Memorial Day at Home

For a week now, I have been fighting with the Blogger app in trying to make another post here. For some reason, it's not saving the posts I create, nor will it publish them (if I try to do that instead of only saving it).  I guess I'll have to check in with Jen to see if she has any tips or suggestions for me. In any case, I gave up and decided to e-mail myself the photos so I could upload them and write the entry as planned. 

Alex and I went home to my parents in south Louisiana for Memorial Day weekend.  The air conditioning sytem in my office broke early in the week so by Thursday I was able to peel out much sooner than planned.  We even made it home to Abbeville before dark; it was a beautiful thing. 

We spent most of Friday running around town doing errands - added Alex to my bank accounts in Abbeville, got my new phone(!), picked up some things needed at Walmart for latter-weekened activities, and dropped in at the 4-H Office to say hello and hash out plans for an upcoming event.  Once everyone got off of work, we gathered the crew (Stu-Daddy, Mom, Austin, and Nanna) and headed to dinner at Cheddar's in Lafayette.  Side note:  Again, we confirmed the Cheddar's in Monroe is just NOT up to par. 

Saturday, the boys went out in the marsh to fish and run the crab cages.  Victoria and I scheduled a girl's "coffee date" (though neither of us had coffee...) for her front porch that morning.  It was nice to finally get some girl time after next to zero girlfriend time over the last six months.  We caught up on each other's lives and made plans to meet up again later for dinner, pending a fruitful harvest when the boys returned. 

Emma, Drew, and Sophie - They took their three-year-old photos at the fair in Lafayette.  Don't tell me they're not the most adorable thing you've ever seen!

Thankfully, the harvest was bountiful and the boys did indeed bring home enough crabs to boil and have guests for dinner.  Victoria, Seth, and Carter joined us, along with Nanna, my mom's cousin Laurie, her husband, Daniel, and their three-year-old triplets, Emma, Sophie, and Drew.  The crabs were delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to hang out with the kids, seeing as how I hadn't visited with them since the wedding and well...let's be honest...that was all a blur anyway.  After the kids soaked themselves by splashing their feet in the pool, I decided to don my swimsuit and jump in with them.  Of course, since I was the only one over two-feet tall--barely, ha-- the kids had to take turns splashing in the water with me.  While the kids are the most well-behaved children I've yet to meet, they are still silly and occasionally tried to trick me into skipping one of their siblings in exchange for their turn instead.  Tsk tsk. 

A day filled with swimming, boiled crabs, and entertaining children.

On Sunday, Nanna cooked for the whole gang, and my aunt/uncle and cousins joined us for lunch.  Baseball and NASCAR kept us entertained amidst the occasional snooze.  I kept Noah busy with a puzzle...well, actually...he watched me make the puzzle, but I don't suppose that really matters.  :)   All in all it It was a pretty lazy afternoon.

Monday, my parents barbecued some sausage for po-boys and Dawn stopped in for a quick visit before she headed over for a pooltime afternoon with Victoria's family.  Alex and I loaded up after lunch and were back in Monroe just in time for dinner.  Needless to say, the weekend away from northeast Louisiana was much needed and greatly enjoyed. 

Looking ahead, I hoped to get this entry out earlier so I could write about our budding garden before my 2-week hiatus out of town for work.  Seeing as how I am heading out to camp tomorrow, it looks like you'll all just have to wait a little longer.  It will definitely be a few weeks before I anticipate time to write another entry.  Ya'll stay cool, safe, and have a lovely June!

-Lauren