Video Monday: Kings of the Sand Mountain

Here are the boys in action playing on the sand pile two weekends ago.

Come back tomorrow when I’ll recap another day of playing on the pile, only this time with Kate joining in on the fun.

Happy {Leap Day} Monday!

Sand Pile Play

Kenny was out of town last weekend on a guys’ trip to the farm, so it was just the boys and me from Friday to Sunday. The weather was warm on Saturday, so I decided we would spend the morning outside. And, awesome mom that I am (ha!), I dressed them in old clothes and shoes and took them to play in the big pile of sand at the construction site behind our house.

For two hours, my boys were in absolute heaven. They climbed to the top, they slid down, they filled their dump trucks, Riley buried some sticks, Rory gave the sand bear hugs, and they both got really close to the big red excavator.

 

 

They had a blast and I had so much fun watching them. Even if they did get completely covered in sand. And even if the sand (river sand, not beach sand) did smell a bit.

 

However, when Riley threw sand at Rory, after I had repeatedly told him not to do so, we left. They wanted to play in the hose when we got back home, but I warned them it would be cold. They didn’t care, though: they stripped down and had a ball, although I did make them stay in the sun as much as possible. The water was really cold!

I gave them lunch out on the driveway and then it was time to go in for nap. I ended up having to give them a bath before they could get into their beds, though; the sand had just gotten everywhere.

But they both slept great. And they have asked to play in the sand every day since then.

I know what we may be doing again tomorrow. Have a wonderful weekend, y’all!

Excavators, Bulldozers, and Diggers…Oh, My!

Rory is 100 percent, completely, and totally obsessed with construction equipment right now. He still loves seeing school buses and garbage trucks and big rigs on the road, but the construction vehicles are his favorite. And it just so happens that we have a handful of those behind our house at the moment.

The city started work on a big drainage project at the beginning of February, and Rory has been in construction truck heaven. He spotted a big red excavator parked at the foot of a nearby street right away when it appeared, and we’ve seen it practically every day since then. If I don’t drive around the block before going to school or to Jazzercise or to Nola’s so he can see his excavator, he loses it. So taking the small detour has definitely become part of our daily routine. We probably drive by six times every day. Seriously.

We also see his “tiny bulldozer” and his “tiny digger” (his words). And we’ve been lucky on multiple occasions to see them working. I even woke Rory up early from his nap one day when Margaret was here because all three were working together directly behind our house. We watched for about a half hour until we had to get Riley from school. I just couldn’t let that opportunity pass by without Rory getting to see them all in action.

 

Then Margaret and I took them down to see the big red excavator before dinner the next day. I may or may not have wanted to get a picture of Rory in front of it for his birthday party invitation.

 

We also walked over to see a giant crane truck pouring the slab for a new house right by Nola’s the day after that. We only saw it once, but Rory still asks about that truck.

However, in addition to the trucks, both boys have also been very interested in the huge piles of sand and rocks that have been dumped around the construction site behind our house.

More on that next!

A Week with Margarita

Margaret “Margarita” McF spent all of last week here in NOLA. She decided that she wanted to be here for her winter break, so she made it happen. I picked her up at the airport on Saturday morning, we came back to my house to drop her stuff and have a cup of coffee, and then we headed out for the rest of the day.

We met Nola and Nopsi at the Rum House for lunch, which Margaret loved. She said it reminded her of the food in the Dominican Republic, where she did mission work last summer. And she’s going back again over her spring break!

After lunch, Nola and Nopsi went to run errands while Margaret and I stayed on Magazine Street. I took her down to Kendra Scott, where she ended up buying a gorgeous necklace and bracelet. After that we walked down to CC’s for more coffee, passing one of Jenn McF’s favorite shops Hazelnut. Then we took a quick spin through Tulane’s campus before heading back to Nola and Nopsi’s house to have a glass of wine while we figured out what we wanted to do that night.

 

We ended up snagging two spots at the bar at Peche (thus meeting many different groups of people; highly entertaining), where I introduced Margaret to their fried bread balls. I had built them up so much that she was skeptical how good they were, but I was proven right. She liked them so much that we got two orders so we didn’t have to share.

The next day was Valentine’s Day, and Margaret brought along gifts for the boys. They loved discovering their treats when they came into the kitchen that morning.

Kenny made everyone a yummy pancake and bacon breakfast, and then Margaret and I headed off to the hospital so we could see Lizzie. She was actually on a blanket outside of the ER soaking up the sunshine, so we joined her. She gave us adorable Disney princess crown valentines, and we enjoyed spending a couple of hours with her.

That night was Sunday dinner at Nola and Nopsi’s house. Margaret got to meet Luke, the kids played outside before it got dark, and then we feasted. Everything was so good!

Nola of course had presents for all of the kids, and Legos were included in Riley’s and Kate’s bags. Uncle Jeff got a small taste of what my life has been like for the past couple of years!

Margaret helped me put the boys to bed on Sunday night. It was crowded in Riley’s little bed, but they loved having both of us with them. On Monday we took Riley to school, went to Jazzercise (Margaret rocked it!), and then came home to make red beans. Nola, Nopsi, Aunt E, and Kate joined us that night for dinner. The beans were very tasty; I think John Besh’s recipe (with the addition of smoked sausage and pickled pork) is a winner!

 

We had very low-key days on Tuesday and Wednesday. But we picked up TCBY for the kids after school on Wednesday and then went out for burgers at Lager’s that night. UNC played Duke in basketball, so we came home and watched that unfortunate game. The Heels lost by one point. Margaret was not happy.

Thursday was Margaret’s last full day here. The boys allowed her to sleep in and have a bit of a lazy morning, with promises to Riley that she would ride with us to school on Friday. While Rory stayed with Nopsi, Nola took Margaret and I to lunch at Boulevard and then we spent a couple of hours at the hospital with Lizzie again. The boys had a snack dinner that night, and I picked up boiled crawfish from Rouses for me, Margaret, and Kenny. We also finished off the pie I made for Valentine's Day. SO good.

Margaret went home Friday morning to finish up her senior year of high school. She’s still not sure where she will end up come fall, but I know where I want her to go.

It was so wonderful having her here for a whole week. I loved spending time with her one-on-one, and the boys adore her. They kept asking for her days after she left. That just means she has to come back!

Thanks for spending your winter break with us, Margarita. We love you!