time where they were. Its funny, I always always always called them before a storm but that time I was so wrapped up in my own preparations I neglected to do so. Then I didn't hear from them for 2 weeks and was worried out of my mind. I figured they had gotten out, since Caroline was 7months pregnant at the time but she was not answering her phone and that was scary. Turns out, they went to her dads in Florida and I had the wrong phone number. They lost their place, of course, but are doing just fine now. My parents had several trees fall on their house, but ended up totally redecorating their house, knocking out walls and replacing old '70s decorations. So some things really are a blessing in disguise. Like Donnys new job. He works late, does not get home until about 7pm. But now instead of 30ish hours a week hes getting 40+ and that's good. I just hope he doesn't get too sexy with his new sideburns and new weight loss, while I sit at home slowly finding all the pounds he loses. All around me folks are going back to school and going back to work (which for a lot of my friends is school). Some may say fall is in the air, but not here in South Louisiana. It's as hot as ever. Thankfully, though, football season has arrived. LSU starts a week from today and the Saints start their 3rd exhibition game in a couple of hours. Thank heavens, I was getting really tired of baseball.

Painting the Chalkboard Doors

Running along the levee near Destrahan Plantation Enjoying the Chalkboard Doors

Having a "picnic" with friend Mia

Leathas BBQ, Hattiesburg, MS

With Nannie Sara

Eating Watermelon with Great Grandmother Mema

Off to the Chocolate Factory!

Playing at the park in his "Pace" shirt

"Oh, Say Can You See.....My Car?"

July 4th weekend! Yea! This year the 4th fell on a Saturday, so everyone and their brother had plans, including us. We had a full weekend planned. Leave on Thursday to the Gulf Coast, Donny had golf on Friday. My sister was to leave that morning from Ohio to meet with us on the beach the next day. We planned to all meet up at my aunts condo on Saturday, enjoy the beach and make the DesiDog trade. Desi the Dog was going to come live with us for a few weeks while my sister taught Field Training in Birmingham. Well, that's not exactly how it turned out. We did leave on Thursday. That morning Justin was rolling around on the floor while I sat next to the bed packing and such. He rolled back and forth in front of the TV, then rolled over to me. I figured he would stop when he got to me, but still did not think anything of it as he rolled past me and THWACK! right into the end of the metal bed frame. He immediately started screaming and when I flipped him over, there was blood running down the side of his face. Poor thing got a nasty cut over his right eye, right through his little eyebrow. Now he is going to have a Luke Perry scar. The injury was cleaned, dressed, and the recipient was soothed with a Sponge bob band aid and a Popsicle. Donny came home early and we left around four. We decided to drive around the lake instead of through the city. I like that drive, its nice with all the water and swamps. We met up with the Turcottes at Osaka in Slidell, which was a lot of fun. A little pricey but worth it. Next time we will know not to order so much! Justin loved the flames and when the chef tried to flip egg in his mouth. We all went on to Diamondhead, but only after we got gas in Slidell during one of the scariest lightning storms I have seen in a while. The next morning my phone rang at six in the morning. I could tell it was my mom from the ring tone and it stopped in mid-ring. I figured she was trying to call my sister (who was probably on the road by that point) and dialed me by mistake. I did not think anything of it. About an hour later she called again, this time with the news-my sisters jeep had been stolen. Right out of the parking lot of her apartment. It was found about six days later in Kentucky, wrecked. So she was out for the weekend. :( That kind of put a damper on the day, but there was really nothing that could be done. I spent the day with Caroline and her girls. We made a trip to town and had lunch. That night we all went to the Crabfest in Bay St. Louis, which was super hot but we had a good time anyway. Justin rode some rides and Donny bought a dozen and a half crabs to bring home. He and Jeremy had a good time tearing into those later. The next day we packed up and went to Long Beach to spend the day with the family on the beach. It was super windy and we ended up getting rained out. We left the tent out on the beach while we ate when suddenly my cousins sister-in-law, Janet said something about a tent flying across the beach. We looked up and it was my uncles tent, out tent! The wind ended up breaking the frame; the tent was ruined. He had just bought it that day too! After dinner Donny and I packed back up and hit the road for Houma. We had originally planned to go back to Hattiesburg to spend time with my sister, but scratched that idea. Guess we will have to do that some other time. Her friend in Ohio will be taking care of the dog, since she was not able to make it down. She will probably not be able to get a new car until after her teaching is over, which is, like, six weeks from now.

Cut from the bed

Eye Band-aid At the OLG BSL Crabfest

Me @ the Crabfest

Riding rides

He loved these wooden cars! Too bad the were $75!

Marley and Ella

Eating crabs with the big boys

Watch out, I've got crabs!

Now Caroline has them!

I probably got them from Donny

Worn out!

At the beach (the water was extra brown this year)

Digging

My Dad and Hubby

My mom and 2 of her sisters

This ladys umbrella blew away and the guys tried to catch it!

It rained us out

Justin was saying "Mommy, house!"

Watching another storm blow in

It was a pretty storm. The rain was welcome, it had been so dry.

Finishing up the crabs

Hate to see ya go!

Yesterday our good friends the Turcottes came down to visit. It was a special visit, mainly because there is really no reason but us to come all the way down here. They came to check out the new house and hang out, and Donny and Jeremy played golf. We had a good time. Friday night Donny cooked his pasta and it was better than usual. After dinner we went to the park behind the house. It was pretty hot though and after, like, 5 minutes we were already sweating even thought it was 8 o'clock at night. So after a bit we went back home. The kids went to bed and we had some drinks and watched comedy specials and such. Justin loved having playmates, but he really needs to learn to share. He plays a little rough and I don't think Ella was too into him, but he loved Marley. He would chase her around and they would laugh, he had a great time. This morning the guys went to play golf and we took the kids to the Aquatic Wildlife Museum downtown. Then we all met up at Chilis. We should have gone to Redfish Pizza, I don't know what I was thinking. Redfish Pizza, BTW, is the best pizza on the planet. I guess we will just have to get some and take it to Diamondhead so they will know the heavenly tasted that are Redfish Pizza. Anyway, they left a little after lunch, to get home and get the girls settled. It was nice having them, thanks for coming, y'all! We love ya!

A Fun Supper

Justin Hanging

Ella Hanging

The "Normal" Picture

Marley Hanging

Jeremy "hanging"

Can't get a good shot....

"Got you in a stranglehold, baby..."

Come on, give the dog a sip...

The fountian, Downtown Houma

The Courthouse, Downtown Houma

Aquatic Wildlife Museum

At the Scarlet Scoop, with the awesome double cone

"I'm leaving on a jet plane..."

"...Don't think that I'll do that again..." Well, we are back from Idaho. If there are any typos it's because I still have these stupid fake nails on my hands and can't type worth a darn with them on. We left last Tuesday and got back yesterday. Unfortunately our luggage did not feel it was important to arrive with us. The luggage includes Donny's car keys, our phone charger and all of our clothes that actually fit us. According to the website, the luggage has arrived in NOLA and should be delivered to our house before six tonight. Let's hope so. Anyway, our trip to Idaho was a great success, we had a lot of fun. We arrived around nine on Tuesday and Donny was really surprised that it was still light out. The next morning he went with my brother Wesley and Tommy (the best man) to go shooting out in the desert, while I went to the spa with my sister, Sara, and future sister-in-law Cheri to get mani's and pedi's. My thumb nail broke before we were finished with lunch. So we went back to get it repaired. Around five that night I looked down at my toes and all the polish was coming off! Needless to say I was not too impressed with that place. They did fix it the next day for free but it still didn't look too hot. Oh well. Wednesday night we had a good time hanging out in the room with my parents and aunt and others who were in for the wedding. We drank some beer and ate some pizza and listened to my aunt tell some pretty great stories. The next day the boys went golfing and we went to Boise to pick up the tuxes. While my parents were doing that my sister and I took Justin to Julia Davis Park in Boise, a place we went often when we were kids, on field trips and in Girl Scouts and such. We visited the Discovery Center of Idaho, a hands-on science museum for children. We also went to the Idaho Historical Museum, which I remember being bigger when I was a kid, but isn't that how it always is? That night was the bachelor/bachelorette party at a local bar in Mountain Home. Charleys or Chuckeys, something like that. My sister stopped at a novelty store and picked up some fun little games and items for the party. When we got there we found out it was karaoke night as well. We had a pretty good time. I won't bore you with the details (or the videos!). Tommy's wife Michelle flew in that night and was going to try to make it to the party, but her luggage did not arrive (sound familiar?) She finally got her stuff late Friday night. Friday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, which was held at a winery in Glenns Ferry called Carmelas. It was great. We got a bottle of Riesling that was just excellent. They have a website, but I can't remember it. It's on the bottle I saved, which is in my suitcase, which is continuing our vacation without us. Saturday was the wedding. I didn't post any pictures of the event, because I am waiting to get some pictures from some other folks, then I will be making a separate blog for all that. It was a wonderful time, something we will remember for a long time to come. On Sunday we took a day trip to the mountains, to Ice Springs and the Trinity Mountains. Ice Springs is a campground that our family went to a lot when I was a kid. It was one of my favorite places. There is a cave in the lava rocks, a large tree that fell across the creek years and years ago and a natural spring that we used to be able to drink from, but someone removed the pipe. Donny took a few clear, cold sips from the stream though. To clear up his Lupus, he said. It must have worked, he didn't get any clots on the plane! Justin and Julia (Wesley's new step-daughter) called for bears in the cave, but they were sleeping. Sara and I crossed the log, for old times sake. It was a little spooky on the narrow end, but then again, it always was. Then we headed up higher to try to make it to the top of the Trinity Mountains. This is a place that I fell in love with as a child, the first time we ever went there. The road weaves back and forth up the side of the mountain, above the treeline, above the world. You look out and can see across the tops of all the other mountain ranges, not for miles, but for days it seems. When I was younger, if I was upset or couldn't sleep I would close my eyes and go back to the side of that mountain. I would imagine looking out and could almost smell the crisp mountain air. Unfortunately we were not able to make it up that far, due to snow across the road. We figured we would not be able to make it; you can see the snow from 2 hours away, but we gave it a go anyway just to see how far we could go. We didn't make it above the treeline, but we still had a pretty good view. I'm glad Donny got to go with us, even that far, just so he could have an idea of what it's like. When we moved here he got to show me all the places he loved as a child and I never thought I would get the chance to do the same. We didn't make it to the Bruneau Sand Dunes or Craters of the Moon or McCall or Sun Valley, but we saw enough. That night I think the trip caught up with all of us. We were very tired. Overall, the trip was pretty great. There were a few instances that were kinda uncool, like crappy restaurants or crappy stepmoms, but we won't worry about all that. We were there for Wesley, because we love him, as I'm sure he knows, due to the boo-hooing that was going on at the airport. I started first, 'cause I'm a weenie like that. It's just because I never know when I will see Wes again. Sara flies up there all the time and even my parents make it out there at least once a year, but Donny and I don't, especially since we have decided that someone is going to have to die to get us on a plane again. We are not too keen of flying (and by "not too keen" I mean "deathly afraid"). He spent his childhood on the water and my family drove everywhere. I'd rather drive and see the sights. I know it takes so long but we live in a beautiful country and so many people just don't know whats out there because they are in such a hurry to get where they are going. Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses and when you do that, you usually keep your luggage with you as well. Riding the tram in DFW Looking Out Relaxing at the Best Western My Parents (my Dad kept a bottle of that on hand all week)

At the Discovery Center

See Sign

A cool desert storm

Penis veil!

Penis Straws!

My brother and his Bride

Karaoke Night!

There was hail during the rehersal

My mom knitted that, can you believe that?

We were randomly put in room 311!!!

The spring at Ice Springs

"The Log"

Probably the best family picture we have taken in a while!

"Hiking"

My "safe spot" on the side of the mountain that we couldn't get to :(

The most beautiful view

Thanks for being here baby

I was happy

Justin and his new step-cousin, Julia