Water Fun

Very glad we made it out for peach picking on Saturday as Sunday ended up being another day full of rain and storms.  Regardless of the weather, Mike had a great Daddy's Day.  

We finally got to have some real water fun yesterday that didn't involve rain!  A friend invited us to tag along to the lake at Brushy Creek and play with their very fun water toys.  The boys and I had a blast on the stand up paddle board and in the kayak. I have been in a kayak many many times but the boys have not.  Last summer we did all get in a canoe together (that was an adventure - 5 people made that one wobbly boat!).  So Alex and Ben did know how to use the oars.  After about 30 seconds of instructions and making sure they had life jackets on, I sent them off for their very first solo kayak and paddle board adventures.  I'm not sure who was more surprised that I let them go by themselves, them or me.  There really wasn't much choice - it's a one man kayak and only one man on the paddleboard.  I was prepared to jump in the lake for a rescue if they should get stuck in the middle and not be able to find their way back to shore.  Happily, that was unnecessary.  I did end up going for a couple of swims though as I lost my balance on the paddleboard.  

Turns out that Ben is quite a natural in the water. His favorite was the kayak and clearly that was where he was most comfortable. He was maneuvering the kayak around like a champ. Figured out how to get himself turned around when the current pushed him into the reeds.  Alex was also a natural in the water - he had the paddleboard figured out in no time, and that turned out to be his preference.  I did ask the boys not to try standing up on the paddle board, we'll save that for the next time.  Here are a few pictures from the day.  Ben is on the paddle board, Alex in the kayak, and I am standing on the paddleboard.  Really fun day.  Someday I'd like to have some of those toys, especially since I have a place to take them that is close and perfect.

Rainy Summer = Lazy Summer

It hasn't been a total wash, but there has definitely been a bunch of rain lately, and rain makes me lazy.  Lazy means I let the blog slip and it's therefore blog catch up time again!

I never did mention much about Alex & Ben's mini vacation while we were in NOLA.  It was pretty much camp with Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Michael.  They took the boys fishing (catch & release), golfing (real golfing, not mini-golf, or pitch & putt, or top golf, the REAL thing), swimming, movies, cookouts with roasted marshmallows, squirt gun fights, video games, they made ice cream, and I don't even know what else.  They had a blast - all 4 of them :-)

We got enough breaks in the rainy weather to hit the pool a bunch last week, then Bill came and most of this week was pretty unfavorable.  We did manage to sneak in a swim Thursday morning.

I am loving summer break though.  No schedules, we've gotten into a sort of semi routine where we wake up whenever, have breakfast, kids do some chores and practice piano then we are free for whatever all afternoon.  This past week we had one of Ben's friends over most days (sick relative so the kid is being shuffled around while everyone takes turns at the hospital).

Today we went peach picking.  It was a bit drizzly so no one was at the farm.  We had the place virtually to ourselves.  Not sure which the boys liked more - all of the hayrides to and from the orchard or actually picking the peaches.  Fun day, and now I have 4 1/2 dozen peaches to do something with!

New Orleans - Saturday

We spent Saturday in New Orleans wandering all over again.  We hit a place called Mother's for breakfast.  Again, Mike had been there earlier in the week for lunch, and a friend said it was the best place around for breakfast.  Anyway, two huge sloppy egg, ham and cheese biscuits later (they claim their baked ham is the best in the world) we were off for the day.  And yes, the ham was delicious.

One of the things I wanted to see while we were there was the cemeteries.  Because the water table is so high they generally don't bury people in the ground, the bodies would simply float back up.  So the cemeteries are all above ground and the crypts are very fascinating.

We took a 100 year old streetcar out to the garden district to check out the Lafayette Cemetery.  We came across one marker with 3 family members that died just days apart - most likely from yellow fever.  Interestingly, today families have to wait 366 days between crypt openings to allow for sufficient time for the bodies to "cook" down.  So, many family have two crypts side by side in case multiple family members die within a year of each other.  There is lots more to the whole cemetery bit, but that's a conversation for another day.

After Lafayette Cemetery we found ourselves wandering around the French Quarter again.  I wanted to go check out St. Louis cemetery.  Once we got there we discovered that you couldn't enter without a tour guide - new regulation to cut down on vandalism.  There is a very famous voodoo queen buried there and legend has it that if you mark her grave with 3 x's and ask for a wish granted she may do so.  If she does then you are supposed to return and leave her an offering.  Apparently this was quite popular with the homeless population as many of the offerings were bottles of alcohol or food.  So, the cemetery is now closed unless with a guide.  Anyway, Mike was hesitant to just tag along on a tour group, so we abandoned the cemetery and opted for a little horse and buggy tour, which interestingly enough, took us to St. Louis cemetery.  And it was very interesting, lots of cool stories.

Let's see... that gets us to lunch (more po boys), then the Louisiana State History Museum (very cool), a trip to Pat O'Brien's for their famous hurricanes, and that pretty much killed the day.  Cleaned up a bit, and back out to dinner at Kingfish.  

For the late night entertainment we wandered up Frenchman street, found a bar without a cover and listened to a jazz band for a few minutes.  Frenchman street is apparently the hangout for the locals - lots of music and fun, but without the bizarre craziness of Bourbon street.  

One more stop at Cafe Du Monde the following morning and then back to Austin.  We packed a lot in during our two days, and this barely scratches the surface.  Tons of fun, tons of pictures.  Wishing we could sneak away again.

New Orleans - Friday

It's tough deciding how to split up the bits about New Orleans.  The food itself could be a dedicated post - but that's probably kind of boring.  So, I'll just start with Saturday.

We headed off bright and early to the French Quarter and Cafe Du Monde for breakfast.  Just can't go to New Orleans and pass this one by.  There's just one thing on the menu and a couple of choices of beverages to go with it.  So if you aren't in the mood for beignets piled high with powdered sugar, best skip this stop.  I loved every bite!

Cafe Du Monde is across the street from St Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square.  Jackson Square is a very pretty fenced square surrounded by a pedestrian sidewalk.  On the weekends, the square is filled with vendors and street performers of all kinds.  Kind of fun to see everyone hawking their wares.  Lots of fortune tellers and tarot card readers.  You never have to wander too far to find some musicians.  We saw magicians, knife jugglers, a guy who painted himself and his clothes bronze and pretended to be a statue, and kids tap dancing all over the place. Turns out they cut the bottoms off soda cans, flatten them and nail them to whatever shoes they have on and those are the taps.

Anyway, St. Louis Cathedral is quite beautiful, inside and out.

Let's see, for the rest of the day we went museum hopping.  We stopped in first at the Insectorium and learned all about bugs and their relatives.  The boys would have had a blast. Then it was on to lunch at Cafe Maspero for some fabulous po boys.  And finally we spent the afternoon at the WWII museum - another very cool place.

We made dinner reservations at K Paul for the evening and then ended up cruising down Bourbon street for a late night drink at Lafitte's.  Lafitte's is the oldest bar in the U.S. and is lit only by candle light.  Bourbon Street is, simply put, an experience.  Crazy, and smelly, and pedestrian only at night.  You name it, you have only to wait a few minutes or walk a few blocks and you'll see it on Bourbon Street.  Here's a picture of Lafitte's to end this post.

New Orleans

There are so many things to think about New Orleans, so many things to tell.  I am so happy that we had an opportunity to sneak away for a few days.  The boys had their own super fun vacation (that's another post of it's own).  It was a good weekend for everyone.

In typical Christina fashion, I waited until the very last minute to do anything to prep for the trip.  The boys last day of school was Wednesday and we took off for our respective vacations Thursday afternoon.  I spent Thursday cleaning and packing and getting the dogs sorted out.  I had to get some paperwork in order to make sure Steph & Michael could do whatever they needed with the boys in case some emergency came up.  It was good in that it took my mind off of the little inevitable trip jitters - in this case because I was leaving my kiddos behind.  It also made me very tired and I ended up sleeping for most of the hour flight from here to New Orleans.

Anyway, Mike met me at the airport with a dozen roses and a big huge smile and we were off.  Quick cab ride to the hotel, we passed the Super Dome and got a first glimpse of the very cool cemetaries down there (more on that one later).

Mike made us a reservation at Peche for dinner. It was the first of our many fabulous meals there.  It was late by the time dinner was done so we decided to call it an evening.

For the 2 1/2 days we were in New Orleans we walked over 25 miles, ate amazing food, saw some very cool museums, visited cemetaries, got a little tour of the city via a horse & buggy ride, rode the 100 year old street cars, did the touristy thing on Bourbon Street, had hurricanes at the legendary Pat O'Briens, and never ever got used to the stench that permeates ALL of New Orleans!

Just Peachy

Look at this guy, isn't he beautiful?  For the first time in many years peaches on our tree started to mature and ripen.  There were easily 3, maybe 4 dozen sizeable peaches out there.  I started to think we might actually get to each some this year.  Then I started seeing all these peach pits on the ground.  But there were still many many peaches on the tree so I wasn't too concerned.  That is until I walked out one morning and found 12 half eaten peaches on the ground.  Now, I was mad.  Darn squirrels.  Step number one in the war was to hang lots of pretty shiny things in the tree. Enter the old stack of RevealNet CDs.  An hour later on a very steamy afternoon, officially covered in bug bites, dirt, and tree debris, the tree now looked like something that would earn reprimands from every neighborhood association group in existence.  Keeping a close eye on the tree for the next several days and I am happy to say that the shiny CDs and aluminum foil seemed to work.  For about a week.  More peach pits on the ground.  And just to taunt me, a half eaten peach on my front porch.  That may not mean much except that the peach tree is in the backyard behind a fence and no one else in the neighborhood has a peach tree.  Time for more peach protection measures.  Out comes the nylon net and plastic tarp and more bug bites, peach debris, etc.  Now the tree REALLY would get us neighborhood fines.  At this time, there are about 2 dozen peaches left that are promising.  By this time Mike is in New Orleans - it's Monday evening and I tell him to entertain his clients with my ongoing peach saga.  Keeping a close eye on the tree and making sure to let all 3 dogs out every chance I get, we seem to once again be doing OK and saving the peaches.  Along comes Wednesday and I find that the squirrels have once again gotten over their fears of the new stuff in the tree and have gone after the peaches. The ripest ones, the ones that probably only needed one or two more days on the tree were of course the first to go.  That beautiful one up in the corner?  I found it on the ground.  There was one tiny squirrel tooth mark in it and it wasn't quite ripe - very close.  So I took it inside, washed it, cut off the bit the squirrel tasted and shared it with the boys.  It was hard and not quite ripe but it tasted good and would have been amazing if it had stayed on the tree for just a couple more days.

The rest of the peaches... Well, I went to meet Mike in New Orleans and the dogs went to stay with a neighbor.  Left unattended the squirrels had a field day.  When we got home just a few days later all but two of the peaches had been eaten. The last two are still hanging on, so maybe, just maybe I'll get those at least.

One final note to this little story.  The other half of the tree is covered in tiny peaches that may or may not develop into a "second" crop.  I have no idea if I'll fight for them or not.  Darn squirrels.