Easter in Louisiana, and our road trip here!

3/23: The girls did a little better at their dentist appt. than they usually do.  They let the dentist look in their mouth a bit and actually let the hygienist clean their teeth a little bit!  Finally some real progress! :D  They were so proud to show off their clean teeth afterward.

3/24: After dance class, some packing and cleaning, and piano lessons, I went to my Relief Society birthday party, which was so much fun.  We had a "Waffle Love" bar, which was really good and everyone brought a little present to exchange.  I got a big loaf of homemade bread, which we took on our trip and ate by breaking pieces off.  It was so good!  Before I had left, I walked into the living room after getting ready to go and Avery said, "Mommy, you look beautiful!"  So sweet!

3/25: Road trip to Louisiana! Left at 3am. Stopped in Blanding, UT welcome center to eat breakfast, went to Four Corners, went to Jemez Pueblo to see the Jemez State Monument and Soda Dam, and went swimming at the hotel pool.

*Blanding:

*Four Corners--In four states at one time!:

 They each got a necklace and a bracelet that we bought from the Navajos--Avery got pink, of course, and Makenna chose purple:

Just after leaving Four Corners, Avery fell sleep while eating a Tootsie Pop:

Jemez State Monument (consists of the ruins of an ancient pueblo of the Jemez people known as Giusewa and the ruins of a 17th Century Spanish mission known as San Jose de los Jemez):

Soda dam--we climbed up on top:

Soda Dam--After climbing on top, we walked down to the bottom:

We ate ate dinner at Whataburger in Albuquerque, went to the hotel and went swimming, showered, then relaxed with some hot cocoa before going to bed:

3/26: Tucumcari, NM Welcome Center along Route 66:

 Classic car museum in a truck stop in NM:

We then ate lunch at Fazoli's in Amarillo with one of Jared's co-workers and drove past Dallas and stayed in Terrell, TX.

3/27: Drove to Natchitoches, LA and walked the halls Louisiana School for Math, Science & the Arts (where I went my jr. year) and drove by the dorm I lived in, took pictures in front of the Steel Magnolias house, parked down by the Cane Riverfront and fed ducks, walked to Lasyone's and got meat pies and crawfish pies, stopped and got a praline, went back and ate by river, visited Fort Saint Jean Baptiste State Historic Site, stopped at Tiger Truck Stop in Baton Rouge to see the live tiger, got to my parents' house at 8:30

I-20 Eastbound Welcome Center

 LSMSA:

 The girls picked flowers in front of the high school:

Steel Magnolias is my favorite movie, so I had to take a picture in front of this house where some of the movie was filmed.

Cane River:

 Fort Saint Jean Baptiste State Historic Site:

3/28: Went to the Easter Eggstravaganza at Hammond Square that morning, at fried shrimp and catfish for lunch, left the twins with a babysitter and went to my cousin's wedding

Hammond Square Mall Easter Eggstravaganza:
Egg hunt:

 Carnival games:

Petting zoo:

 Face painting:

 Face Painting (only Makenna didn't want the guy to paint her face)

My cousin's wedding:
Tim and Aunt Patty:

 Mom & Dad:

There was a cool magician that went around doing really cool tricks:

Ben and his girlfriend, Elise:

The Second line at the wedding:

3/29: Awesome day! First saw lots of friends at church in Denham Springs, then celebrated my niece's birthday with a crawfish boil. SOOOOOOO GOOD! Avery liked the crawfish but Makenna wouldn't really try it. They both loved the fried fish and shrimp we had yesterday, though. I definitely miss the awesome food in Louisiana. It's the best! 

3/30: My dad and I were peeling the leftover crawfish this morning so my mom can make crawfish etouffee and I kept trying to get Makenna to try crawfish again. She said, "I don't eat little bugs" and I said, "They aren't little bugs", to which she replied, "I know, they're big bugs!" Ha ha! I finally did get her to try one and she liked it and kept asking for more. So both of my girls like crawfish.

3/30: Another thing I miss about Louisiana: snowballs! Maw-maw and Paw-paw took me and the twins to get snowballs and play at the park. Wedding cake snowballs with condensed milk are the best! Avery opted for pink bubble gum (she heard "pink" and wanted it--anything pink, she wants!) and Makenna choose banana. It was in the 80's today with 60% humidity so the snowballs were great!

3/31: Another Louisiana thing to miss: Hushpuppies! I am gonna gain (even more) weight being here!!! My mom and I ate lunch at Don's Seafood while my dad took the girls to Chik-fil-A; we split a Crab Dinner (fried soft shell crab, stuffed crab, crab spinach artichoke dip, crab au gratin, jacked up lump crabmeat, crab gumbo, Cajun potatoes and, of course, hushpuppies). I love Don's hushpuppies!

AND we all (Ben and his girls came over) just ate the crawfish etouffee my mom made and are waiting for the peach cobbler to cool, which we will eat with Blue Bell ice cream! Oh man!!!

4/1: I took the girls on a walk around my parents' neighborhood and they got to see crawfish mounds. And, of course, they had to pick flowers for Maw-maw.

Looking forward to the bread pudding that my mom made for tonight!

Our cat is staying at my sister's house while we're gone (yes, she is awesome for taking him, as is her hubby for agreeing tongue emoticon ). She told me he is so sweet and was teasing that she's gonna keep him. I told the twins what she said and asked them if Kiki could keep Whiskers. Avery emphatically yelled, "NO!...No! No! No!"

4/2: The girls and I went with my mom to eat at a Mexican restaurant, then we went shopping at Walmart; that night, Ben and his girls came over and we dyed Easter eggs; my dad and I stayed up until 12:30 that night watching the LSU at Bama baseball game--16 innings, 5 1/2 hours!!! But the Tigers finally pulled off the win!

They make nests at Maw-maw's house, too, ha ha!

4/3: The twins and I left Hammond at 9am and drove to Denham Springs, where I had a blast playing volleyball with my friends that I still miss playing with every week. Then we went to visit Cynthia Jones Ishee Smith and family for a while; the girls didn't want to leave. This next photo is me and Macie Smith.  I was her Sunbeam and CTR5 teacher; now she's 12! Love that girl!

 After grabbing a bite to eat, we met Cintia Lopez Mallett and Ashley Mallett at Pretend Play Party, a play center where kids can dress up and pretend to be all kinds of things (cops, firemen, chefs, train conductors, etc.); the girls loved it! Then we all went and got snowballs.

The girls fell asleep as soon as we got in the car so I drove around for a bit to let them sleep, then we went to Shawna Romito's house, where I left the twins with her daughter and went out to eat with some of the adult Romitos; I ended up getting my food to go so I could rush back and get the girls to a glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hunt at the church. They had fun and I enjoyed hanging out with more friends; we didn't get home until almost 10pm!

4/4: The twins, my mom, and I went to Bonnie Perk's Easter party. The girls got to dye eggs, have their faces painted like bunnies and wear bunny ears, take pictures with the Easter Bunny (which Makenna wouldn't do unless I was holding her), hunt for eggs, get lots of prizes, and eat lots of food, goodies, and cake. That night, my high school friend, Carla, and I drove to Biloxi and ate at the buffet at a casino.

4/5: The girls found their baskets that the Easter Bunny hid for them. Makenna found Avery's, then Avery found Makenna's. My mom made an awesome dinner of fried turkey (Dad fried the turkey), ham, homemade mac & cheese, sweet potato casserole (the girls and I helped), artichoke casserole, peas, and rolls. Ben and Elise came over a little later. The girls love playing with Uncle Ben! We watched "Nacho Libre", part of "The Land Before Time", "Finding Nemo" and "Wall-E" (until the girls both fell asleep on the couch with me).

I have missed these Easter treats! They are made just a few minutes from my parents' house. So good!

Meanwhile, Jared was able to drive to Carrie's house, which was about an hour and a half from the operation he was working at, and spent Easter with her family and had a great time.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Easter, too!