DISTRICT SCIENCE FAIR

James attended the District Science Fair today. He didn't take home any awards, but he did get chosen to come up on stage and announce the winners for one of the categories (video below).

SCHOOL HOUSE ROCKS LIVE!

Cora and I attended Bridger's school play this evening (Jay and James were at Boy Dance, otherwise they would have come too). Bridger stole the show and Jacob stole Cora's heart...

They had snack time before the play, included with admission. Cora was a fan of the tiny cupcakes.

 (Don't worry, I've ordered her some new school dresses. All of a sudden her size 6/7 dresses are too short and she's moving into 8/9. How is that possible at 6-years-old?! She's going to be tall...

CORA'S FIRST STUDY GUIDE

Cora's newest AR book is a bit harder than she's used to, so after a few readings by Jay and I, and a few attempted readings herself, she created her own study guide to help herself with the harder words. I was so impressed with her initiative, I just had to share it!

COOKIE TOWER

We picked up Cora's 268 boxes of cookies today (she sold 306 boxes total, when you include the 38 boxes donated to the military). After we brought them in and lined them up, we snapped some photos, then got to work sorting orders. It was such a relief when presales ended and our order was turned in, but then we go all over again delivering orders and participating in booth sales. In another couple of weeks the madness will end. Until next year...

 (Yes, she chose these poses herself. We really should get her into acting...)

YEARBOOK PORTRAITS

We ordered the kids separate ads for their yearbook this year (as a fundraiser for the school), so we had to dress up a bit and snap some photos today. Since the azaleas are in bloom already, we used them as our backdrop. The kids cooperated and we got far more photos than we needed, so here are my favorites:

THE REAL KING

When you visit Lafayette around Mardi Gras, you MUST get a Meche's King Cake. SO GOOD!

 Cake for breakfast? James says YES PLEASE!

ONE OF THESE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER...

Jude has always loved James best... She's been sleeping with him the past month or so, and it makes him so happy. (We usually bring her out when we go to bed so that she doesn't wake him up in the middle of the night crying to be let out of the hallway.)

THE CAMP AND A NATCHEZ SUNSET

If you're down in Natchez anytime soon and haven't yet been to The Camp, try it out. The food was wonderful and well priced, and they had a great selection of craft beer!

 We paused in the middle of dinner to step outside for some sunset photos because it was too pretty not to. These kids... I promise I'm counting my blessings...

 While the boys hiked up the hill to get the van, Cora kept her crippled mama company (a full day on my feet at parades plus the 3-mile hike meant that my knee was swollen and down for the count by this point). I couldn't resist getting a better picture of her new smile.

 The sunset lighting was so gorgeous. So is my girl. While she may make me crazy sometimes (and yes mom, I know I had it coming), she really can flip a 180 and make my heart melt the next second. I'm so thankful for her spunk and adventurous spirit. She's a wonderful balance to James' calm and sweet demeanor. What a lucky mama I am.

3 MILE TOUR

What better way to finish off a camping trip than with a hike? We took the kids to the Louisiana State Arboretum and planned a route with the ranger to take us through some varied habitat and cover about 3 miles. The kids did better than I did with my bum knee (I haven't mentioned it here, but I did something to it 2 weeks ago and either badly strained or partially tore my ACL, or something...), but I made it (with Jay's old knee brace) and we enjoyed our little walk in the woods.

 I don't know. Perhaps she liked the feel of the sunshine on her belly? All of the parades we attended were family friendly events, so she didn't learn it in Lafayette! At least we were the only people out there...

 Just taking a break while he waits for mama to catch up...

CAMP MORNINGS

Camp mornings are just some of the best mornings... Waking up to the sound of the birds and the wind in the leaves, sitting around a campfire with coffee, playing games, and just being with each other without other distractions. Yup, the best.

 Somebody lost her 4th tooth this morning. It had been super loose for a long time, but she definitely caused that looseness herself (trying to keep up with big brother...)

 Rollerz is pretty fun (and easy to set up and play).

 Just a little pier walk to check out the lake at Lake Chicot and use the monoculars they got for Christmas in their fort building kit.

KREWE OF CARNIVALE EN RIO PARADE

Lafayette has so many parades (for about 2 weeks leading up to and on Fat Tuesday)! (Some right in town, some in the neighboring small towns.) We had planned to attend their Krewe des Chiens Canine Parade at 2:00pm, but since we didn't even leave the Carencro parade until that time and needed sustenance, we skipped the dog parade. Luckily, we hadn't told the kids how many parades we'd hoped to attend or which ones, so they weren't disappointed. After a lazy lunch, we headed down to Lafayette to buy some local brews (some of which to bring back for Nick, who was manning the house and taking care of our furry ones yet again - we owe him so much!), pick up some of the best king cakes ever for work and home (plus donuts to eat at the park), and play at the Girard Park playground for an hour or so before scoping out a good spot for the Rio parade.

The kids were bummed to have to wait around for an hour (which turned into an hour and half, even though we were practically at the start of the parade route this time), but it was worth it to get a good spot on a cross street, right downtown. The best thing about a night parade is the LIGHTS! Jay made friends with the couple next to us and scored himself a free beer, and they happily passed all the toys they caught over to our kids (theirs were older and grown and not attending the parade with them).

Once we heard the tell-tale sign of the sirens, we knew the floats were coming. The kids were cracking me up singing "Dance for your beads" (a play on words of Teen Titans' "Dance for your bees")

 James got to fight some Star Wars characters with a lightsaber he caught. It totally made his night!

 We made it to the end, but just barely... Both kids were ready to head home before the firetrucks closed the route, but they made it 5 more minutes to finish it out. James was barely in the car for 10 minutes before he passed out (as soon as we hit the highway back up to camp). Cora persisted for 45 minutes because we promised her that if she stayed awake until we got back to camp that we'd make a campfire and let her roast marshmallows...

Poor dude stumbled into the tent and told me "I'm just so TIRED mama", so I dressed him and tucked him in, all while Cora got a second wind and insisted we start a fire for s'mores. Not one to argue with a dinner-deprived diva, the marshmallows were roasted, after which she bundled herself into one of our new wool blankets and promptly passed out in my arms by the fire...

(Eyes closed due to the impending flash, not because she was asleep)