Louisiana Trip

We finally managed to spend the weekend at Sean's, just like old times. I can't believe it's been a year since we were there last. Pretty much exactly. Last year, we ate breakfast inside Cafe Du Monde, walked around the mall, got tattoos, and masks weren't a "thing" yet. It's just bizarre. We arrived Thursday night and stopped by Walmart to grab a few groceries, mostly snacks for the kids. They went to bed fairly well, all in one room, which was kinda cool. I think Cole slept better because he wasn't alone. Most of the weekend was spent hanging out and preparing for Sean's birthday party. We met his girlfriend, Lama (pronounced Lemma). She prepared a traditional Arabic breakfast complete with homemade hummus, haloumi, and shakshuka. So good. She even had gluten-free bread for me. Sean's birthday party was Saturday. He had a tent set up in his back yard, full of balloons and decorations. Lama went bananas having everything set up nicely. She had so much food catered! There were two piñatas, one for the kids and one for the adults. Poor Jac swung too hard and hit his knee. Luckily, it didn't break, but it left a bruise. It was a lot of fun, regardless. We ended the night playing Cards Against Humanity with Kyle until we couldn't keep our eyes open.

Today, I washed all our clothes and repacked our things (though, I didn't realize til we came home that I left my cloak and Leah's shoes, along with the groceries we bought) then headed over to see Jessie. She lives just down the road from Sean now, so Zac dropped the big kids and me off while Cole napped. Jessie showed me her new house and let me play with her harp and cello. Leah and Elias had fun playing the violin. It was relaxing. I missed her a bunch. Hopefully we'll be able to go out that way again. She gave us part of a cactus to bring home, which Jac touched the wrong way and I spent a good bit of the ride home tweezing prickles from his fingers.

Snow & Rant

So, a cold front swept through and brought some snow. I already hate it. Luckily, it's melting, but it's icy and slippery. I've decided against moving to where there are winters. If I start to wish for snow, I'll look back in this entry and remind myself how much I hate it. However, the kids loved it. Even Cole was saying, "No!" which, based on his excitement rather than contempt, meant "snow". It started snowing Monday and continued through Wednesday. On Monday, the kids played outside and tracked icy footprints throughout the kitchen. It was super cold out and all the noses turned pink. Monday night, Zac and I took a walk together to see the neighborhood and walk the track. It was lovely, but seeing snow is always lovely. I just don't like it when it stays too long. On Tuesday, we decided to bring the kids on a walk. I saw a neighbor pulling a toddler in a laundry basket and decided to do the same. It started off fun, the boys were bundled up and happy, until Cole wanted to get out sans boots and agreed to be carried. The big kids had fun sliding down slopes and touching the frozen duck pond. Then, on Wednesday, Zac and I decided to walk to the grocery (it's about 5 minutes from the house) to pick up a few necessities. Fortunately, we were able to grab some bread and canned foods, but there were no eggs (we picked up a bag of boiled eggs) and no milk, aside from pints. Zac picked up three pints, but when we got to the register, the manager informed us we were only allowed one. It made me wonder about the two women who were shopping after us with a cart full of the remaining 10 or so loaves of bread who complained about the lack of American cheese. Awesome. I hate panic-shoppers. It's a completely selfish way to behave when there are others in need.

Anyway, here are some pics from the ice age.