Runaway Retirees!

My mom, Marsha, and dad, Tony, said goodbye to Kansas for a couple weeks to take a well-deserved road trip!

We were blessed to have my dad and mom from Ulysses, Kansas, visit us Friday, September 28 to Thursday, October 4th. This trip was their first visit to our new home AND to Louisiana. We had a great time while they were here and we hope they had fun, too.

Louisiana is so much different than Kansas, so we tried to give them a small taste of our new home.

Saturday we attended La Fete d'Ecologie and the Alligator Festival. We watched Dawson open presents, enjoyed cake and ice cream and then crossed Lake Pontchartrain on the 24-mile Causeway bridge to New Orleans where we took a Mississippi River cruise on the Steamboat Natchez Sunday (Dawson's birthday). We picnicked at Tickfaw State Park where we took a swamp walk and watched the kids play in the water park Monday after I homeschooled the kids. My mom's birthday was Tuesday and we visited the Destrehan Plantation (located in Destrehan, LA) in the afternoon and ate at Don's Seafood in Hammond that evening. Dad and mom got in 18 holes of golf at the Hammond Golf Center Wednesday morning while I homeschooled the kids. We had girly time while Dad watched the three littlest Wednesday afternoon. I treated mom to her first ever pedicure and manicure for her birthday, and Maddie and I got pedicures, too.

We were sad to see my parents leave Thursday morning at 9:00, but their vacation was not over yet! They drove to Vicksburg, Mississippi yesterday to view National historical landmarks. They were still in Vicksburg this morning when they called and they sounded like they were having a great time. Dad assured me when he told me they were getting on one another's last nerve that they were doing it in fun. :) They plan on driving along the Natchez Trace in Mississippi; visiting Tupelo, Mississippi (where Elvis was born); stopping at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee; stopping by Leon, KS to visit my sister Laci and her family and then going on through Wichita back to Ulysses. I am so glad they get to spend some time visiting places they've always wanted to see!

Mom and dad are now fully retired from teaching at the middle school where taught at for years, so I'm sure this will not be their last road trip. I can't wait to hear all about the last leg of their adventure!

Two Festivals in One Day!

You don't have to wait for Mardi Gras to have fun here in Louisiana. There's at least one festival almost every weekend of the year for when the mood to celebrate strikes.

We were in the mood to be social last Saturday, so our family plus my dad and mom (Tony and Marsha Chadd) and Travis's sister, Holly Davis, went to TWO festivals, La Fete d'Ecologie and the Alligator Festival.

We got to La Fete d'Ecologie at the Jean Lafitte National Park in Thibodaux, Louisiana, at 3:45 p.m. The festival ended at 5:00 p.m., but this did not discourage us. We just enjoyed the last hour before we went on to the next festival!

La Fete d'Ecologie is an educational festival, focusing on teaching people about the unique ecological and cultural aspects of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary. An estuary is coastal area where salt water from the ocean mixes with fresh water from rivers, rainfall, and upland runoff that supports very unique and dynamic ecosystems. The Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary, where the fresh water from the Mississippi River mixes with the salt water of the Gulf of Mexico, is one of the most expansive estuaries in the world.

We learned that certain male crabs have one claw larger than the other simply to show prowess (the female doesn't have a big claw). We also got to watch a hawk attack, bite the head off of and eat a live mouse, thanks to the demonstration of a hawk trainer. We stood under an awning and enjoyed some ice cream my dad treated us to while we waited for a brief shower to pass at the end of the festival. We spent a few minutes touring the Preserve's Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center, a building that accompanies Jean Lafitte National Park.

The Alligator Festival in Luling, Louisiana (right on the banks of the Mississippi) was our next destination. I'm sure there's a reason behind the name Alligator Festival with which I am not familiar with, but the festival is the local Rotary Club's annual fundraiser for scholarship funds.

Carnival rides were in full view of the children upon arriving at the Alligator Festival. You'll understand, then, why we adults spent the whole time getting a kick out of watching the kids ride the carnival rides! I honestly wonder who gets more of a kick out of a carnival, a kid riding the rides or a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or friend watching!? Justis, I must note, was not one for the mechanical rides. He did ride the kiddie train with Madalynn and Dawson, but he chose the gunny-sack slipper slide and the walk-through fun house for his other two daring adventures.

We skipped the Alligator Festival food and entertainment on account of the large crowds we had already endured at the carnival and went to Wendey's afterward for a bite to eat before heading home.

Travis and I are now armed with a website listing all of the festivals we have the opportunity to attend here in Louisiana. I've listed it below (along with a few others) and on our side bar of Davis Family Louisiana Fun Picks in the side bar of the blog if you want to learn more.

Click below for more information about the following:

Festivals of Louisiana

Barataria-Terrabonne National Estuary.

La Fete d'Ecologie

Thwee!

Dawson turned three years old today! He strutted around with a big smile on his face and basked in the glow of the candles from his cake while Holly, Grandma Chadd and Grandpa Chadd joined in with our family and sang him the Happy Birthday song. Holly and my mom and dad were here with us to help Daws celebrate his big day, too!

He's been answering "two" for a whole year now when people ask how old he is, so getting in the habit of answering three took some practice! My dad finally told him tonight. "Now, Dawson, I'm going to ask you a question. Are you thinking? Think really hard before you answer me. How old are you?" Dawson looked thoughtful as he paused, then grinned. "Thwee!" He said with a giggle.

Manipulating his chubby little fingers to show the number three was another new challenge for Dawson. He tried and tried to get his pinkie and thumb together and his index, middle and ring fingers to stay up to make the universal "three" with his hands. He got creative (after trying for a quite a while) because he found he COULD get his index finger and thumb together and hold up the middle, ring and pinkie finger much more easily.

Dawson got all kinds of new treasures for his birthday. More Thomas the Train sets to add to his collection, new "smell goods," a Pirates of the Caribbean fishing pole, crocodile pajamas, new clothes, a remote control truck, a Mark Martin race car, underwear, socks, batteries and the always-popular spending money were the gifts he unwrapped. He was thrilled with everything he got and did an excellent job sharing with his brothers and sisters.

We ate lunch and cut the cake after we opened presents this morning and then went to New Orleans and took a Mississippi steamboat tour in the afternoon which everyone enjoyed.

Dawson is now sleeping just as hard as he played today! He is such a special little boy. He's still my chunky little hunk of burnin' love and he assured me yesterday that he will still freely tell me he loves me when he's seven and even sixteen when I asked. I hope so. God has given Dawson the gift of making people feel special. I don't know God's trick yet, but I watch him repeatedly catch the eye of the one person who needs some cheering up lighting up their solemn faces. God brought a little boy full of joy into the world three years ago and I am so thankful I get to be his mother because I get to experience the joy every day!

Happy Birthday, Dawson!

Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?

Madalynn and Jillian are two girls who don't mind getting their dresses dirty!

"Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?" is one of the books in Madalynn's personal library. Grandma Chadd spotted the book and it screamed "Madalynn" to her so she bought it for Maddie.

Madalynn could wear a dress, hold a frog a snake and wade in a river all while donning her beautiful (but perhaps a bit muddy) princess dress, I have no doubt.

A slithery snake came out from under a plant while I was weeding the garden one day, racing right toward Madalynn and Justis. "Get Back!" I yelled, stepping away myself. Madalynn apparently didn't hear me, "Get it Justis! Hurry!" she shouted as she raced TOWARD the snake in an attempt to catch it. Thankfully Justis thought her request was a bit off and stayed back. I had to nearly swat Madalynn hand with the shovel before she would stop pursuit! We had a talk about NOT trying to pick up snakes we can't identify.

I can't tell if Jillian will choose frills, frogs or both at the moment, because she can't say for herself. She holds her own with Dawson, one of her only words is "Dixie" (the name of our chocolate lab), and she puts food away as well or better than her big brothers! She's a meat and potato girl, at that. Travis described Jillian as having an even temper the other night. I looked at him like, "What!?" I said, "Do you mean she's evenly passionate all of the time?"

I love the mix of sweet and spicy Madalynn's personality brings to the family, and I can't wait to see how Jillian's personality will blossom.

Tickly Torture

A hair cut is nothing but a dirty trick to Justis. A dirty trick to steal his play time and make him sit still while a scary buzzy "thingy" gets too close for comfort to his ears.

Justis's hair has a mind of it's own, and if we do not cut it regularly he starts to look like a porcupine. Travis and I are Justis's personal stylists because his hair is the type we have to buzz with the clippers. Many a dollar is saved giving him home cuts, because he needs a hair cut about every three weeks or sometimes more frequently.

The drill is inevitable, but he still dreads it. He sees the stool and clipper bag and starts in. "I don't want to take a hair cut!" "Ticklies" are what drive Justis plum crazy about getting hair cuts. The little prickly pieces of hair that fall ALL over him (cape or not), just drive him bonkers. He calls the prickly hairs "ticklies." Sitting very still while itching all over is hard for anyone, especially an energetic five-year-old that could care less if his hair is long or short.

His face animatedly shows how he feels about the whole process. That's why I took the camera out during his last hair cut. The minute it was over, he was smiling again. I'm glad children are emotionally resilient, because by the way he acts during his hair cut, you think he'd be emotionally scarred for life!

Legend of the Rougarou

The swamp legend of the Rougarou, derived from the original Loup Garou story (French for werewolf swamp monster), runs deep in Cajun culture and has been passed down from generation to generation through the swamps of Louisiana. Children are warned that the Rougarou can read souls, but that they only hunt and kill evil men, well-behaved horses or Catholics that do not follow the rules of Lent!

The Rougarou surfaced in my bathtub a couple of days ago. No kidding! We were taken aback, because few people have ever REALLY laid eyes on the Rougarou. We found him to be a bit different than legend tells. He's a little shorter, merrier and less hairy. He must also need goggles to help him hunt down those evil men and disobedient Catholics. He didn't say much. I guess he enjoyed having some clear water to navigate for a change, because we all looked on as he happily swam from one end of the bathtub to the other.

We had our camera handy. This might be the first REAL proof that swamp monsters actually exist! :)

Sorry, Mom and Dad!

Victory is sweet, especially if it means beating your parents at a board game like Justis did Wednesday night!

Travis, Madalynn, Justis and I sat down and played the game Sorry Wednesday night. Dawson had gone to bed early that night and Jillian did, too, which gave us a great opportunity to play something a little more advanced.

Travis is competitive at anything, so watching Justis knock him off the board several times was flat out funny. Travis deserves credit, though. He DID tell Justis exactly which move would be the smartest, even if it did mean knocking daddy's pawn back to start!

Madalynn is a merciful player. Travis told her she had the choice of moving off of start and knocking my pawn back to my starting place or moving another one of her pieces and leaving my game piece undisturbed. Travis encouraged her to move out and bump me back, but she refused, saying that she wouldn't do that, "Because mommy's good." Thank you, Madalynn.

Justis reveled in victory when he got all his pawns to the finish first. He got to pick a prize out of the treasure chest for doing such a good job counting as well. He went to sleep with a smile on his face!