Going to the Zoo, how about you??

Tripp and I finally went to the Houston a few weeks ago for his company picnic. For the picnic, the company he works for rented a large pavillion at the zoo where we were served a lunch of hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, and more. After lunch, we had a chance to check out the zoo. We fought through the crowds and were able to see most of the animals at the zoo.

After the zoo, we stopped for a snoball at Mam's House of Ice. It is the closest thing to a New Orleans style snoball that I have had outside of New Orleans. It was worth the wait!

Parade of Cars....

art cars that is!! Since Tripp and I have lived in Houston, we have heard about this Art Car Parade that takes place each May. We have never made it out to see so this year, we marked our calendars early and made sure that it was in our plans. Tripp and I invited out friend Jill and her two little kiddos to join us (her husband was out of town for work so he could not come). We picked up our favorite parade going food--Popeyes and headed to the parade. We found a spot, ate lunch, and waited for the parade to begin. I have seen my fair share of parades being from New Orleans, but I have never seen a parade like this one. It was full of crazy cars, bikes, scooters, and people dressed to corrdinate with the theme of their mode of transportation. I got a few pictures of just some of the cars. It was a fun day!!

This was one of my favorites!!

The flags just kept coming from one bike!!

Easter Weekend

We spent Easter this year in New Orleans. We spent Friday relaxing, having lunch with my parents, getting a haircut from Claire, and having a crawfish boil that evening. Tripp and Darr helped my dad boil crawfish. Once the crawfish were soaking, we had a mini birthday celebration for Tripp, Darr, my dad, and Claire. We enjoyed crawfish, potatoes, and corn for dinner and ended the meal with cake for the birthdays.

"This is awesome!!"

Saturday morning, we woke up before the sun and drove to Grand Isle, Louisiana to go fishing for the day. We staked out a spot on a large pier in the Gulf. After a few lessons from my dad, Tripp, and Darr, our poles were in the water. Most of us were not lucky, but my dad, Tripp, and my mom pulled a few in!

Claire caught one crab in the crab nets.

One of Tripp's several catches

Mom caught some too!

Look what Dad caught...a stingray!

Once we had our fill of fishing, we found a nice spot for a picnic lunch and then headed back to Metairie. Once back home, we showered rested, and then began preparing dinner. We all worked on shucking oysters for fried oyster po-boys and raw oysters on the half shell.

Shucking oysters

Sunday morning, we went to church and then headed downtown for brunch at the Ruby Slipper. Brunch was delicious!! Once back home, we packed up and left for the drive back to Houston. It was a fun weekend!!

Mississippi Fun

Tripp and I went to Mississippi for a long weekend just before Easter to visit his grandmothers and to see his mom. Ms. Kat picked us up from the airport and we made a stop at the Jackson Museum of Natural Science. We knew that the weather was looking bad, but had no idea that a tornado was close by. After being in the musuem for a bit, all the visitors were shuffled into a few large rooms away from windows and exterior doors while we were under a tornado warning. We were put into rooms full of unhappy preschool to elementary aged children on field trips from school. After a 45 minute delay, we were back in the museum. We saw lots of natural science-y things like snakes, fish, bees, birds, buterflies, etc.

Tripp trying to walk like a caterpillar

Have you ever seen a snake with 2 heads??

After lunch, we had a small belated birthday celebration for Tripp and Mama Hazel. We enjoyed yummy chocolate cake and fresh strawberries!

After eating, Tripp geared up to clean Mama Hazel's gutters. He was a sight!!!

Following the gutter work, we went to dinner with Ms. Kat and Mama Hazel at Two Rivers. The food was fantastic and the company even better!






The next morning, Tripp finished more work on the roof, we ate lunch, and then drove to Philadelphia to visit Grandma. Tripp's brother, Collie, was at Grandma's as well. We visited for a bit and then went out for snoballs and to make a stop at the famous Williams Brother Store. We left with peanuts and a new pair of shoes for me. We spent the rest of the weekend playing board games, eating, boiling peanuts, visiting the lake, and spending time together.

It was a fun weekend!