Neighborhood Walk

A new snoball/smoothie/ice cream place just opened at the edge of our neighborhood, and since it was such a nice night tonight, Ken and I decided to take a walk to get dessert. There were streaks of clouds across the sky, stained pink, orange, and purple by the setting sun. Gorgeous. And we met Sophie, a friendly young Calico from two blocks over whom I very much wanted to take home, even if she did already have a collar and tag with her name and address engraved on it. Why didn't I bring my camera with me!!! Always, always be prepared for that Kodak moment.

Even though our walk was great, dessert was not. We got our usual snoballs - chocolate for me and nectar for Ken - but they were less than stellar. We'll definitely give the place another shot, especially since it's so close to home, but at least if the snoballs don't improve, there's always ice cream!

Book Report

I recently realized I have been terribly remiss in posting about my latest literary adventures. My last book entry was about Dewey, back in April. I’ve gone through a dozen books since then, and I’m almost done with the next one. A couple were re-reads (Harry Potter 6 and 7); three were mindless adventure/suspense novels (Atlantis, David Gibbons; Utopia, Lincoln Child; Blasphemy, Douglas Preston); three had a little more depth to them (Driftwood Summer, Patti Callahan Henry; My Best Friend’s Girl, Dorothy Koomson; Sarah’s Key, Tatiana De Rosnay); and the other four were the Twilight series. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Twilight books; Stephenie Meyer created a world of fantasy into which I completely escaped.

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I’m now reading The Wednesday Sisters, by Meg Waite Clayton. The concept is good (four middle-aged women in the 60s and 70s forming friendships with each other and balancing their husbands, children, and life in general with aspirations to become writers), but I find myself not really caring about any of the characters. It’s worth reading, but I’m already thinking about what my next selection will be!

A Weekend at Home....Mostly

Amazingly, Kenny and I didn't have many plans this weekend. We stayed in Friday night, worked around the house a bit on Saturday, went to a movie that afternoon (G.I. Joe), and watched the Saints game on Saturday night. Sunday was a bit busier. Karen stopped by with Molly and Nathan on her way to Houston Sunday morning. It was great to see all three of them, and they were able to stay until Ken and I had to leave for Baton Rouge. Thanks for visiting, Kare!

Our nephew Zac had his 3rd birthday party on Sunday afternoon. And the party actually happened on its originally scheduled date, as opposed to last year when a hurricane postponed the celebration by almost a month! As usual, Jaimi and Steve did a great job with their Mexican fiesta theme, complete with pinata. They even gave us little individually potted cactus plants to take home as favors!

After leaving the party, Ken and I headed to Chimes to meet Lizzie and Doug (and Lizzie's sister Ashley, who lives in the BR-ah) for an impromptu dinner. They were driving back from Houston that evening, and it happened to work out that we could meet up for dinner. We were so glad we got to see them; it had been ages since we had gotten together, and between our schedules, I'm not sure we'll see them again until November!

What crazy lives we all lead. :)

Storm Front

We have been getting so much rain here this week, which is great since there was a big dry spell earlier in the summer. However, it makes driving home from work really dicey sometimes. Check out what I had to get through on my way home Thursday:

The pic really doesn't do the sky justice, though; it was SO dark and creepy looking!

Once I made it home I had to give the house a very quick once-over. Two of my co-workers, Gabrielle and Kate, came over for a pizza dinner and Harry Potter movie night. Gabe hadn't seen any of the movies (nor read any of the books), which Kate and I found out on our trip to Mobile a couple of weeks ago, so we decided to change that. We started off with the first flick on Thursday night, and I gave her the next two to take home to watch over the weekend. She said she liked it, so I think I've created another fan!

Painting Party!

Jeff and Erin closed on their first house earlier this month, and this weekend they hosted a painting party to get their new digs looking fresh and updated. Kenny and I decided to drive in Saturday morning to help out, especially since they were a big help to us when we moved. Instead of painting, Kenny graciously agreed to do some basic but much-needed maintenance on my brother's car while the rest of us painted. I was put to work in their guest bedroom (color: yellow), while Erin and her mom painted the office (color: blue) and her dad took care of the living and dining rooms (color: gray). They tag-teamed the hallway (color: beige) and decided to leave the guest bathroom and master suite unchanged. The day went by fast, but we got lots done. The house is really cute, and the new colors really make it shine. I can't wait to see what it will look like once they're all moved in and settled!

Random Critter at Work

Someone from the Acadiana Zoo came by the Center yesterday, needing a scientist's expertise in identifying a rather large critter she found on one of the zoo's pathways. John stepped up to the plate, and after a little online research, he dubbed the mystery guest a hickory horned devil caterpiller. It was so weird-looking, but really neat at the same time. After we realized he was harmless, I touched him to see what he felt like: dry, smooth, and slightly springy. Very cool!

Leakesville Lake House

Erin's mom's boss graciously offered the females of the wedding party his house on Lake Gary in Leakesville, Mississippi for a girls getaway weekend. Erin decided that she wanted to take advantage of this before starting back to school, so we went this past weekend. Most of the girls were able to come, including my mom and Erin's mom. It worked out very well for me since I had been in Mobile earlier in the week; I had an easy two hour drive to the house on Friday afternoon. Once we all got there, none of us wanted to leave! I didn't know what to expect since I had never even heard of Leakesville before, and although the town is not much to see, the house is absolutely gorgeous. We had a fantastic and relaxing weekend, sitting on the back porch looking out at the lake, riding on the jetskis, cooling off in the water, and just hanging out. Thanks so much for the very fun weekend, girls!

I hadn't seen Kenny in almost a week, so I was very excited to get back home to him on Sunday. He had sweetly cleaned the house AND gone to the grocery for ingredients to make me dinner that night. We had a delicious meal of salmon pasta with poppy and dill. Thanks, Baby; I love you!

Meeting in Mobile

I was in Mobile, AL most of last week attending the environmental education portion of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance all-hands meeting for work. Everything took place at the gorgeous Battle House Hotel downtown, so I got to stay there as well. (See below for pics of the hotel.) The meeting was very informative; there is a lot of great work going on concerning the Gulf. Check out http://www.gulfallianceeducation.org/ for more info if you're interested!

Dinner the first night at Hurricane Brewery. Gabe and I belatedly toasting the end of the Summit we helped to plan!

The Battle House Hotel

Hotel lobby

Sunset over the marsh on our last night

The meeting ended on Thursday afternoon, but I had to be in Leakesville, MS on Friday for a girls weekend (more on that later!), so I spent Thursday night in Daphne at Michelle's house. It was great to see her, David, and Jackson. Thanks again for your hospitality and the yummy homecooked dinner, Miche!

Jackson, much bigger than the last time I saw him

Thanks, Miche!

More Backyard Critters

Kenny and I have recently started a little row of herb pots on our back patio; we currently have parsley, mint, basil, sage, and dill. I went out to water the pots last week and discovered that all of the parsley leaves were gone! When I got closer I realized there were three culprits behind the disappearance. I had Kenny remove them to behind the back fence, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they don't come back!

Mom, they could be guests at the "Ugly Bug Ball"!

Kenny also discovered more baby bunnies in the backyard. Those adult rabbits have been busy lately! Two more little ones were hanging out in a hole behind our shed, and Kenny got some pictures of one of them while I was gone last week. They have since disappeared and I'm hoping they're having fun in the woods behind our house now!

I wish I had been home to see this little guy in person!

Cali Trip, Part Two

On Thursday Ken and I headed off on our own again, this time to hike in Muir Woods. It was a little chilly in the forest, surrounded by immense trees with little sunlight peeking through the dense canopy. We walked the trails for just over an hour, drove down to check out Muir Beach (cold and not very exciting), then stopped off at the Pelican Inn (upon Debbie and Paul’s recommendation) for pre-lunch drinks. The inn looks like it was plucked right out of England! So cute.

Muir Woods

  The Pelican Inn

After drinks at the inn, we drove to Sausalito for lunch. We both were in agreement for where to go: Horizons, the restaurant on the water where Paul and Debbie took us 7 years ago and the place where we first tried mussels. They did not disappoint us this time, either! Not nearly as rich as the dish we love at Martinique in NOLA, but very fresh-tasting and delicious. It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon, so we walked around town a bit after our fabulous lunch. Then we went back to the house to meet up with Debbie and the kids, got right back in the car, and headed out to the boys’ t-ball game. While they had fun running around in the dirt, the adults enjoyed beers and tacos from Cactus in the outfield!

Fantastic food with a breathtaking view: we sat next to each on a bench right by the water.

T-ball time

Friday was our last full day in Cali. We decided to take the kids to the new California Academy of Sciences museum in San Francisco. The place is huge with so much to see, and it was a little crowded, but we managed to get in a good couple of hours there. My favorite part was the top floor of the rainforest exhibit, where lots of butterflies are freely flying around. So cool! We even got to go on the “living roof.” Check out the pics below.

After the museum, we walked around San Francisco for the rest of the afternoon, including visiting one of my favorite places in the city: Ghirardelli Square. We of course had to get ice cream, and it did not disappoint. We had our treat on the grassy area in front of the square overlooking the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge and decided to take said bridge back to the house so I could get some pics.

  

We had a quiet night at home, a relaxing next morning, and all of a sudden it was time to leave. But we managed to squeeze in one last picnic on the Embarcadero before we had to go to the airport and tell them goodbye. Thanks for everything, you guys; we had an incredibly fantastic time spending the week with you!

When can we come back??? :)