Tractor Rides on the Family Farm.

I have lots of fond memories growing up with my moms side of the family. My moms family is Italian, so family events were loud and large. And they were almost always at the family farm in New Orleans. Our family still owns some of that land, and my Uncle Mike still takes care of it. When we traveled down to Louisiana  for Christmas, we had an extra day in our itinerary, so we made our way down to NOLA so the boys could get a tractor ride with Uncle Mike.

me with my cousins (Bryan, Amy, Alex & David. The baby is my sister Megan, and I'm the gal in the hot pink tank in the back). and Uncle Mike on July 4, 1988. The woman on the far right is affectionantely known as "Nonny". She is my Aunt Rina's mother, who although not related by blood to us kids, was always so kind to us. We miss her.   I was expecting both of my kids to go nuts. And while Brayden did enjoy the tractor, he was equally impressed with the satsuma tree that he could climb and pick home grown oranges. These oranges were SO good! I was bummed the pecans were all rotten-- we made it just a bit too late.

climbing the satsuma tree to find a ripe orange.

daddy helped the boys peel their satsumas. I'm pretty sure Connor ate atleast 3!

Connor absolutely LOVED the tractor. He kept saying "hi mommy! Tractor go FAST!" as he and Uncle Mike would pass by us.

Connor and his great-great Uncle Mike.

look at Connors smile! I just love this picture

this picture looks a lot like this one from my childhood...

this is me and my cousin David riding with Uncle Mike on July 4, 1988. I was 4 years old.





another one of me and my cousins (David, Amy, Alex and me) in 1988 with Uncle Mike.

I'm pretty sure Connor would have ridden that tractor all day if we had let him. Connor and Brayden love their Uncle Mike. I'm so thankful for the boys to experience something that I loved as a kid. Thanks Uncle Mike for making this experience possible! We love you!