Geaux Louisiana

People here are NOT afraid to speak their mind as you can see
from the top of the State Farm agent's sign!

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I haven't blogged in a YEAR...so I guess it's about time I got back at it.
I've been collecting these pictures for about that long so here goes...have fun!
Make sure to click on the links below too!

We live in Lafayette, Louisiana for those of you who are new to this blog. Lafayette, LA is the "heart of Cajun Country" where it's all about spice, festivals, food, Zydeco music, Cajun French, sugar cane and alligators (if you haven't see Swamp People on the History Channel).

Yummy seasoning....

This is a collection of funny pictures I've collected around town. Since "French" is the main language here you will see the use of "aux" a lot. Geaux = GO ...just so you will know. :)

The first picture (above) is of our Speed LUMP sign. No Speed BUMPS here....

Next, for all of you that don't want to WALK into the convenience store for your SMOKES you can just drive through. We have a lot of drive-thru's as you will see a little farther down the line.

Next, I "caught" some fish hanging at our local Academy Sports with the following sign...

"Lies Not Included"... Humor is in no shortage around these parts!

Before I moved to Louisiana, I had no idea how much rice was produced here. Here is a bag of Cajun Country rice which has the SEAL of approval as "Certified Cajun".

This is some good ol' shrimp and crawfish boil (seasoning)...

When you see this tea in your local grocery store there will be no doubt where it came from...

And here is the SEAL...so you know it's authentic!

A local bingo joint with a great spelling!

Out best tourist attraction...Drive-Thru Daiquiris! The paper on the tip of the straw makes it a "closed container". We don't have a lot of LAWS here...which is REALLY nice.
Notice the "Geaux Cajuns" at the bottom of the sign.

And on this water station....H2O to Geaux!

And...even some fun "plays on words".... (sorry the picture is so small).

Well, hope you have had a fun little tour of Southwest Louisiana!
Come on down and visit sometime!

Mama Mia Pizzaria

I haven't posted in a while...so I thought I would share a bit of "cutie pie" cooking show with y'all.

We have this great pizza dough recipe that is so easy.
The kids LOVE to decorate their own pizza.

She is even a HAM when she is making pizza. But then he is a "Taddei".

Hormel has a wonderful new uncured pepperoni! It tastes wonderful.

He she is...Vanna...placing the pepperoni so perfectly.

In to the oven they go...

READY to eat!

Now for mama's version... Kinda makes me feel like a gourmet cook, for about a minute.

Voila!

Let me know if you want the dough recipe...Just send me your email.

Little Man Jumps!

So, as you can see...Little Man likes to JUMP!
I was attempting to organize my pictures and
realized that I had a LOT of pictures of the Little Man jumping!

He can even jump with a binky!

That was Oceanside, CA, by-the-way...

Found this one of him jumping on the Star of India in San Diego...

We never wanted Little Man to have "1st Child Syndrome"so,
we encouraged him to just "go for it"!

Here in Florida, the routine was... Dad digs a big hole,
and Little Man climbs up the pile and...JUMPS!

Back in Oceanside....There are always good sand cliffs the tide left the night before.

This is in St. George, UT. Love those RED rocks!
His hands make me laugh.

Carlsbad, CA... Catching some air. I wonder what he will do on a surfboard?

Pt. Loma (San Diego). Notice Sweetie Pie's look of amazement!

Ah yes...Orange Beach, AL. That sand is like baby powder,
which is a good thing with sand built up this high!

Even in the flat land of the Bahamas...he can still find something to jump off of.

Now Sweetie Pie wants HER own collection of jumping photos. Hummmmm?
Better get started!

Happy Jumping!

Late-night Nature Walks

Guess we did it to ourselves. We fostered the love of reptiles at an early age.
The above picture is "Sweetie Pie" on the Alan's Cay, Bahamas.

"Little Man" in South Florida... at one of those tourist places.
He REALLY wanted to hug that alligator!

This was taken on a "nature walk" at Shark River State Park in the Everglades.
What a GREAT gator. Check out that tail!

Yes, here in Louisiana you really don't need pet stores. All that is required is to walk out your front door and be observant. As you can see, my kids, who are "addicted" to reptiles and "other" things and have mastered the art of listening and fast reflexes!

This dragonfly seemed to want to stay around for a while...

Wait, did I just say "mastered the art of listening"??? Don't get too excited. That skill stops as soon as they enter our house

Below is a little baby Green Anole lizard. They look just like the Geiko lizard, movements and all. I couldn't find my pictures of them when they are brilliant green. Sorry.

We have small toads and very interesting spiders.

.Sweetie Pie, above...Miss "NON-PRINCESS" loves her frogs and lizards. She said to me the other day... "Mom, do you know what I love more than lizards? Jesus!"

Little Man caught this one the other day. He is so beautiful!

This is the American Bullfrog. It is one of the largest frogs.

This one isn't even that big! We caught a bigger one last year. People eat a lot of frog legs (delicious by the way) around here and I guess you can see why!

One of the benefits of home schooling is that we can take late-night nature walks because we don't have to worry about catching the bus at 7AM!

Well, hope you enjoyed a little Southeastern US nature show.

Happy Easter!

Mardi Gras Cajun Style

Well, Mardi Gras is over for another year...as Lent begins.
The PARTY is over and now it's time to repent!

Thought I would post some pictures of some of the parades. That's a king in the one above.

This was a beautiful float. You might have to enlarge the photo to see ALL the beads hanging behind the "throwers".

It's all about getting the most and the best beads. As you can see, the guy in the photo above must have won the contest! As you saw in the first photos, so many of the adults REALLY get dressed up. The kids...not so much. :)

On their way to getting the "booty".

Even the trucks (we don't have cars here) are decorated.
Yes, that is a REALLY steep incline it is parked on.

Looks like Little Man made out OK!
We had a lot of fun, but missed Daddy who is still on his ship.

And, for your viewing pleasure, please enjoy the video so you can experience it all first hand. Notice my kidos on the fence at the end.