Road Trip!

I'm in Louisiana y'all!!! (and believe me, that's said with a certain drawl that even a native Texan can't manage). Specifically, I'm in Natchitoches, which the locals assure me in pronounced "nakatish".....yeah, I'm not seein' it either. Since I don't know you, I'm not telling you where I'm going next, or when I'll return home, but rest assured, it will be any day and in the meantime, a few neighbors are watching the house closely. Not that there's much of value in it anyway (seriously).

I do have a few pictures to share:

This was the packing scene the night before we left. That's SOME, yes some, of what we brought with us:


Here's all that stuff packed into the van. We took out the back seats to get the room we needed and we were both pleasantly surprised it actually fit. Perhaps I should explain the weird mermaid---the think is really creepy looking and Sierra loves it, plus Sedona has learned to say "mermaid" (one of her few words) and they sleep with it, so it came along:


The girls all buckled in and ready to leave (we had put new toys and car-safe crafts in their seat, so they couldn't wait to check it all out):


They were also super excited we brought their quilts along. Yes, it was 106 outside and my children are under there:


The girls have enjoyed daily access to a pool. Sedona got a new float:


And also learned to float on her back with some help:


While Sierra practiced her "going under water skills". I swear, that kid inherited her daddy's lung capacity (his lungs are so big, it took TWO xrays to visualize his lungs when he had pneumonia):


We went to this cool little section of town:


Where we saw these benches with people's names built into them:


And took some time to feed the ducks:



I've never seen a duck like this, but Sierra confidently declared it's "the grandma duck":


Then we had a short visit with this bumble bee (okay, it's hard to tell, but it was HUGE):


And this gorgeous butterfly (that was too drunk on nectar to move):


And finished off the day with this sign at Chili's, which I thought was absolutely hilarious: