a rayburn mardi gras

Since we had gone to two parades already in Mandeville, we decided to take advantage of David's two days off of work and head to his parent's lake house near Jasper, Texas. It is a little long of a trip for a regular weekend, but the extra two days made it perfect. Soccer was rained out Saturday and so we got up, got packed and headed out.

David was really excited to show the kids the place where he spent a lot of time while growing up. On the agenda: canoe rides, fishing, hikes, croquet, movie nights, and s'mores. As you can see in the following pics we pretty much accomplished it all, and had a great time while doing it. The kids were NOT happy to leave yesterday!!

It was a nice change to be cell phone free for a couple of days, just hang out, relax, and spend time together. The kids loved seeing the lake and all of the places David used to go, as well as spending some time with their Grandparents. Besides all of the outdoor activities, the bunk beds were a great source of fun, and Bennett is already asking for some in his room!

Too bad it is a not a little bit closer, or I think we would be there much more often!

Elise's school parade

Elise's school had its annual Mardi Gras parade Friday afternoon and we were all so excited! From what I have heard, the parade has gotten a little bit bigger each year, and this year the kids were thrilled because they actually had a pair of Clydesdales walking in the parade. That, and the Military escorts were some of the highlights.
Elise's class dressed as Saturn, and I must say (although biased) I thought they were the cutest class. Her teacher has a reputation for great ideas, and she didn't disappoint...




Elise (stuffing down King Cake), Reese, and Carsten pre-partying before the parade...



Elise and her sweet friend Laura...



With their shades on ready to march...




Our little Saturn...

Here they come...

Saturn with its rings...

We all had a great time and were sad that sweet Bennett (with the stomach bug for the second time in two weeks) had to miss out! Definitely something to look forward to next year. What a great way for the kids to learn about both Louisiana traditions and science at the same time! They had a blast!

Elise's Ball

Yesterday was the Kindergarten Mardi Gras Ball for Elise's school. They were able to wear dress clothes, rather than uniforms, and were all Maids and Dukes. Each class made different costumes and accessories for the party.

Here is Elise and her Duke entering the ball. They decorated their own masks for the big event!






Her sweet class...

Dancing with her Duke...

What a cute little pair!

It was obvious that they had been told to stay with their partner and keep arms locked..the rule follower that she is, Elise would NOT let go of him! He is a sweet little boy and didn't seem too disappointed about this. :)

More fun coming up this week!

happenings...

February already...and I know I sound like a broken record, but the days are moving way too quickly!

Can't believe:

* Mac & Mae are already one month old!

* Elise recently celebrated her 100th day of Kindergarten- her school is year is more than half way over!

* Lila and Bennett have coasted way past 4 1/2...only 4 months and they will be 5!

Had our first marathon day at the soccer field Saturday and all three kids had a great time! I hope to have some pictures soon. We are lucky to have children of photographers on both of the twins' teams, so we should have access to lots of great pics!

I like to hang with this little guy:

He is smart, stubborn, funny, and loving. He loves to tell me he loves me, and I love to hear it!

Little Boss-man spent the bulk of the week at the vet last week recovering from his second surgery in under 6 months. We are really praying that this one helps his leg for good! He is far too young and way to sweet to be hurting all of the time.

Papers I get home in school folders like this make me smile and laugh:

Is this a great example of Mars vs. Venus, or what?

Lots to look forward in coming weeks as Mardi Gras approaches!

Happy Tuesday!

Nicole

Monster Jam 2012

Growing up in a town of 100K lends itself to only the smallest of traveling shows. I can remember going to MidSouth Wrestling, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the occasional circus, but Lake Charles never got the big events like concerts, broadway things, or NFL/NBA. We also never had, to my recollection, MONSTER JAM!
Bennett and I loaded up and got to the Superdome at 3....the show started at 7. I was slightly worried since his bedtime usually is 730, but he was alive and alert all night.

We started off with Pit Passes which allowed us to walk around the Dome floorand touch the trucks, meet the drivers, and drive remote control trucks. There was also a display of Traxxas cars, which are high-end remote control cars. I caught a cool picture of one of the trucks flying through the air. They go 75 mph, and the truck in the picture was $850. Hopefully Santa saw those!






Going into Monster Jam 2012, Bennett loved Gravedigger, the black/green/purple truck behind him in this picture. What is neat is that Gravedigger is celebrating his 30th anniversary, and I can remember him when i was a kid as well as BigFoot.





When it was time for the show to start, i quickly realized that spending very little on the tickets really puts you up in the rafters of the Dome. Our first seats were so high that there was a windchill from the a/c, so we had to move because he was freezing. Plus, it was pretty hard to make out exactly what we were seeing.






Once we moved, i realized we were in higher-end seats when I saw this dude leaving from the row behind me. Surely he was going to check to make sure his driver had the limo running in case there was an emergency in his Tokyo office.





(No lie, the attire at Monster Jam was pretty varied....sitting next to the pimp was a woman in shorts and thong sandals WITH socks.....you don't get that brave with your attire unless you are very used to wearing that).

Before the racing and freestyle started there was a crash-derby race WITH trailers...apparently the only rule was you had to pull something. Some people had mini-FEMA trailers, some people had boat/seado, and one guy nailed an entire living room set with lamps and a tv to his flatbed trailer. Not much lasted.







After a while, and after each one kept wrecking and essentially jumping until the truck broke (see Gravedigger's wheel), Bennett fell in love with Maximum Destruction, the 13 time champion and apparently the best truck around. I was pretty amazed at how high the truck was jumping (maybe 30-40 feet high).

Bennett had a great time and was a trooper all the way to the car. We got out of the Dome around 10:15, and he was out before we hit the Causeway. Asleep with his new Maximum Destruction truck!

Love that kid.