Baptism and Patriotism

After a fun-filled, activity-laden few days with the ‘Woods, things didn’t slow down right away. The three of us headed to Baton Rouge bright and early Sunday morning for Riley’s birthday-sharing cousin Zac’s baptism.

  

Zac did really well during his part of the ceremony, as did the cutie-pie little girl who was also baptized. Afterwards, the family headed back to Steve and Jaimi’s house for a little celebration. We had one of Zac’s favorite meals, really delicious spaghetti, and then my newly baptized nephew opened a few special gifts. Riley was a little out of sorts and had a very late first nap, most of which he spent in my arms in the rocking chair in Jaimi’s room, but he did pretty well overall.

We did not head straight home after the post-baptism get together. Instead, we went to make an appearance at Kenny’s new boss’s Fourth of July holiday weekend bash on their land in Amite. It absolutely poured on the way there, but luckily it stopped before we arrived, which was good since we were outside the whole time. There were lots of people, lots of dogs, a number of horses, a few four-wheelers, a big bulldozer, and even a zipline. It was quite the set-up, and I was glad to finally meet the man behind it all, Lee, and his wife Nancy.

I received a call from my dad as we were making our way home, telling me that they were without power at the house and had been so for over three hours. Fun. We already knew Riley was going to be in bed way late, and now we also had to deal with no lights during his dinner and his bath! Everything went fairly smoothly, though (except for minor poop incident in the tub…..), and he was in his crib shortly before 8pm. The four adults ate leftover pizza (warmed on the grill) outside on the porch, and power was finally restored around 9:30pm. It is zero fun having no A/C in the summer in Louisiana.

We slumbered in glorious cool air all night, and then woke up early with Riley and to help with party preparations. My parents always host a big party on the Fourth of July, and it was super easy for Kenny, Riley, and I to attend this year. Riley got to meet lots of new people, and he looked mighty festive in his patriotic American flag outfit. It was another late night for him, but he handled the delays beautifully.

(Riley did develop a bit of a cold the next day, but it’s just a little case of the sniffles. He’s taking some medicine and will hopefully be all better soon. Kenny also seems to be under the weather, but in his case it’s mostly his throat that’s bothering him. So at this point I know there’s no hope for me: I’m next. Super.)

And with that, our whirlwind, crazy-busy, jam-packed couple of weeks came to an end. Nola, Nopsi, and the kitties left to go back to Houston the next morning, and suddenly it’s just the three of us now.

But I feel certain things will pick back up in no time.

It’s just how we roll.