Playing in the Rain

If there is one thing you can count on in Baton Rouge is a little surprise rain shower. 

Of course, kids are attracted to water so the next thing we knew they were all completely drenched....and having the time of their lives!

There is a bit of a crater in their grandparents' driveway so this made for an awesome little pond for them to jump in.

They found pieces of styrofoam to float in the water and use as scoopers.

Scoopers then became vehicles for throwing water at each other!

Then as the rain drops stopped falling, they decided to "wash" Uncle Steve C.'s car with some wash cloths they found.

They scooped up the dirty ground water to re-wet the car.  Sorry Steve!

They were all working very hard and so proud of the job they were doing.  They also decided that they should ask Steve to pay them $50.00 for it.

It was fun watching Rachel who was very meticulous about the way she folded her washcloth.

She had so much fun!

Alyssa came out for a while and Aunt Donna let Rachel push her around in the wheelchair.  Rachel loves spending time with Alyssa and she is very proud when she gets to do things to help Alyssa.

Back to the giant puddle, Rachel found an empty water bottle and started scooping up water from the driveway.

She thought it was cool to look at all the dirt floating in it.

The kids then devised a way to try to filter out the water by letting it flow through a wash cloth over another container.  I love watching Discovery Learning in action!

The kids were wet but they weren't clean.  They had bits of leaves and dirt stuck to their wet clothes.  Grandmother tried her best to hose them off but they were awfully wiggly!

I absolutely love this picture of the cousins sitting together.  I'm just sad that Alyssa wasn't outside when I took it.

Taking Flight with Granddad

Dad offered to take us up for a plane ride.  What a cool opportunity!  But there wasn't room for all of us to go up and I don't really like flying in little passenger planes so I offered to sit this one out.  Instead Rachel and I would go hit some antique shops in Denham Springs.

We dropped the boys off at Grandad's house.  Nicholas was excited just trying on the headset.  I think he wore them for the whole drive to the airport. 

I had to get a picture of my three favorite guys in the world.  Have fun!

Stuart took the camera along to get pictures for me.  This is the plane Dad rented for their ride. 

Grandad took Nicholas around the plane with him as they checked it out. 

 

Here are a few videos Stuart got of their flight.  If you are reading this in the email update then you'll have to click over to the actual blog to see these.



A touch and go

 
I was really excited that Nicholas got to do this with Grandad. It was a neat experience for him but it was also cool that we just finished up studying about the history of flight and how planes work back in the Spring as part of our Konos study of Trust.

Visiting with Granddad

I love just sitting around talking with my Dad. It's kind of hard for me to have much of a real conversation with him with the kids around because they want all of his attention. And that's ok too because I love watching them together.

Rachel was acting silly and giggly and wouldn't just look at me to take a picture.  Granddad copied her and then of course she straightened up and looked at me.  It made for a cute picture of Granddad though :)

The TV was on while we were visiting and Rachel had a piece of Trident gum.  She noticed a rectangle on the screen, put her piece of gum in it and said they were the same!

We usually go out for some good Cajun food when we hang out with Dad and we can usually get my brother to come along too.  The kids love their Uncle Steve.

I love this guy too - scruffy and all.

Hugs all around.  Nicholas really likes Uncle Steve and thinks he is cool.  I love that Steve acts like a big kid around Nicholas and that they can have fun just playing together.

All the visiting and eating can wear a little girl out.  There are always lots of quick naps in the car while we run from one place to the other in Baton Rouge.

Oh, one of the treats the kids always like at Granddad's is watermelon!  Sweet and messy, just the way they like it.

Two Favorite Places in Baton Rouge

Grandmother C. is in librarian training at the Goodwood branch of the EBR library. We stopped by to visit her and let the kids see her at work.

This library is just down the street from my parents' house and I spent a lot of time here when I was growing up. I didn't expect to have such a flood of memories but when I walked up to the front door I felt like a kid again.

I remember the book drop, the checkout area, the bathrooms. I remember where the children's section used to be and where they used to have the big card catalog files. It was all so familiar and comforting to me. Sadly, they have outgrown their space and will be tearing down this building soon because they are getting a bigger building. I had to grab a few more quick pictures as we left. Yes, they were very quick pictures. I'm not sure why I didn't at least get out of the car!

One of our most favorite places to go when we are in Baton Rouge is Jerry Lee's Kwik Shop.

You know you're a cajun if the sight of this pan of boudin makes you drool!  We've tried boudin from all over the state of Louisiana and nothing compares to Jerry Lee's!

They also have other Cajun delights.  You don't really want to know what's in these but trust me, if you close your eyes and just take a bite, your mouth will do a little happy dance.

Yes, fried pork skins.  It's a Southern thing!

Fireworks!

We always seem to shoot fireworks when we are in Baton Rouge.  Grandmother and Grandfather C. don't seem to mind that we light up their driveway and cause quite a loud ruckus in the front of their house.  The kids love it.  I don't usually bother trying to take pictures but I thought I'd try a few with the D90 this time.  I love how they turned out.