Our next big event of the summer was actually a weekend at my parents camp, but I don’t have pictures on my camera from that and it is better for me to just move along at this point and post what I’ve got! The weekend following our family time at the camp, we had a whole crew of family come on down from Shreveport, Bossier, W. Monroe area for the annual family reunion. I really appreciate how everyone travelled to see each other and made it a priority. Charles’ grandmother, both of his Aunts, Uncles and all the cousins and their spouses made it in (except one – missed you cathy and bj!). It was fun to have Audrey and Will get to know their second cousins and see so many little ones together.
my mother in law rented this awesome water bouncy slide.. we just cracked up at how the kids would fly off of it.
Here is the audience:
I got on water balloon duty…
Here is our oldest family member with the youngest.. MaMaw and Joplin.. how sweet!
Aunt Sandra with Jackson, Braiden, Alivia, Journee and Audrey… Kids were taking a break from the water slide.
Charles and I were taking a turn at monitoring/lifeguarding the littles:
All 10 of Charles’ cousins kids (and ours included too):
Will (yes asleep, we pulled him out the bed from a nap and he stayed out), Braiden, Jackson, Alivia, Miller, Madison, Journee, Keagan, Joplin and Audrey. The reunion was laid back and relaxing the guys got to go golfing and fishing and we all spent some time at the pool and of course watching the entertainment coming off of the bouncy slide. Good Times. Next year we will be able to add at least 2 more to the kid picture since 2 of us are pregnant and both expecting girls. That will make 4 girls within one year of each other… I can see lots of fun in future reunions for that crew!
The very same day all the family migrated back up to North Louisiana, we headed east to Cajun Palms Campground just past Lafayette. This place was like the most kid friendly / adult friendly place I have been to.. I was shocked that it was just right down the road and we never knew about it. Certainly Louisiana’s best kept secret! My mom and I both had our cameras out so unfortunately a lot of the pictures of the pool etc.. are on her camera and she is on vacation right now so I cannot access them. I’ll add them later.
When we arrived, we took a train ride around the camp ground for a whopping 25 cents a piece. We were impressed to see a little convenient store, amazing pools, sand volleyball courts, stocked fishing ponds, miniature golf course, movie theatre, a stage for live music and an awesome outdoor bar for the grownups. I told y’all it was awesome!! we stayed in some cabins right by the pool and they were equipped with a fridge, sink, stove/oven, small table, TV dvd player, two double beds, & bathroom with tub/shower. They had pizza on site that they deliver to your campsite or cabin as well as restaurants close by that also deliver. We had our own little back patio with a picnic table and grill that overlooked the stocked fishing ponds where the ducks walked right up. It was wonderful!
Audrey and some new friends trying to catch some fish.
The kids feeding the ducks off the patio:
We were squeezing the Cajun Palms outing in and really just wanted to check it out for a longer stay next year – so unfortunately we were there less than 24 hours. The kids (and I) could have been entertained there for a few days for sure. They did NOT want to leave!
A day or so later we started celebrating Audrey’s birthday. My mom bought a groupon for Club Tabby in Lake Charles for a makeover.. OH! she thought she was some kinda fancy!
The morning of her birthday I had the house decorated with balloons and streamers everywhere… this is now expected and not much of a surprise anymore with my kids… they know it is coming.
Next we all went out to lunch at Que Pasa (a mexican restaurant)
We surprised Audrey and the waiters/waitresses all came out singing and clapping – she was truly embarrassed and surprised! Her reaction was priceless!
Next up was a mani/pedi!
Every toenail was a different color:
The Reed girls were in Lake Charles from Sugar Land so they stopped in and got their toes done with Audrey too!
That evening (our last night there) we had a birthday dinner for Audrey complete with a Jo’s Party House cake. She is so lucky – she is the only one of us that gets this for our birthdays..
Will surely appreciated it!
She asked family for money so she could buy an iPod Touch…
Four Generations of McManemin Men:
We had a great night celebrating Audrey's birthday and then got the kids to bed and started packing. I totally underestimated this task.. it took HOURS. The next day we didn’t do too much, just hung out, had a somber lunch with family and then just decided to rip off the Band-Aid and get going. The goodbyes were sad, knowing that so much with our family will change by the next time we see everyone, but no one will really get to be a part it of except thru blessed technology. We do plan on returning at Christmas so the family can meet Julia, which made it much less painful – knowing that in a very very short time, we’ll be right back.
Here is Audrey all geared up ready for the plane:
ready for take off:
Bye Bye USA….
Even though the summer was amazing and the goodbyes were tough, being back home in Abu Dhabi felt oh so good.. 2 months away from your home is a long time – but I’ll do it every year.
As usual the kids did great on the flight – it was about 14 hours to Doha and then another 30 or so minutes to Abu Dhabi. We collected bags, luggage and strollers and then headed back to the villa. It was fun to watch the kids recognize stuff and realize that we were back home… even though it was midnight and our days and nights were totally off. From a pregnancy point of view, I don’t think I would ever fly that far again this late in the pregnancy (35 weeks). It was pretty extremely uncomfortable – to the point where I just had to knock myself out with Benadryl to just endure it. My feet were swollen like marshmallows and my legs were extremely achy. Thankfully it only took about 2 days for them to go back to normal.
It was all 100% worth it in the end and now as we expect Julia any minute now I can look back on our summer with such fond memories and a special time with my two big kids and all of our families before our world is about to change.
Abu Dhabi Time
2 comments:
What a good read for this morning... as I monitor/play with/herd my 3. I can't wait to see you with 3. Christa you are such a fantastic mama! And don't worry- there is another baby who WILL be surprised by all the balloons on her birthday!
Such a great post! We keep hearing about Cajun Palms...glad to know ya'll had fun there- will have to check it out! I am super excited about baby Julia and I am counting the days until I see your post title about her arrival!!!
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