November Galavanting...

In spite of a severe shortage of green and lots of distracting nonsense, we decided to make a trip to Louisiana for the 'holiday' weekend.

We had been sick w/ a virus earlier in the month, a clingy one that just didnt want to give up...the baby had it the worst. He would be well for 24 hours, eating somewhat normally, and then he would have another bad bout of diahrea or vomiting. It was really frustrating and worrisome. However, we came through that pretty well and made rushed around getting ready to depart on Tuesday night of last week.

Instead of heading straight for Talisheek (small town outside of New Orleans where some good friends of ours live) and trying to make the trip in one fell swoop, we opted to go a little out of the way and stop over in Memphis so as to avoid the boys having to be in the car for eight straight hours. The trip to Memphis was unusually slow. It took us 5 1/2 hrs to get there. We basically had just enough time to catch some sleep before leaving early the next morning for Lousiana, by way of jackson Mississippi.

The trip was mostly uneventful...a few hiccups in the form of explosive diapers (not 'the green apple dirties' but something awful, nonetheless) and the price of gas (yikes). But we made it to Abita Springs at about 3pm and were happy to finally see our friends. They really had a great set up for us...we were spoiled by the novelty of sleeping in a nice camper they had drawn up to the house so as to give us privacy and separate sleeping quarters. So convenient! The family we were visiting, New Orleans-ingly known as the Chiassons, are an incredibly hospitable bunch. We enjoyed visiting w/ Craig and Sarah (w/ whom we were staying ) for a while before heading a mile down the road to the rest of the 'Chiasson Compound'-a group of houses clustered together in a chummy way that most families would either dread or love, depending on their closeness. We enjoyed some campfire conversation and yummy libations before heading back over to Craig and Sarah's for dinner and my first encounter with the Wii. I didnt really play it but it does look great. Notes for future shopping lists.

The next day was Thursday. We all went back over to the Chiasson compound for an amazing feast and plenty of good times. There was croquet (which I hadn't played in YEARS), tons of entertainment for the kids, friendly faces, excellent beer, and ACRES of food. Maybe not literal acres...but it felt like it. Gumbo to start, four fried turkeys injected with Creole Butter (oh...my...gah), two kinds of stuffing, delicious potato salad, homemade sweet potato pie, mac and cheese, chocolate cake...all amazing and perfect, of course. The day flew by and I think we all went back for seconds and thirds before finally deciding that our stomachs had reached full capacity. Did I mention the turkey necks? By far the best part. haha

That night, I truly don't remember what we did...oh! Homemade blackberry wine. That's it. :)

Friday the family all piled into several cars and drove across the causeway to the New Orleans Audubon Zoo. We were treated to the zoo trip and are HEARTILY grateful since it was one of the better zoos I've visited. The boys had a blast...they were especially intrigued by the white alligators, which reminded me of white chocolate. That evening, we drove home by way of Magazine Street, a fantastic part of the city that I had only seen on television. I am so anxious to go back and just shop and eat for several days straight. Dinner that evening was the Abita Brew Pub, a special treat.

Since my dad had a public talk on Sunday and we wanted to be sure to make it, we said fond farewells to our friends (can't wait to see ya'll again!) and headed off to Memphis town for the night. Since the kids were suffering from cold symptoms and we didnt want to put too much on them, we opted to stay for the entirety of Sunday (horribly rainy weather anyway) and head home on Monday. And so we did.

I'm tired but thankful for good and generous friends as well as motivated to compensate for some of those calories with renewed energy in a good diet/exercise program.

Great way to bring November to a close!