A 'Ghouly' Good Time

*VIDEO*

As I mentioned in Fall Festivities with the Family, David and I went to the Jessweins' annual Halloween party (with Ford in tow....for a little while). We were Tarzan and Jane with our little monkey! :)

Our hosts extraordinaire: Erin (Honey Boo Boo) and Ryan (tennis player).

Emily (boy scout) and Chad (construction worker)

Emily and Danny (Mario and Luigi)

Part of the gang

After Ford went home to bed with Grandma and Aunt Sharon, we had an awesome time hanging out, watching college football, playing corny (no pun intended) games (for prizes, of course!), and dancing on the Wii. Before we knew it, it was 2 a.m. (yikes!) and we had to head home to catch some zzzz's.

Game time!

Candy corn relay

Pop the balloon, David, pop it!

Let's dance!

I have no shame. Clearly.

Halloween itself was pretty uneventful. It was tooooo cold to take Ford out, so we stayed home to pass out candy. We had about 25 trick-or-treaters who liked the candy but LOVED Chase. He was the hit of Halloween! He'd let the kids pet him and he'd run out the door and chase them through the yard. At one point David had a hard time getting him to come back in the house!

Bad to the bone

While David and Chase handled candy delivery, I kept Ford entertained and prevented him from going out the door. Every time the kids came to the door, he'd take off in super-fast mode toward the door.

Wearing his giraffe mask from school

Playing with Frankenstein

Cheeeeeeeese

Reading books before bed (yes, he's already wearing Christmas PJs!) :)

"Mom, I want that phone! Gimme gimme gimme!"

Hope everyone had a

Fall Festivities with the Family

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We just had a fantastic weekend with the Stelsels. Dave, Connie, and Aunt Sharon came down for a long weekend. On Friday, Kirk and Laura hosted the second annual Monster Mash, which included homemade soups, plenty of scary beverages (the spiked cider was a.w.e.s.o.m.e.) and old horror movies. This year we watched House of Dracula (1945), I Married a Witch (1942), and The Birds (1963). Ford didn't care for any of them, but Chase especially enjoyed The Birds.

Ladies man (with Laura and Emily) :)

Dave and Connie got in lots of grandparenting because I ran some overdue errands for a few hours Friday while David was at work, and then we both went to our annual Halloween party Saturday night (more on that to come). I don't know who loved it more: baby or adults.

Dinner reservation for three, please.

Crawling and climbing

Chase didn't lack any attention, of course.

Tell me about it, Dave. Me too.

When he's not laughing, he sounds like a dino baby. Weird, I know. But he is our child, so.....

After a beautiful week in the '70s, it turned cold over the weekend, so we didn't venture out very much. We celebrated Dave's birthday on Saturday and went out for a nice family breakfast on Sunday, but primarily we chased after Ford all weekend. We also got a first glimpse into what Christmas might be like this year. Here's Ford opening his Halloween gifts from Grandma and Grandpa:

"Mom, look! PRESEEEEEEENTS!"

"Ok, how does this work?"

"Chase, any tips? You look like you've done this before."

"Is this right? I just tear it?"

"Mom, look at me, I'm doing it!"

"What is it? What is it? The box looks familiar...."

"Group effort. Chase, you pull on that end; Grandma you pull on that end; I'll pull here."

"Yay for diapers..."

"...and wrapping paper!"

It was a great weekend! Always good to spend time as a big family.  Love to all!





The Army Crawl is SOOO Last Week

*VIDEO*

Yesterday Ford decided the army crawl was out, and crawling on all fours was in. We now have nightly races around the house: Baby vs. Dog. Dog always wins...for now.

We're In the NOLA, Baby!

*VIDEO*
Beignets. Crawfish. Blues. Jambalaya. BBQ. Jazz. Streetcar rides. Beer and hurricanes (the kind you drink, not the kind that wreaks havoc in the sky). That about sums up our vacation in New Orleans!

David and I had an awesome weeklong trip to the Deep South while Nonna and Granddaddy stayed home with Ford.

Beignets at Cafe du Monde

Walking down Bourbon Street

We stopped in an old used bookstore. I sat down while David browsed and this kitty laid down in my lap!

Wandering the French Quarter

We spent two days primarily at food festivals: the Louisiana Seafood Festival and the Blues and BBQ Festival. We chowed down on gator sausage, crawfish nachos (my favorite of the week!), po' boys, pulled pork, and ribs while enjoying authentic local blues and jazz groups.

Catching some jazz at the Seafood Festival along the river

Gator sausage

Crawfish nachos

Shrimp po' boy and the local beer

At the Blues and BBQ Festival downtown

We spent one day riding the streetcar through New Orleans along St. Charles Avenue to see the "real" New Orleans outside the French Quarter. We hopped off and walked around for a few hours to see the spectacular old houses in and around the Garden District. We stopped in at an amazing little French bakery for breakfast and did some shopping at the local boutiques and antique shops along Magazine Street. This was one of my favorite days because we got to experience New Orleans outside of the tourist destinations.

Trolley time

Some of my favorites along St. Charles Ave.

We also spent one day touring two sugar plantations about 45 minutes outside the city, near the Mississippi River. It was so neat to see and imagine how the Creoles lived and prospered before the Civil War. The tour guides told some great stories about the owners of the plantations--how they started their business, the height of their success, and their downfall after the war. The pictures just don't do justice to how spectacular these places are.

First stop: Laura Plantation. Laura Plantation (built in 1804) was run mostly by women (awesome). In the Creole tradition, the family business is passed down to the smartest child, not the eldest son (as tends to be the case in the Anglo culture). In the case of this family, the smartest children were the women (ha!). The business started out as a sugar plantation but later added wine distribution because one of the women married a Frenchman. At its largest size, the plantation was approximately 12,000 acres. The house totaled about 24,000 sq. ft. and had a 2,500 sq. ft. detached kitchen to its rear. By 1808, the estate consisted of 10 sizable buildings, including quarters for 17 slaves, a barn, warehouses and a sugar mill.

The basement where, among other things, wine was stored.

Kitchen

Dining room

Office

Now that is some good front porch sittin.

Inside one of the slave cabins.

This was Laura's great-grandmother's "retirement home" she built for herself on the property, right next to the main house. You can see it hasn't been restored yet. The old lady died here at the age of 94 when she stood on her front porch yelling at the Civil War boats moving down the Mississippi. They shot a cannonball at her and killed her.

The second stop was Oak Alley Plantation (completed in 1839), which has been featured in many movies and shows (including Days of Our Lives, Mom and Dad!!). The front walk of this majestic house is canopied by rows of 300-year-old oak trees. It was gorgeous.

Dining room

Bedroom

Our tour guide -- a fantasic storyteller

Bedroom

Second floor landing

In between all the pigging out and exploring, we caught some football (couldn't miss the Packers game!) and relaxed (i.e., caught up on our sleep).

Shopping in the French Market

St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter

Go Pack Go! The jersey was David's anniversary gift. :)

A wedding march through the French Quarter. This was so cool! The bride, groom, bridal party, and guests danced through the Quarter with beers in hand. Loved it!

We sure missed Ford (and Chase), so we were happy to be home after a week away. But we had a great trip and enjoyed celebrating our 7th anniversary without life's normal distractions. And I particularly loved being in the South again! Thanks for a good time, NOLA!