More Louisiana fun!

4/6: What I DON'T miss about home: the humidity! We ate at Mariner's (really good fried mushrooms and burgers) and are at the park now. I am feeling sticky and gross. Blech. The twins are having fun, though.

Oh, and I don't miss the soft water--takes forever to feel like all the soap/shampoo is off! 

It started raining not long after we got home from the park and the girls asked to play in the rain and I said, "Why not?" So we did! We had fun jumping in puddles and, especially muddy puddles!

4/7: My mom, the twins, and I went to the Louisiana Children's Discover Center, I got my fix of Cane's [I wish I could figure out how to make their sauce! I've tried recipes but it never tastes the same.], we got snowballs (our 4th ones of this trip, the twins are addicted, ha ha!), Ben and his girls came over and we watched "Big Hero 6", and the twins had a blast playing with Brenna. The three of them ran around the house squealing most of the evening and then they had a sleepover while Belle and I stayed up late.

4/8: I wish I could say I had a blast going to the zoo with my parents, two nieces, and the twins but I didn't. We got a later start than planned, had a hard time finding a parking spot (the whole parking lot was filled, and much of the grassy areas), waited in line for a while (everyone was there yesterday!), had to eat lunch as soon as we got there so it was after 1:00 before we even saw anything, it was HOT and HUMID, Avery was grumpy much of the time, the kids wanted to play on Monkey Hill in the water more than they wanted to see animals so I didn't get to see very many animals, I spent way too much money, and we got caught in traffic on the way home.

Oh, and we were on our way to see the monkeys before leaving when Makenna fell and scraped her knee badly enough that it was dripping blood. She was screaming and hitting me because it hurt her so bad. A first responder was called and he cleaned it and put a bandage on it. She had to be carried to the car and we never saw any monkeys (my fave to see) and she spent the rest of the night limping like she had a broken leg, ha ha.

And now my hubby is using it as ammunition in his argument that we need to wait a few years to take the twins to Disneyland. Argh! At least the kids said they had a good time, especially playing in the water together. Next time, I'll save lots of money and set up a kiddie pool in the yard. :P

On the way home, after dropping off Belle and Brenna to their mom, we ate dinner at Waffle House.  Can you say pecan waffle?  Mmmm!

After eating lunch, we went and waited 20 min. to see a wildlife show.  The girls were all dancing on the stage for a while before other people started showing up.  They got to pet a baby alligator:

Playing on Monkey Hill:

We love the giraffes!

 Petting zoo:

 Watching a huge alligator being fed in the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit:

 

The Loup-garou (swamp monster);Makenna was terrified of it and refused to walked past the exhibit. We turned around and went back the way we came, instead of going through the rest of the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit, ha ha!

Taking a break in the Lousiana Swamp Exhibit:

4/9: We stayed home all day and just vegged.  Jared got home that evening, earlier than what he made me believe, of course. :)

4/10: We got up early and drove to Denham Springs so I could play volleyball.  I played for 4 hours with only 4 people on our team, and I am sore today!  Several of my friends weren't able to be there but it was so much fun!  Jared, the twins, and I had a fun time at a swamp walk after they picked me up from volleyball; we saw several snakes, frogs, lizards, a nutria rat, and lots of dragonflies (I miss dragonflies and the girls love them). Then I got another dose of Cane's chicken and their lemonade. :D

 The nutria!

When we got back to my parents' house, there was a big frog on the sidewalk.  Avery had no problem holding it and bringing it into the house to show it to Maw-maw, ha ha!  Makenna did well just to touch it very briefly. :)

That evening, we left for Baton Rouge to attend the LSU baseball game.  We were almost to Baton Rouge when we found out the game was delayed from 7pm to 9pm.  It ended up being a great night for a late night ballgame! Not a drop of rain during the game. And the twins were so incredibly good. And LSU won! :)
Before the game, we (including my dad and Tim) drove around campus and saw the dorms I lived in MANY years ago, I finally went and saw the new band hall (holy smokes!! It's NICE!), went to see Mike the Tiger but he wasn't out in his habitat, and ate at Louie's. I really can't believe how much the campus has changed since I went there (I'm so freaking old!).  Ben, Elise, and his girls met us there at the baseball stadium right as the game was starting.  Such a fun night!

Biding time before the postponed LSU baseball game--in front of the new (amazing!) Tiger Band Hall:

In front of Mike the Tiger's habitat; Mike wasn't out, so we didn't get to see him:

We saw Mike on our way to our seats; Avery hugged him but Makenna would only give him a high five:

 High fives with Mike in the stands:

They each got to throw the practice ball out to the left fielder (Fraley):

Belle and Brenna cheering on the Tigers:

"You're taking too many pictures, Mommy!"

Getting tired--the game ended at 11:30pm!:

4/11:  We went with my mom and dad and Ben, Elise, Belle and Brenna to Global Wildlife.  The weather was awesome and we had such a great time.  Avery loved feeding all of the animals, especially the llamas out of her hand.  Makenna preferred to just throw food onto the ground at the animals. :P

We all napped when we got home and Ben and his girls and Elise came over after dinner to see us, since we are leaving after church in the morning (technically this morning--I'd better get to bed, ha ha!).  We are planning on leaving after church and driving to Petit Jean State Park near Little Rock, AR, where we will spend a few hours Monday morning.  I am sad to leave because we have had so much fun and the girls have loved spending time with everyone here but it sure will be nice to be back in our own home and we all miss Whiskers (well, maybe not Jared so much).