Lake Pontchartrain Vacation!

Lake What?!  We had to laugh every time Landrie said "Lake Pontchartrain!"  It's quite a big name for such a little girl. :)  My side of the family took a vacation there this year.  It's the lake on the north side of New Orleans.  There are kind of a ridiculous amount of pictures, but they are lots of fun!  I'll put these pictures of the fam up front, so I don't have to label each picture with how everyone fits together. :)

My parents

My brother Eric, Braiden, Brooke, Bennett and Melissa

Adelynn, my brother Kevin, Abbie, Christy and Anna

Tatem, me, Mark and Landrie (in case you are really new here) :)

We stayed in a state park in these cabins on the lake.  It was perfect for us!  

They had a sandy lakefront where we splashed around.

"Bennett caught a CRAB!"  Landrie still says every few days.  It made quite an impression on her!  Do you see the pride and joy radiating from his face?

My mom, Tatem and Melissa

How crazy is it to see trees like that on the beach??  Oh, and there are most certainly gators around, so my babies didn't play back in the trees!

This cutie had a ball building sand castles and swimming!

We went hiking, well, walking is a better word I guess.  We weren't far from the coast, so it was pretty flat!

It was beautiful, but I think we started the hike at 5:00.  It was HOT.  You know how that first day of vacation is.  You are super ambitious and want to check everything out, right?  

When the cousins saw this tree, of course they had to climb it!

Adelynn, Bennett, Anna, Braiden, Brooke

Landrie and Abbie

Our cabins had kitchens, so we each took a night to cook, then went out sometimes too.  This night we sent all the kids outside to each on the porch. :)  

Day 2 was our anniversary!  We were so excited to have glorious free childcare that we started taking advantage of it at breakfast!  Did you know that in Mandeville (the town on the north side of the lake) they have a Cafe du Monde with a drive through??  I can never live there.  Whew!  I LOVE that place!

Then the whole crew headed out to take a Honey Island Swamp Tour!  If you're in New Orleans, you should check it out.  We all loved this!

I really wasn't sure what to expect.  I kind of hoped we'd catch a glimpse of an alligator, you know?  Landrie was exhausted.  Things got a bit scary and the boat was loud, so she just covered those ears. :)

LOOK!!  

I deliberately put the railing of the boat in this shot so you can see how close he is!  I think I took 50 pictures like this.  We were all amazed!

Until we realized that was nothing.  Are you kidding me??!  Our guide snapped a branch off a tree and skewered a hot dog on it.  He made a few alligator calls (please don't ask me to duplicate one!) and this guy jumped right out of the water!

He did it with a ton of them!  It was just unreal how close they were!

Look at Benny checking it out!

I didn't think it would be, but the swamp really was beautiful.  Our guide grew up there, and even SWAM on the beaches of the swamp.  Yes, that would be the same guy feeding these alligators in the same exact water! He wasn't crazy though.  He knew every plant and bit of history you could ask.  We never stumped him.

Well, maybe he was a bit crazy...  Not only do they like hot dogs, they like marshmallows too!  

Hi, El Guapo!  Seriously, I have no zoom or fancy lens on my camera.  I could have reached through the rail to pet him.  (In case you were wondering, I didn't!)

One beautiful sleepy baby, enjoying some ice water. :)

In some sections, there were houses/shacks along the coast.  Of course we all cracked up at the cajun hot tub, but do you see that tiny boat they use in those alligator infested waters?!  It's no wonder that after this tour one of Landrie's new favorite games is to play that there are alligators on the floor and we have to stay in the boat!!  Remember playing that game when you were a kid?  Remember thinking you invented it too?  :)

That night we stuck to our original plan and went out for dinner for our 8 year anniversary.  It was by far the worst anniversary ever.  My mom actually got the call that our Nonny passed away while we were on the swamp tour, and she told us all when we got off the boat.  We are so thankful that we were able to be together when we found out, but it was still just heartbreaking.  So, Mark and I were obviously not in the most lighthearted of moods that evening (I'm sure I cried more than smiled that night!) I was so thankful to have my sweet husband by my side.  He is so amazing!

Well, that takes us through the end of day on Tuesday. :)  We packed a lot into our trip!  I'm impressed if you are still reading!  I'll have to do the rest another day.  :)

A visit from Ama!

Mark's mom flew in from Florida to spend some time with her 3 favorite kids!  We sure wish that his dad was able to come to, but we can't wait to see him next time. :)

Mark's mom bounced around to her 3 kids' houses.  First stop was Beth's house, so we spent Father's Day afternoon over there.  

Rusty, Mark's mom, Mark, Tatem, Beth, Jaxon and Landrie

Her next stop was at Megan's, so we all met up for some swim time!  

Mark's mom, Gramm and Beth

Silly Gramm!

Megan, Tatem, Landrie and Tucker hanging out in the kiddie pool.

 The bigger cousins had a ball in the big pool!

 

 

One...two...three!!

Then it was our turn to host!  

Mark and his mom relaxing on the patio.

While Landrie provided the entertainment. :)

Tatem didn't last quite as long in the pool, so here she is already in her pjs, ready for snuggles!

The girls loving on their Ama!  

The whole gang!

This picture of Baby Landrie and Mark's mom is in a little picture album Landrie has, and she just loves it!  Mark's mom always tries to spend some one-on-one time with each grand kid when she visits.  Landrie's visits started early when I had emergency surgery when we visited them in Florida!  Mark's parents took great care of Landrie, which included lots of trips to Dunkin Donuts.  :)

So, Ama took our little donut-lover out for breakfast.  How cute is she?  A week or two later, Landrie was helping me bring bags in the house and put one over her arm.  "Look!  I like Ama, Mommy!" She was so proud. :)

Ready to go get some donuts!  

We just loved our time with you!!  Thank you so much for such a fun visit!  We love you!!

Happy Father's Day!

Sundays are always filled with church and family, and this Father's Day was no different!  After a morning at church, we headed out for some Texas BBQ.  YUM!  Just so Mark wouldn't feel left out, our girls had true, all out melt downs while we waited for our food, just like Mother's Day!  We've got a new plan...no more eating out on holidays. :)  After we all got a little food in our belly and our friends and their kiddos happened to show up, we ended up having a great lunch!

Then we headed over to Mark's sister's house since Mark's mom was in town!

It was great to see her!  

The girls loved playing with Ama!

And of course Landrie loved playing with everyone else too!  They have a trapeze in their playroom and Aunt Beth gave Landrie a push. :)

This picture is to answer the question we get all the time!  "Where did that red hair come from??"  Moms of red heads, do you get that a lot too?  Here are two of the many beautiful redheads in Mark's family, his mom and sister!  Although, as I'm looking at their hair, it doesn't look very red in this picture. :)

Uncle Rusty and his tiniest niece! 

Monday night we carried on the celebration, since it was just our family of 4 at home. :)

Oh how I love the father of my babies!  He loves root beer floats, so we celebrated after dinner with root beer floats for us...

and kiddie pool swimming for the little ones.

Landrie was thrilled to have a bowl of ice cream in her pink pool. :)  She made her daddy one of those cards where she answered lots of questions.  

She added her very first family picture on the bottom of the card!  (and a kitty and the number 3, which are not parts of our family)  Everyone had hair and she gave herself a bow. haha!

The first side of the card

Her last answer of "I cry, cry cry" is said in the most pitiful voice.  Her latest is to tell 

Mark, "I gonna miss you, Daddy!"  when he leaves in the morning.  :)

"Come guggle me!"  means "come snuggle me."  She loves for her daddy to tuck her in and snuggle with her at bedtime!  I think my favorite answer was the second to last one here.  haha!

These girls ADORE their daddy!

Happy Father's Day to our amazing dads too!  We love y'all SO much!!