Wilson Lake

We had a great time at the lake last weekend.  Late Thursday evening we dropped Cruz off with his grandma and grandpa - they live on the way - and arrived at the lake around 10 pm.  We ended up staying up until about 1 am that night...not a good idea for Bo, he was a little out of his mind when it was time to lay down.  We ended up sleeping in my parent's camper, my younger brother insisted on sleeping in a tent with a window ac unit.  The next morning we were awaken at the butt crack of dawn by the glaring sunlight coming in the camper windows.  We would not make the mistake again of not covering windows with blankets and towels so we could at least sleep til 8 am the next morning.  After a breakfast of bacon and eggs, the men headed out on the boat to fish, while we women headed to the beach to swim with the kids.  After only about an hour and a half the kids were exhausted from the heat and asking to go back up to the camper.

Bo and Jaden wanted to see all the fishing lures in Kelly's big tackle box.

Jaden particularly liked these little gummy lizard-like things.

The water is so clear!  So refreshing compared to Cheney Lake!

Some dark clouds started moving in so we headed back to camp and got things tied down for a thunderstorm.  The eight of us had to spend about thirty minutes in the camper while it downpoured.  Ben got prettty ornry...

After the rain, things had cooled down a bit and it turned out to be a very nice evening.  The neighbors came over for a visit, and it ended up that Kelly had actually gone to high school with them.  The kids hit it off right away.

I could take pictures of this girl all day :-)

We ended the night with a walk around the campgrounds.

Day two at the lake consisted of a boat ride, a stop at a beach to skip rocks and swim, and a trip into town before heading home to pick up Cruzie (who didn't want to leave his grandparent's house at all).

Everyone kept picking on Elizabeth ;)

Tentin' It

As Kelly would say, we're "tentin' it" this weekend up at Lake Wilson with my family.  Last summer we had a camper to escape to to get some relief from the heat, but this year, we're being true outdoorsmen and sleeping in a tent.  I won't be surprised to find myself knockin on my parent's camper door begging for a cool place to sleep.  In preparation for the weekend, Kelly and the boys put the tent up in the backyard.  It had one broken pole, but I think it'll do the job. 

Bo kept trying to zip Cruz out.

(Nice gundies honey)

We'll have to let you know the outcome...if we don't melt first.

Southern Plantation

On day 5 of our trip, Sunday, we planned on staying at the rental house and relaxing.  It was Father's Day and we didn't want to get in the car again since we'd be traveling on Monday and Tuesday.  But Kelly's family had a later start than planned, so Cruz got his morning nap in and we decided to tag along to lunch and then possibly to tour a plantation depending on how tired we were after lunch.

We're so glad we decided to go.  The place Erica had planned to take us for lunch had a 2 1/2 hour wait so we ended up going to a local fast food place called Raising Cane's.  It was the best fast food we've ever had.  They had about 4 things on the menu, and the main dish was chicken strips.  This place blew Chick Fil A out of the water.  It was awesome. 

After our quick lunch, we decided to go to the plantation with everyone.  We were very impressed when we got there. It was beautiful.  The yard and trees alone were enough for us. 

We went ahead and took the tour of the inside, but the boys didn't last long.  They weren't very interested in listening to the history of the house.  They were both running in circles.  Craziness.

Before long, Kelly took them both outside.  Cruz fell asleep in his stroller.  It was extremely hot and muggy out, so he was soaking wet.  He was soon awakened by his big brother and grandpa ringing the huge bell in the front yard.  We took the opportunity of having the whole family together and took some family photos.  It was really hard getting the right exposure in all that deep shade with so many opinions of where and how we should stand and what we wanted in the background...anyways, here's how they turned out.

And one of our little family.

I could have stayed here all day taking pictures.  But everyone was getting hot and tired, so this is what I got.

After the visiting the plantation, we went to Erica's parents house for a bit, then headed back to the rental house to get it cleaned up and things packed.  Kelly's parents were leaving early the next morning and we were headed back to New Orleans to be closer to the airport for our flight out Tuesday morning.

On our way to New Orleans Monday morning, we stopped at an outlet mall.  It was great! They were having awesome sales and there were a ton of stores.  Outside each store they had kiddie rides and vending machines with ice cream and drinks to choose from.  The boys were very well behaved and had a good time themselves.

From there, we went to our hotel and swam in the pool then hit the sack early.  We were so ready to get home!

The flight home went very well.  Cruz fell asleep in my arms within minutes of the plane taking off and Bo played his video game most of the way.  The car ride from KC was a little long due to the fact that our DVD players suddenly stopped working, but like I said we were so glad to be home!  Now if I can just get them both back on their good nap and bedtime schedule :)