Homecoming!

On Saturday it was Homecoming for LSU, so we took advantage of the sunny day to get over to campus. It was a great day to walk up sorority row to see the decorations and to hang out outside while we waited for the parade. Like good Louisiana girls, Caroline and Charlotte love a good parade! They enjoyed the music and getting inundated with beads and candy from all of the floats, all of which is still in my car awaiting its eventual fate in the trash - but it was fun while it lasted! I'm not trying to be grinch by getting rid of all of it, but they haven't eaten all of their Halloween candy yet, and I'm not sure where they come from, but it seems like we have Mardi Gras beads in every room in our house.

I have some really vivid memories of visiting campus as a kid to see the Homecoming decorations, so getting my girls out there reminds me yet again how much I enjoy the simple things making memories with them. Here are the pics of our cheerleader "Super Fan" Caroline (and by the way, she got more compliments on that cape, she was so proud) and the tiny LSU cheerleader, Charlotte. Camille was along for the ride in the stroller and she was great, just taking in all of the people and music going on.

Field trip!

Caroline had her first field trip of the kindergarten year on Thursday and since I had the day off for Veteran's Day, it was a great opportunity for me to chaperon the zoo outing. The trip was great, it was a beautiful day, and most importantly the kids had fun. Caroline and Camille and I were on an exploration team together; Caroline was our leader and she took us around the zoo on a scavenger hunt for the animals. Camille was an angel; she loves being outside, so this was a perfect trip for her and Caroline liked having her sister there for the big day.

Charlotte in the evening

I know this week with the time change has been a week of adjustment for everyone, but it's especially hard on my two girls who love to be outside in the evenings. Now they (and their parents) are faced with the horrors of playing inside for an extra hour every day. I suppose I took for granted how much time we spent outside lately, even if it was just drawing with sidewalk chalk on the driveway or chasing each other around the yard. Long days, return soon!

I was outside with Charlotte yesterday lamenting that it was quickly approaching the time when we'd have to get inside and took a few shots of her getting her hands dirty in the yard.









Have a good weekend everyone!

Pajamas and pine straw

Early on the morning of Halloween the girls went out to play in the yard before Jeff raked up all of our pine straw. It is definitely the small, simple things that make great childhood memories.

So I'm a little late

How has it been almost a week since Halloween? CVS is decked out in Christmas regalia and even playing the occasional instrumental Christmas song, so I realize that these pictures are so last holiday by now. And since we're on the topic, Thanksgiving is officially getting shafted these past few years. Everywhere now it seems that Halloween runs straight into Christmas. I'm not happy about that either. I like Thanksgiving. I like Fall. It's still hot in Baton Rouge in October most years, so I really appreciate a good November holiday. We are finally getting some nice weather and I don't want to be distracted from enjoying it by seeing Santa everywhere. Annnnnyway.

These pictures are from our trip to Slidell to visit Jeff's parents last weekend. The girls had a great time seeing Grandma and Grandpa and visiting an awesome park. We spent the morning hanging out at their house and after lunch caravanned over to Heritage Park. The not so cool weather got the better of all of us after about an hour and a half or so and we went back to their house to watch a little football and play some more. Before long it was time get back in the cars and get back to Baton Rouge. The girls had a great time and I know the grandparents enjoyed getting lots of hugs and watching the girls play.

More updates on last season's holiday soon to come!

Trick or Treat - Round Two!

Even though we don't have pictures to prove it, round one of Trick or Treat for my three girls came on Sunday when we went to Boo at the Zoo. They had fun, but our hands were way too full trying to wrangle the three of them through the zoo to get any good pictures.

So, on to round two . . .

Wednesday night we did our annual trick or treating down sorority row. Caroline and Charlotte had a great time. Caroline decided at the last minute to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, which was actually what she had been wanting to dress up as for months, but in recent weeks had gone back to the standby of being a princess. So, very last minute Jeff found a Dorothy costume for her and she was so happy. We did have to use a pair of pink sparkly Mary Jane's that we had on hand, because her change of heart came too late to find a pair of ruby slippers. Charlotte was a Saints cheerleader and she was the cutest little chubby Saints cheerleader that I've ever seen. Camille wore a pumpkin bib just to be festive, but she slept through all the fun back at the house with Jo Jo. Jeff as Batman made a reappearance this year; Caroline loves to have her papa participate in the dress up fun!

Caroline is an old pro at this by now and showed Charlotte the ropes of making our way from house to house. Charlotte was most impressed by the fact that everyone was handing out "caNEE" and that there were big buckets of chocolate everywhere. The girls enjoyed seeing friends, meeting the cheerleaders, Golden Girls, and Tiger Girls, and of course hanging out with the Kappas for a dance party on the porch after the trick or treating was done.









Happy Halloween!

We had visitors!

Drew, Amelia, and Asher visited the Big BR last week. It was a great visit. We loved loving on Asher and generally just spending time with three people we don't see nearly enough. No one has a way with words and pictures quite like Amelia, so I'll let her tell the whole story.