Every spring semester, LC hosts a faculty/staff recognition banquet. It is always a nice dinner and full of entertainment. This year, they were trying to make it out to be the Oscar awards show. This is what we saw on our way up to the dinner…
Please note that I am CRACKING UP by this point because of all this.
We park, get Sam out of the car (he is headed to the free childcare hosted by BCM students) and start walking towards the limo. We are told we are supposed to get in the limo, slide across the back seat, and step out on the other side to make our “grand appearance”- HA! We obliged, Sam thought the limo was the coolest thing ever, and when we opened the other door, the paparazzi were waiting- there were a couple of LC students taking flash photography. TOO FUNNY!
We walk up the red carpet and go into the student center and then go to a nice display for a family photo. Here is ours…
We then head upstairs to drop off Sam (who did NOT want to go home once this evening was over- he loved being with the college students) and then find our table. Each table had the menu, order of events, desserts, and decorations all nicely arranged. We sat with some friends from NOBTS, the Caples, and another couple that I don’t know.
The menu…
Sadly, the only thing I could enjoy was the salad and even then I was a bit hesitant. However, I risked it and enjoyed my salad. 🙂
More of the table decor…
Before everything started, Travis went to speak with Eric, LC’s Dean of Students, and I thought it was funny how much they looked alike. Therefore, I snapped a picture (surprise surprise)…
While we were eating, they had scenes from various movies showing on big screens but they had the characters blanked out so that you could try to guess the movie. Our table was HORRIBLE at this game- HA! We could come up with what the movie was about but couldn’t remember the titles. It also didn’t help that they chose very random scenes and not the popular scenes from the movies.
After all the “nominees” had a chance to eat, the program started. They first recognized faculty/staff who’d been there 5 years, then they did 10, 20, 25, and 30. (I think that was the break down.) They had a female student wearing an evening gown who would bring “the envelope” to Dr. Tim Johnson, so that he could present the award. Alex, the Wildcat, was also there and would periodically help out.
You don’t have to be around Sam for long to learn that he is OBSESSED with music. If he isn’t talking about something or asking “what is dat”, he is singing. He mainly alternates between singing various songs by The Gettys and singing various songs from Phantom of the Opera.
When we were at McAlister’s a couple of weeks ago, Sam noticed a posted advertising that our local high school was going to be performing Phantom of the Opera. I just casually commented about it and then said nothing else to Sam. That night, I talked to Travis and we decided it was a no-brainer… we would definitely be getting some tickets and going to the show! The performance weekend coincided with our Mississippi/New Orleans trip so the only date we stood a chance at making was the last performance on Sunday afternoon. Therefore, we left my parents VERY early that Sunday morning and made it back in time for the 2pm show. Whew!
Sam didn’t nap on the way back home so by the time the play started he was exhausted. He stayed awake during the auction and the first song (where the chandelier flies over the audience’s head) and then he crashed. He would momentarily wake up at the end of each song and clap though. It was funny. Well, he was good to go once intermission started and after a potty/water break, he eagerly watched the last half. He was SOOOO excited because his favorite song, Masquerade, kicks on the second half so he clapped and sang along. It is so funny to watch a 3 year old enjoy a play as dark and “scary” as Phantom. However, I don’t think he realizes it is semi-scary. He just loves the music.
I took a couple of pictures but, I took them with my phone so they are super quality…
Before…
It was amazing! Pineville High is a magnetic school for the arts so these students are SUPER talented. I am so excited about living so close because we definitely plan on seeing more plays. They usually perform three a year. I’ve heard that this coming year, they plan on doing Footloose and Wizard of Oz. I don’t know what the third performance was supposed to be. What a great way for people to see performances without traveling to Broadway or paying high prices for an off-Broadway performance. I LOVE IT! (and so did Sam!)
At least once a week we have a family game night. All of our games that we had in NC are still in the POD so we took advantage of some Target sales to get some new games to add to our collection (if we ever get to unpack our POD)- Chutes & Ladders, Simon Flash, and Cooties are the 3 we play with Sam. Last night, I got slaughtered in Cooties. I took pictures of our bugs after the game to serve as proof. Sam’s cootie is the top one, Travis is in the middle, and I am on the bottom. It was awful!!
Awhile back, I purchased a Groupon that got Travis and I into a tour of a alligator ranch on the Northshore (north shore of Lake Ponchatrain for my non-local buddies.) So, the Saturday we were leaving New Orleans, we got up early, packed, and headed across the lake. We got there a bit too early so we drove though nearby Abita Springs, LA. It is a fairly small town and so it didn’t take us long at all. 🙂
Once our tour started, we met our tour guide- Jim. You could definitely tell he is used to giving tours to kids. He was highly entertaining and goofy.
He taught us a TON about alligators. I wish I had blogged this earlier while it was still fresh on my mind. However, life happened and so here is what I STILL remember…
1- There are more alligators in Louisiana than in the rest of the world combined! I think the estimate is there is an alligator for every 2 people that live in our state.
2- To tell the difference in boys and girls, you have to flip them over and look inside this hole on their belly. If you see a “boy part” (Jim’s words), it is a boy. If nothing is there, it is a girl.
3- It takes about 4-5 years for a gator to grow to 4 feet in the wild. It takes about a year at the ranch for them to get that big.
4- ALL alligator eggs hatch in August. I can’t remember the full explanation but I do remember that.
5- The sex of the alligator is determined by the temperature of the egg: 93 degrees- all boys, 86 degrees- all girls, 89 degrees- mixture of boys and girls. I am recalling those temperatures from memory so I might be off 1 degree. 🙂
6- The difference between an alligator farm and an alligator ranch is the gene pool. 🙂 Ranches collect their eggs from the wild and hatch them. Farms collect their eggs from the alligators they keep on their property. The guy on “Swamp People” who hunts gators with just himself and his dog, runs an alligator farm. Insta-Gator Ranch (where we were) is the oldest alligator ranch in Louisiana. Alligator ranches were created awhile back in order to help up the dwindling supply of alligators. Alligators help with population control by keeping other “pests” at bay (nutria, anyone?) and who wants an animal to become extinct (well, except for mosquitoes)? A ranch harvests, hatches, grows, and releases back into the wild the majority of the alligators they raise. They do sell some for meat, souvenirs, skins, etc. I don’t know how they decide which ones they do that to- maybe the weaker ones? Alligator farms, to my understanding, just grow alligators for tourists, meat, skins. They don’t do a lot of releasing back into the wild.
7- I already knew this but still think it is cool… Alligators have 3 eyelids. An upper and lower like people but then they have a third which opens/closes sideways and is kind of clear. This third one covers their eye when they are swimming under water in order to provide protection for the eye yet still allow the gator to see. Just another example of God’s majesty. 🙂
The first thing we saw were life-size drawings of the average size male and female above the largest alligator ever caught. It was caught by Mr. McIlhenny down on Avery Island, LA. If this name doesn’t sound familiar- check out your Tabasco bottle. He was the creator of Tabasco. His alligator was 19’2″. WOW!! If you ever go tour the Tabasco plant, you can see a picture of him with his gator.
The tail on the bottom gator, is actually completed on two pieces of wood that swing out. It wasn’t open when I snapped this picture. It is HUGE!
Since this is an alligator ranch, that is the majority of what they have. However, so you can easily see the differences in alligators and crocodiles, they do have one crocodile. Jim said she is mean and they need a bigger tank. She was VERY active when the curtain was pulled back so we could see her.
Here she is up close. Note: her upper teeth show when her mouth is closed (gators show their bottom) and she has a pointy nose (gators are more flat/square)
When then watched a video of how they harvest the eggs. Basically, they have a little airplane fly over the marshes (gators nest in marshes not swamps) and when he spots a nest he drops a weighted bamboo stick with a flag on it and it ALWAYS sticks up in the air. Then there are guys in a boat who come by and harvest the eggs. They have to be careful though- momma gators aren’t protective of their eggs but they are protective of the nest. After the eggs are collected, the momma will come back and rebuild the nest- even though their are no eggs. If the eggs hatch in the nest though, THEN the momma becomes protective of her babies. While the guys are harvesting the eggs, they draw a line on the top of them so they know how the egg was laying in the nest. That way, when they get them back to the ranch, they place the egg “right side up” to finish incubating. If the egg is laid upside down, the gator actually drowns inside the egg!
Replica of a nest…
Yes, those are marshmallows. The first time I experienced feeding gators marshmallows was on a swamp tour back in seminary and I thought that was the crazies thing ever. Apparently, it is a popular snack for alligators. HA HA!
While we were in there, Jim actually tossed a mouse into one of the tanks. See the little gray thing swimming in the middle of the picture below? That is the mouse.
Then he shows us the throat of an alligator. Normally, when an alligator opens his mouth you can’t see down their throat. That is because they have a flap there to prevent water from going in while they swim and subsequently drowning themselves. However, he was able to pull on the gator’s mouth/throat/skin and get the flap to open for us. Very neat!
Then he held the gators mouth closed while a little boy in our group taped the mouth shut. Please know that if Sam had been with us he would’ve been denied this “opportunity”. 🙂
Travis made a movie, while in the barn, of the mouse hunt and the gator being caught. It is below…
I really wish the video had “smell-o-vision” capabilities. That barn STUNK! It was rough.
By this time, it was time for us to continue on our tour and leave the barns. However, our taped gator made the trip with us.
Jim brought him around and showed us their 3rd eyelid (I took the picture right after he closed his entire eye though) 😦
Then our gator was placed on the grass so Jim could demonstrate how well they jump. Our guy didn’t like jumping and so the only time he jumped, I missed the picture.
Apparently, that does something to them and makes them disoriented so they go to sleep. Crazy!
Part of our group on package included the chance to hold a gator. So, after Jim woke the gator back up (flipped him right side up again), we got to hold the gator. I failed to get a picture of Travis holding the gator because I was trying to get my phone to take a picture. HA HA! However, the ranch had a guy there taking pictures of us and so I scanned his picture of Travis.
After everyone who wanted to got their picture made with the gator, we moved on to our next “activity”- catching gators!!
They have a fairly small pool where baby gators live and we learned how to catch and release gators. It was so much fun! Yes, their mouths were taped shut while we were doing this.
Video of me catching the gator…
After those initial pictures we both just enjoyed catching and releasing gators. It was fun and they feel so neat- dry and smooth. It is really cool. Once our catching time was up, our tour was over so we headed inside to pick up the pictures of us holding the gator and then hopped in the car to meet some friends for lunch before getting back to MS to my parents, grandma AND SAM!
This was a very fun event and I would DEFINITELY like to take Sam when he gets a bit older. I think he would definitely enjoy it.
The Friday that we were in New Orleans last week, Travis was in meetings from 7:30 am – 9:00 pm. Needless to say, I had a lot of hours to entertain myself in the big city of NOLA. I thought of TONS that I could do but, I really ran a couple of errands that morning, picked up lunch/supper for myself, and hung out in the hotel. It was VERY relaxing. I did take pictures throughout the day so I could blog about my activities. HA! 🙂
The first thing I did was go to the Aveda Institute and get my hair cut. This is an Aveda school so you get a “designer” haircut for $15-18. This was how we would always get our hair cut when we lived there. I love it! We have recently discovered that there is an hair styling school up here in Pineville so the next time I am due a haircut, I will try them out.
After Aveda, I walked across the street (side street- not a busy street) and picked up groceries that I have yet to find in Cenla- bulk foods and special gluten-free yummies. I took my time and enjoyed my leisurely stroll through Whole Foods- I spent almost 2 hours in there! HA! When I got back to the hotel, I took a picture of my “loot.”
In the top of the picture above: approximately 2 pounds each of dried beans (kidney, pinto, and black), rice (brown), and quinoa. In the bottom: the yummies- quinoa mac and cheese, hamburger buns, cereal, cinnamon rolls (we had them this morning- GAG!), and a butterscotch blondie. I figured I could splurge on some treats since none of these items can be found up where we live (except the quinoi mac and cheese- WF had it on sale so I grabbed the last two boxes they had.)
Then, I headed back towards the neighborhood where we lived just prior to Katrina, Old Metairie, to try another GF pizza joint- Naked Pizza. It is carry-out only so I ordered my medium pizza (the only size you can get as GF) and then went back to the hotel for a picnic. I ordered a ham, pineapple, and mushroom pizza. It was good- it wasn’t Mark Twain good though. This one did have a cardboard aftertaste. However, I don’t know when I will have another pizza I don’t have to make myself so I am not complaining. 🙂
As I was finishing up my lunch and organizing my WF loot, I heard the Blue Angels flying overhead so I ran across the street and took pictures. I have already blogged about that so if you just keep reading, you will come to that post. Once they stopped practicing, I went back to the hotel and started uploading pictures, attempted to bring the blog up-to-date, and watched some craft shows on TV- all at the same time. HA!
Supper time arrived, and I ate the other part of my pizza from lunch. Then I read some books on my Kindle and watched more TV while I waited on Travis to get back in. FINALLY, he arrived and we headed downstairs to go with the group down to the French Quarter to eat at Cafe Du Monde. The two guys leading the study Travis was participating in had never been. WOO HOO! Free trip to the quarter! I was excited.
Our table… (sadly, beignets aren’t gluten-free… however, it is getting easier and easier to not feel remorse over not being able to eat former favorite foods)
As mentioned in my post about the Blue Angels, it was Navy Week in NOLA. As we were leaving, we took the “long way” back to the car and got as close as we could to the Naval Destroyer that was docked. In the daytime, civilians could board but not at night.
Sam decided he wanted to practice writing his name while I cooked supper last night. I am not going to argue with that! I printed off a couple of sheets with his name typed on them and he went to town. He looks like such a big kid in this picture…
Sam had another wee ball game. This one was kind of crazy! Sometime while he was running the bases after his first at bat, he wets his pants because he didn’t know to tell his coach he needed to go potty. 😦 He comes in and tells that he “pee pee’d” and so I immediately make a run to the car (NOT close by) to see what kind of clothes I have that he can change into- his pants, socks, shoes, and undies were soaked. Gross! I get to the car and managed to find a pair of pants that SHOULD fit just not be too long. The undies I have, are definitely too small, and I have no socks or shoes. Bummer! I get the pants, and his wet bag from our cloth diapering days (I LOVE the bag) and head back to his dugout. Travis and I QUICKLY changed his pants when his team came back off the field and so he was able to play one entire inning in dry pants. Whew! I didn’t document any of the wet pants part of the game because it was a bit crazy. However, I did take a photo of Sam eating his apples at Wendy’s before the game- he had decided he would dip them in ranch dressing. GROSS!!
Bay St Louis, MS has recently built a splash pad. This afternoon, while I was taking pictures of Blue Angels, my dad emailed me a few pictures of Sam at the splash pad. I thought they were cute and so I am posting them on the blog.
Travis and I are currently at NOBTS for him to participate in some kind of research done by an external agency regarding NOBTS’ PhD department. That is all I understand about the program. 🙂
When we got here yesterday afternoon, we were headed to visit my old boss and heard a REALLY loud noise. As we walked across the parking lot, I looked up and saw a BEAUTIFUL blue plane with yellow tips on the wings and immediately recognized it as a Blue Angel! I was Christmas morning giddy. I’ve always wanted to see a performance of the Blue Angels. Well, the fly-overs kept up and so we attempted to take photos with our phones and I made a couple of videos. This is the best picture I was able to get with my phone.
Here are the videos I made…
I wish the microphone could convey just how LOUD they are. It is amazing! I was really expecting a sonic boom.
This afternoon, I was hanging out in the hotel room and I hear what sounded like one flying over the hotel. I then got a text from Travis telling me they were back. My regret from yesterday was that I didn’t get a chance to get pictures with my “good camera”- well, regret no more! My camera, phone, and myself be-bopped across Gentilly Blvd and I spent the next hour (?) shooting planes. HA! 🙂
Here is the one video I took today…
They are performing an air show on Saturday and so they have been practicing yesterday and today. This entire week has been special in New Orleans as they are celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812. There are “Tall Ships” down on the Mississippi River and I am hoping to get down there tonight (with Travis, of course) and get some pictures. I think we will be too late to actually go on board but that is OK. This is definitely making what was going to be a “fairly boring” trip (for me) VERY exciting.
Our Wrightings 