Trip to Louisiana.

Greetings from the land of the living dead.

Not really. But kind of. I'm only dead if I don't drink my coffee. And my Sonic Coke. ;)

I'm trying to recuperate from two twelve hour drives by myself with all three kids within a period of 6 days. I really almost felt like I should have gotten a medal; specifically for the skills it takes to use a public restroom while two preschoolers have free reign of the stall and I simultaneously balance a 25 pound one year old on a knee while using said public restroom. And obviously I missed my calling of gymnastics, given my insane ability to hold the large toddler on my hip while pulling up my underwear and shorts back to my waistline. Sorry for the visual, but the skills had to be noted.

In truth, the drive down was actually really good. Aside from Connor asking "are we in Baton Rouge yet?" every 4-6 minutes (and I do mean this quite literally, since I clocked it. And it started 20 minutes into our trip. God bless the person who invented ear plugs), we all did relatively well. The drive back was a bit horrific to say the least, as it involved me almost falling asleep at the wheel, Connor complaining that he was just "so so so tired but can't fall asleep in the car seat!" and Tyler basically saying the same thing, only in loud screams that I am almost certain mirrored that of a large jungle bird screaming for its life while being chased as prey. BUT. We all survived. Which is really all that matters in the end, right?

Our time in Louisiana was good. I was able to see all of my siblings, which is a bit of a miracle these days when you try to coordinate four adult schedules. The boys and my parents and I were able to sneak away to the aquarium in New Orleans (pics to come later this week-- still have to edit those :) ). It was my first time back to New Orleans since 2002. So much has changed, and yet, so much was still as I remembered from when I lived there in junior high. And as much as I am certain that I would never really want to raise a family down there, I do miss the culture. And the food. :)

One of the major reasons I decided on a whim to go down to Baton Rouge was because my sister, Megan, and her two girls agreed to drive in too. So I got to meet my new niece Aubrey! She was the sweetest, and has already perfected her selfie smile.

Uncle Mike and my niece, Aubrey Kate.

We also got the treat of seeing my Great Uncle Mike, Great Aunt Rina and my Grandma, all during the trip. This was Tylers first time to meet all of them.

Grandma with three of her five great-Grandkids.

meeting Great-Grandma

and the two little great-grands.

caught this unposed picture and think it's so sweet.

At first Tyler was pretty apprehensive of Uncle Mike. But after nap he seemed to have remembered meeting him, and warmed up to him enough to get a few smiles out of him.

of course, it doesn't help when Gigi is helping get some smiles ;)

I debated whether or not to put this picture up. But it's real life. People's eyes are closed, Connor is trying desperately to escape... but I love it anyways.

Zoe finished her cake and was asking for more. She knew she had a soft spot from Great-Grandma. ;)

In addition to getting to spend time with relatives, we also did a lot of hanging outside. My parents have a pond in their backyard, so it's perfect for the boys to go fishing, which is what we found Brayden doing a lot of the time.

Uncle Jacob gave the boys a few pointers on the skateboard.

and even raced Brayden on his bike!

the boys had a BLAST on the slip-n-slide...we may need to invest in one of these soon!

COUSINS!!!!

Tyler enjoyed the chalk art. And the chalk buffet ;)

I'm so grateful I took a break from our schedule and decided to go for an adventure. It's something I'm not used to doing, and even though there were a few bumps in the road it really did end up being a ton of fun. And since Louisiana didn't want to leave me quickly, I am now left with the memories and 48217583 mosquito bites. Until next time, Louisiana....