Ten Things

1. Chilling at Nola and Nopsi’s after a long week of school.

2. First crawfish of the season! We got them from Dennis’s Seafood and they were SO good.

3. Riley spiked a fever the last weekend of February and stayed home from school for a day. He slept until 9am that morning! But he was back to his normal wonky self the next day.

  

4. The four cousins have been loving their new swing at Nola and Nopsi’s.

 

5. First snoballs of the year, my new half marathon car magnet (thanks, Lynn!), another wonderful Rivertown performance with Karen (Steel Magnolias), and the little one being crazy.

  

6. There was one major bummer at the end of Rory’s birthday party, and we didn’t find out about it until much later that night. Luke ended up breaking his leg when he went down the slide with his shoes on right before they left. He has been in a cast for almost three weeks and has been such a trooper. He hopefully gets it off on Monday. Fingers crossed!

 

7. Getting every last bit of BBQ chips off his fingers during lunch and enjoying his birthday ying yang at Sunday dinner later that night.

8. The azaleas were so beautiful this spring, especially on the bushes right outside of the SCR church and on one in our neighbor’s front garden. I wish the flowers lasted longer!

9. Sending a silly selfie to Daddy while he was out of town and the wonk potatoes demonstrating how awesome it is to be a southern boy. He enjoyed a snoball while doing his homework one afternoon. Take that, northerners!

 

10. Sleepy Beans and Sprouts! You’re welcome.

 

 

Happy Easter weekend, y’all!

Irish Channel Parade 2018

This year the annual Irish Channel parade took place on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. That also happens to be Claire’s birthday, so she and her fam came out to join us, as well as Jeff, Erin, Kate, and Luke.

 

 

 

We stood in the same spot we have the past couple of years, near Shaya on Magazine. It was a great day, although a few rain showers moved through. But none of them lasted long and we had a wonderful day.

 

 

 

 

It seems like the marching groups expand exponentially every year, but the floats finally got to us. Our friends were on the Float #3; they looked like they were having a great time.

We stuck around until the bitter end. The riders weren’t throwing nearly as much food as they normally do, but Riley still managed to snack on quite a few things. And Rory luckily got a pack of carrots. And a cool red sequin hat.

 

 

 

We gave Dana and the kids a ride to their car, which was parked all the way on the other side of St. Charles. And, long story short, the boys ended up having a sleepover at Dana’s house for Claire’s birthday. Kenny and I weren’t sure it was the right decision, but we let them do it. The boys slept in Colin’s room and Claire and Corinne slept in Claire’s room. They were up until almost 11pm but had a blast together. Dana told me that Riley and Claire laid on the couch, heads together and holding hands, while they watched a movie. She wanted to take a picture but said they would have noticed. So sweet!

 

The next morning, all of the kids were invited to the same birthday party for Lucas, so Dana and Dave packed them all up and everyone met at Bookoo Bounce. Things started out fine but quickly spiraled out of control for Rory. I think the combination of a long day of parading and a really late night with too little sleep was just too much for him. He absolutely and completely melted down at the party, screaming, crying, and hitting and kicking me. So we left.

 

He continued to scream, kick, and throw anything he could get his hands on all the way home. I simply ignored him. When we got home I brought him upstairs and put him in the bathtub, where he eventually calmed down. He gave me a hug and apologized for his behavior, after a bit of prompting, and then we went downstairs. He was back to his normal yet tired self, ate a good lunch, and slept for more than two hours.

Good. Lord. I don’t regret letting them spend the night at Dana’s but it will be a long time before they do it again!