Louisiana Swamp Tour

My sister-in-law and her fiance' came through Louisiana and stayed a few days as they moved from California to Florida.  It was at the beginning of Gianna's Easter break so I planned a swamp tour in the Atchafalaya Basin for the four of us.  I'd always wanted to experience that, so I figured their visit was a perfect excuse. We went through Atchafalaya Basin Landing & Marina and I was ever so pleased. They give air boat tours, so I figured if the tour was a bust - the air boat experience would have at least been novel.

When I googled air-boats to show Gianna a video - I had totally underestimated how loud they were.   Thank heavens I could prepare Gianna beforehand since she's got issues with loud noises.

I realized later that they provide protective headphones.

I'm sure the out of state tourists just eat this up.

The air boat ride was really cool.  These things go on land too!

There were other kids in the boat up front who invited Gianna to sit with them.  I think this helped  avoid a little panic session when the boat started up.

Geraldine and Tony.

I did not take the below picture, but Tucker the Tour Guide sure did this to the alligator, which he called by name, and also gave it a big kiss on the mouth.  Do you think that freaked out my child?  Nope - she wanted a turn.

This photo of Atchafalaya Basin Landing & Marina- Swamp Tours is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Under the Atchafalaya Bridge.  So pretty.

It was a grand day.

Here's a quick slideshow of my pics.

 

Easter 2014

The week before Easter there was a free breakfast with the Easter Bunny at the Mall.  Very simple, but very nice.  Hot Chicken Biscuits to eat, visit with the Bunny and cookie decorating rounded out the activities.  Not many people know about it - but it's totally worth it.  I found out about it on FB.  They also do it December with Santa.  Saved me $30 for a stinkin' picture.  

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The last day of school before the TWELVE DAY Easter break, the school had an Easter Egg Hunt at a local park.

Gianna ended up dumping her collected eggs into her friend's basket.  She ended up with none.  She also gave her coat off her back to her chilly little friend.  She's got quite a precious heart, that girl.

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 The night before Easter Gianna and I went outside to play with sidewalk chalk. She made a great rainbow...

I added the cross.

God added the sunset. 

We three make a pretty good team.

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Speaking of crosses, Gianna and I made these (instead of edible treats) to add to her school friends' Easter baskets...

 I had some air-dry clay (Crayola, I think) that I never used.  We used gems, buttons and pony beads to adorn them.  We added paper clips and ribbons so they could be hung. I was so pleased with how the came out.

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Had a little Easter Egg Hunt at our friends' house.  They were so cute.

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On Easter morning, my little bunny followed the bunny trail I made so quickly that I couldn't video or photograph her properly.  She honestly didn't give a though about the Easter basket until she saw the bunnies I left in the hallway. I bought NO Easter candy this year, just used the stuff she got from school, Valentine's day, etc.

Here are past years...

My inlaws sent Gianna her Easter dress this year. She looked adorable...

Holy Week 2014

I thought Gianna was old enough to attend the Live Stations of the Cross this year.

As you can imagine, she was full of questions and comments.

When it was over, she questioned why the actors didn't take a bow and we didn't applaud.

On our way back to the car, I asked her what impressed her most about the experience.

I eagerly waited for her inspired response...

 

" ...I cannot BELIEVE they had REAL LIVE HORSES!"

"I cannot believe they actually pooped in front of us."

"I cannot believe that the horses bowed their heads and closed their eyes when Jesus died."

 

Well, I asked.

Maybe I should have waited another year.

"Queen of the Jews"

* disclaimer * The title and most of the post is in quotes primarily because I don't want to be offensive to anyone of Jewish ehtnicity.  My five year old is just learning about the world - that's all.

Yesterday Gianna was packing up half her toys to give away to 'poor kids' (without my knowlege) and she happened upon this little dancing skirt.  I told her that when I was little I used to put them on my head to pretend I had different hair.

 

I put it on her in the same fashion and as she gazed upon her new look in the mirror she exclaimed, "Look, I'm Jewish!"

"Oh," I said, "Do you mean Egyptian?"

"Yeah, Egyptian." Except, that's not what she meant.  She meant Jewish. She only used the term Jewish from then on.

 

She said, "I'm Queen of the Jews!"

"Well, I'm pretty sure there's no such thing." bursting her bubble.

 

"Oooh - I'm going to dress Max (our dog) up as a Jew." she announced.

"Oh, please don't do that, Gianna.  That's not very nice."

"What? The Jews are bad?"

"No! Of course not. I mean not nice to dress Max up.  Gianna - Jesus was Jewish."

"Oh, so the Jews are nice."

"Of course. Do you remember that Ms. Ellen and Sarah are Jewish."

"Oh yeah.  Were they born in Jew Land?"

"They were born in the U.S."

"Well, I cannot believe that they had to do so much work."

"What does that mean?"

"That they had to be Jew slaves and do all the King's work.  I'm going to go to Jew Land and talk to that King and tell him to do his own work."

"Gianna, Ms Ellen and Sarah are not Jew slaves. Are you talking about the Pharoh? That's not happening any more, but it's nice of you to care about that.  And by the way, there is no place called Jew Land."

 

As I insisted she help me organize all the things she pulled out to donate to the poor, I heard her say under her breath,  "...I sure wish you wouldn't make me work like a Jew slave."

 

Yikes.  I'm a little nervous about the conversation that's bound to happen the next time we see our Jewish friends.



Our Gang

We live in the best little neighborhood.  Truly.

We have some good friends with kids all around the same age.  Between three and five each afternoon - the texts start flying, "WHAT ARE Y'ALL DOING? We HAVE to get out of the house!!!!"  We ride bikes, play pretend, race miniature vehicles, etc. 

So grateful for our little gang.