Ponchatoula

This weekend we decided to hop in the van and take a little 45 minute trip up the road to Ponchatoula, LA, home of the Strawberry Festival.  The Strawberry Festival is in April, so we missed it by three months, but we always wanted to come back to Ponchatoula to look around in all the antique shops in their downtown area and stop at a big produce stand there, Berry Town Produce.  Our first stop was...

The Ponchatoula Bakery.  Of course the first thing Peyton wanted to do was eat!

These cookie things were so good...peanut butter cookie with a whole Reese's cup.  They were huge.  Peyton savored every bit of her cookie.  We had to drag her out of there. 

She probably would have licked the crumbs off of the floor if I would let her.  HA!  Our payment for treating her to such a delicious, but rich and possibly the kind that gives you a tummy ache snack: a ridiculously smelly diaper that afternoon.  (We're still working on the whole potty training thing.) 

After the bakery, we stopped in a few antique shops just to look.

Who takes a 2 year old to antique shops?

She was swatting me away because she was mad.

Look at that face.

And then there's Raegan, happy as a lark.  :)

 

We finished at the produce place where I bought corn, okra, grape tomatoes(Peyton's favorite), peaches, blueberries, avocado, cucumbers, cherries, plums, a cantaloupe, a watermelon, and strawberry preserves. So we should be good with fruit for a while!

Raegan's Favorite Thing

Raegan's favorite thing to do these days is push Peyton's tricycle around the living room. For the first time in her little ten month old life, she actually fussed when I picked her up last night because she was having such a good time pushing it around and around and around. That onesie that she has on?  Yeah, it's for three month olds.  Raegan's a little shorty, though the onesie is starting to get a little short as you may can tell.

Summer Days

I was thinking today about how much I love summer and some of my favorite things to do.  What are your favorite things to do during the summer?  Here are some things I love to do and some things I love about summer...

*I love fans in the summer and open windows.  I'm okay if it's a little warm in the house, as long as some fans are going.  Fans and open windows remind me of childhood.

*I love walking barefooted through the grass.  Arnold calls me a redneck when I do this, but he's just jealous because he's not a redneck.  This also reminds me of childhood. 

*I love going swimming!  I don't get to do this too much, even though we have a pool ten steps from our front door.  (It's too much work to haul all of our stuff out there!)  My mom's neighbor has a pool with a sliding board, and we went over and swam when I was in SC.  I was like a kid going down that sliding board and jumping off the diving board.  

*Getting to go on vacation.  I still get just as excited about this. Who doesn't??

*It's so nice to look out your window at 8 pm and still see daylight.

*I love sitting on the porch and doing nothing.  One day I will have a porch with a rocking chair....

*I love going for a walk outside.  I don't care if it's 100 degrees with 80% humidity (which is usually the case in New Orleans), I still love going on walks. 

*ICECREAM!!!  I have become addicted to icecream lately.  My favorite is Cold Stone Creamery.  OH my goodness!  Or Cinnamon Buns from Ben and Jerry's (can't afford this one too often though!)  But the best is homemade icecream.  I remember my family sitting under the trees at my grandmother's house a few times when I was growing up and making homemade icecream. You can't beat that.  Just throw some watermelon in the picture, and that is summer. 

What do you love about summer?

Little Red Wagon

The hit of the party this past weekend...the little red wagon.  Peyton loved pulling Raegan around, and Raegan loved riding around.  I forgot how fun wagons could be. 

Partners in Crime

After we got back from Monroe last night, I was in a de-cluttering/organizing mood.  I left the girls in Peyton's room while I started on our closet.  I should have known when Peyton shut the door and I heard giggling from BOTH girls that something was going on.  Deep down I think I knew what they were doing, but they were being SO good and I was getting so much done...want to know what they were doing so quietly?

This is not what the bookshelf should look like.

Partners in Crime

Random Friday Facts

1. After spending 24 round trip hours in the car with my kids on vacation, Veggie Tales is on a constant loop in my head.  How do you get your brain to stop singing, "I LOVE my lips!"? 

2. And the Veggie Tales will never end because this weekend we're going to Monroe to see Arnold's family for the 4th.

3. I LOVE grilling out, and I think that's what we're going to be doing this weekend!  It's the 4th!!!

4. My friend Michael sent me a link about Cheerwine filled Krispy Kreme doughnuts during the month of July. Awesome!!!

5. Raegan is 10 months old and her first tooth is nowhere in sight.  Is this normal?

6. I am almost done reading the book Radical by David Platt.  You need to buy this book immediately and read it if you haven't already. 

7. I hope you have a great 4th! 

What I love about SC

Want to know a few things I love about South Carolina?

An ice cold bottle of Cheerwine, a regional soft drink unique to the Carolinas.  I love this stuff!

Peaches!!!  South Carolina is known for their peaches and used to produce more peaches than even Georgia.  Not sure if this is still the case.

Farm Fresh blackberries from a local produce stand.  We made a blackberry cobbler with these.

Who can go the whole summer without eating a juicy cantaloupe?