Lafayette, LA

We had about a four hour drive from the peninsula to our next stop in Lafayette, LA. I was determined to get Judah to sleep this time. We tried laying down in bed, but that didn't work, so I made him a cozy spot in his car seat. It took a couple of hours, but he eventually slept. He woke up just as we reached out new home.

We stayed at the RV park connected to the  Acadian Village. It is a recreation of a 19th century village. It was something we were interested in checking out, and if you stay at their RV park, you get into the village for free. It was pretty cheap to stay there, so we decided to give it a shot. We were the only ones. Literally. We were the only people in the park. It freaked me out for a second, then I realized it would be awesome. We could be loud, the kids could play wherever they wanted, we could leave all the shades open all the time, and I could let Sawyer whine and night if I wanted to. We hooked up and the kids got right to playing.

Judah picked me a flower for my Birthday. My sister, Loops, was turning 30 the next day, so Judah was in full Birthday mode. 

And we got to add a new state sticker to our map! 

Judah asked for some water to wash his toys, and that kept him and Bean busy for a loooong time. 

Mark got in on the action, got his own bucket of water, and washed the wheels. 

That night we did some grocery shopping, found some scores at Ross, and ate leftover lasagna for dinner.

The next morning, the kids woke up early, and thus, so did I. It was good, though, because I go A LOT done. I finally cut the dogs' nails. It hadn't been done since the first time we were in Austin (in October) and I think we were bordering on dog abuse.

After the dogs were taken care of, I moved on to the kids. Their hair was getting pretty long, and I decided they needed it cut. When we were at Hill Shade, Alicia had cut her oldest's hair with a shaver and it turned out really cute. I had intended to get a lesson from her, but we never got around to it. So I took a shot and tried it on my own. The kids were great about it. They sat still for a long time while I experimented.

Then they took baths to get all of the itchy hair off of their bodies. 

Then they wrestled.

 

And held hands. The haircuts turned out fine. They look a little dorky, but whateves, everyone'll live. 

After all of that, we waled over to the Acadian Village to check it out. It was really beautiful. I wanted to move into the houses. My new dream house is made out of driftwood boards and a rusted tin roof. I don't know how practical that will be in Wisconsin winters, but I can just add some insulation, right?

We saw an old doctor's office. 

And my future kitchen table.

The kids did some weaving. 

And contemplated the complexities of canoe construction. 

Then we walked home for lunch before we headed out on our next adventure. Doesn't the Bounder look sad out there all alone. Where is the Phaeton to keep her company?

After lunch we headed about 30 miles away to Avery Island to the Tabasco Sauce factory. We took a tour and learned all about the history of the island, the chilies, the sauce, etc. Any questions, feel free to ask. It was Saturday, though, so the factory wasn't actually making any sauce, which was a bummer. Judah had been really excited to see the workers and thee machines in action.

But we played some games in the lobby, and he felt a little better about things.

We have been going through a rough patch with Judah lately. It is hard. Sometimes he is the sweetest, kindest little boy ever and you just want to squeeze him. Other times he is throwing hard objects at me what screaming " You're not my mom, stupid," "You idiot," or "I hate you," which also makes me want to squeeze him, just in a different way. More often than not, I have that burning in the back of my throat that comes from trying not to cry. I am not sad that he is saying the words to me. I know he doesn't mean them. I am frustrated because I don't know why he has so much anger in him and I don't know how to handle the situation. I know it will pass, but it sucks being in it right now.

So, anyways, I am a stress eater. And being stressed, I wanted to eat. I called Cory for her brownie recipe and she emailed it to me stat. We picked up some chocolate and I went to work recreating the best brownies on the planet. Just having some time alone to bake helped me feel better, and tasting them helped even more. It made the kids feel good, too. You can always count on brownie batter to diffuse a stressful situation.   

So we ate (just for the record, we had baked potatoes with black beans and lots of sauteed veggies and steamed asparagus in addition to the brownies. I don't want anyone to worry about our health.) Then I gave the kids some melatonin (which has been saving my life lately) and they both crashed out on the couch by 7:30. I t was amazing. I read my book.

Now, today, I am at starbucks using their internet to work and keep you all updated, since there is no wifi at the park. When I leave here we will get locked and loaded and make our way to Baton Rouge for a couple of days. If I ever leave here...

Bolivar Peninsula

It was heartbreaking to wave goodbye to our friends. I couldn't even watch as we drove away. I cried for awhile, then stopped for french fries, then tried to focus on the fact that we would be at the ocean in a few hours.

We drove to the Bolivar Peninsula, near Galveston, Texas. It is small. So small that you can see the water on either side of you. Our RV park has a little lake in it, which we parked right in front of. Sawyer and the dogs enjoyed the view while Mark hooked us up. Notice that we are not even hooked up yet and the place is already trashed. It doesn't take long.

Judah threw on his mouse hat and ran outside to throw stuff in the lake. He hadn't slept all day, despite the five hour drive, and he was a loose cannon. After awhile he lost it.

And came inside screaming and kicking. We decided to diffuse the situation by taking a walk to the beach.

A lot of the city was destroyed in the storm, but there is a ton of construction going on now. The air smells like salt water and saw dust. The beach houses being built are about three stories off the ground, and the first two stories are stilts. And they are all in bright candy colors. It is quite a sight.

My kids the love the beach. What kids don't, I guess. As soon as they saw sand, they dug right in.

We were there right at sunset, so the sky was fabulous. Out on the horizon you could see tons of oil tankers and rigs. It was strange to see. It looked so busy out there.

I thought we should take a cutsey couple picture on the beach.

Then I helped the kids look for shells.

And Judah made sand angles.

And we all went for a walk.

We saw a lot of spots like this. Just slabs of concrete or posts where houses used to be.

When we got home, the Bounder looked so pretty in the setting sun.

The next day, we went exploring. We came across an old fort that was used to protect the coast.

And a playground.

Then we headed to the Anahuac National Wildlife Preserve. Supposedly, a lot of alligators lived there. There were also tons of really beautiful birds. But we were in full on alligator search mode. I didn't really think we would see one, but I dared to hope. 

It was the kind of nature preserve that you just drive through really slowly. Beans had fun pointing out the animals.

 

Judah just liked feeling the wind in his hair.

Then, Mark thought he saw some movement in the water. Could it be an alligator? Nope...false alarm.

So we moved on. Beans pretended to be a doggie. And then...

An alligator!

And another one!

We ended up seeing five!

It was an amazing day. We had so much fun and saw such cool stuff! It helped to ease the pain of leaving Hill Shade.

Tomorrow we're off to Louisiana. It will be so weird to leave Texas. I almost feel like a native here. I have a feeling that this won't be our final goodbye.

Super Bowl Sunday!

So one week ago today it was Superbowl Sunday. Since we were already in Texas, we contemplated heading up to Dallas to be part of the festivities, but we quickly decided that hanging out with our friends sounded like a lot more fun. Especially since the Thiedes are from Wisconsin and the Moers boys decided to be Packer fans for the day.

We started out the festivities by meeting for a pregame beer and champagne toast in the Bounder.

Then we were treated to a play! The kids put on an adorably sweet production of "Harry Potter and the Mirror of Erised." They were wonderful!

After the play, Brice and I, with a handful of kiddos, went to greet the long horn in the back yard. I had been hoping to get a close up with one of them, and this guy finally gave me a chance. There were some lady cows in the other field that he was pretty interested in. Plus I think he wanted to get close enough to try and hear the game.

The field where the cows live is right next to the park. You can here them mooing from the RV and if you were really quiet and sneaky and they didn't run away as soon as they saw you, you could totally touch them. Sawyer loves living this close to cows. 

So after communing with the livestock, we returned to the crowd, who were busy getting ready for the game.

Precious commandeered my camera, so the rest of these pictures are her handy work. She took pictures.

The boys played football while the girls jumped on the trampoline.

Michael cut dead branches off of a tree.

Alicia coveted Brice's Thai pants.

C and J played.

And the rest of us chatted, cheered, ate tacos, signed up for gowalla, got stressed out, drank beer, watched a movie of Sawyer being born, edited photo shoots, stressed out, ate cupcakes, decided our futures, cheered, stressed out, etc.

As this will be our last Sunday here, I am getting nostalgic. We will meet up for our last brunch in a few minutes. I am trying not to miss them already.