We made the entire drive back from Baton Rouge yesterday. This photo pretty well sums up all of our feelings on that drive! The maps app on my phone tells me it is a 12.5 hour drive. The maps app on my phone is a liar. Or perhaps the maps app didn’t account for the weather, the fact that we were traveling in 3 cars with 11 people, one of whom is an infant who grew very tired of our crap! On the way down, we had to stop in Yates center (1 hour from home) because a certain 5 year old had soda for breakfast. On the ride home we also had to stop in Yates center because a certain 10 month old desperately needed a car seat break. Poppy bought her candy and let her tear his glasses off - those things seemed to help a little and we did make it home. Finally! All parties had a great trip, and all parties were supremely happy to be out of the car!
I am just dumping a hodge podge of photos that I either didn’t share before, or especially loved here. This trip started out as what was going to be me and Jim running down to watch Cameron graduate. It turned into a large group trip with 6/8 of our kids being there, our grandkids, my sister and both of our mothers going along. It was a little bit of work to get us all places, and keep us all from being lost (me) and I was worried about a lot of stuff that just never happened. Things like travel fatigue and fighting and traffic and vehicle problems. The whole trip was just pretty great. Of course small problems occurred, as they always will, and we did have a couple of weather incidents traveling both ways that were concerning, but overall, any worries I had were fairly unwarranted. And I’m so thankful we had this experience!
Even on vacation, I can’t keep him away from city hall! I want to give a small shout out to Jim’s current co-workers. There have been a lot (and I do mean a lot) of vacations where he was sucked into city business, had incessant phone calls, was trying to fix problems for people etc while we were traveling. This time - silence. He did check in, and he may have had a couple of phone calls, but overall, the people he works with handled it all, and he was left alone. I appreciate it more than they will probably ever know. I intend to stop by and thank them soon!
This is one of 2 bridges into Baton Rouge. This one takes I-10 over the Mississippi. You must cross the Mississippi to get into town. This bridge is a little bit scary to me, but also sort of cool. That being said, I am happy I don’t live here. The constant need to cross the river, combined with the constant traffic would probably get really old! One of the days we were there, a wreck happened on the bridge. Or near it. Nightmare. Traffic is gridlocked in the entire city because everyone needs to cross the bridge and all of the roads feed into the I-10 bridge. So every street on both sides of the river all backed up. It’s the worst design in the way it works. I texted Cameron to see if there was another way across. He texted back yes, there is the Huey Long bridge that is north of where you are. I could see the other bridge, but I never did figure out how to get to it.
If you want a true example of what a weird person I actually am, I guess you should see my vacation photos. The trees in Louisiana fascinate me. They are so huge - and sprawling. And green! I took hundrds of photos of the trees. I will probably delete most of them, because you only really need so many tree pics, but I am still really enamored!
So much of Louisiana reminded me of my grandma. The lily pads, the little frogs, the flower gardens everywhere. I feel like she would have really liked it there.
It was hot, she was drug around NOLA, and she had been really, really well behaved the entire day. As we were leaving, GG bought her some ice cream at a little shop near our parking spot. She was so excited to show Poppy her sprinkles, that she missed the step and wiped out. She didn't spill the ice cream, but she lost some sprinkles. She was not happy about it either! Poor kid!
Not sure where she picked up the peace sign in photo posing, but she is consistent! :) I am thankful to Andrew for letting us take his kids and wife along. I was sad he couldn't join us, but I am so happy we had time with the girls. They were so well behaved, put up with a lot of tours, and weird food, and long car rides. They are amazing little people and I love them so much!
Mallory took several photos of Cameron and me at his graduation. Cameron and I always joke around about who takes the worst photos. I looked weird in most of the pics we took, and in the one where I looked almost normal, Cameron is looking like this. For some reason, this cracks me up!
I think this is the whole vacation gang - I was happy that Colin and Amy were able to fly down and be there for the graduation. We were missing Preston (who got a new job and didn't have time to miss work) and Quincy, who decided last minute that she really wanted to stay home and work, and covered the chores for us, and Spencer. Colin flew in just in time for the graduation after missing his connecting flight. Since he was mostly there to help drive the u-haul back to Kansas after graduation, Spencer decided to sit this one out.
My boy - he doesn't always get credit for the stuff he does. He listened to all the things I had listed that I wanted to do when we were down there, and he made them happen. He even smiled when I told him I wanted to spend money on crazy things like a palm reading in NOLA, and gambling at the casino. I know he enjoyed the trip, and he definitely earned it....he works long hours and deserved the down time more than most of us. I appreciate him embracing my crazy and making all my wishes come to life. As husbands go, he is pretty top of the line.
We stayed in an old plantation house that is now an Airbnb. I know that Harper thought the vibe of the place was all off....and she ended up sleeping with GG - because nobody protects you from ghosts like good old grandma! BUT I really liked the place. I know it was not cleaned when we checked in, and we did have to do a bit of cleaning, and it was old and sort of strangely laid out, but legitimately had a ton of space for everyone, had a nice big kitchen, and a huge living room that we could all hang out in. It was outside of the craziness of town, and if I ever go back, I would definitely try to stay there again! I liked it a lot.
Cameron and Lauren - I am so proud of you guys for going out in the world, working your buns off, getting your Master's degrees not only finished, but paid for by someone else, and doing it in record time! Not to mention, taking on life in a new place, making friends, living life to the fullest, and sticking together - which is sometimes hard! I am filled with so much love and pride for what you have accomplished! I can't wait to see what is next for you! But most of all - I am so happy you are home! I missed you both!
And speaking of home, thank you to Quincy who decided to stay here, and then was smacked with taking care of all the stuff. Not only did she tackle baby goats, chores, Mallory's dogs, and keeping up the house and pool, she also kept all my flowers and plants alive! I am not sure if she is a genius with flowers, or if she lucked out and it rained a lot, but my flowers look amazing! She even has the Gaillardia blooming! I have been trying unsuccessfully to get these growing for years. Not only is it alive, it is also blooming! Impressed am I!
I am happy to be home, happy we had the time and family togetherness, and ready for all the summer junk to begin!
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