Not everyone knows that my dad was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and that his whole family still lives there. Growing up we made many 12 hour car trips to visit our family. We grew up eating oysters and crayfish (I never did eat the crayfish because they came to the table with their heads still on!) and lots of meals were flavored with creole seasoning. Recently my parents, the 3 kids, and I loaded up in the van and, yes, drove 12 hours to Baton Rouge to visit with the Crais side of the family.
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| Pitcher Plants-they eat insects! |
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After many hours in the car-we all needed a walk around the bayou. This is at a Sandhill Crane Refuge Center in Mississippi.
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After 2 days of traveling we made it to Louisiana.
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| My dad and his mom-I call her Grammie! |
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| Annalise meets her Great-Grammie. |
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| We did a lot of swimming on the trip-Annalise was doing her Ethel Williams impersonation. |
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| Aunt Suzanne and I at the waterpark with the kids. |
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| Annalise meets her cousin, Jordyn. Jordyn is 1 month older than Annalise and is the daughter of my cousin, Angela. |
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| Amelia with cousin Madison. |
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| Judah with cousin Andon. |
Since it was over 100 while we were in Louisiana-water was a necessary component of our activities.
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| One more visit with Great-Grammie and Great-PaPa. |
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| No trip to Baton Rouge is complete without a visit to-yes, it's true-LSU (my dad's alma mater) to see Mike the tiger. |
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| She may be wearing tiger ears, but she's a bulldog at heart. |
We had a great trip. It was a long car ride for Annalise, but was well-worth it. We had a lot of good food, great fun with cousins, and a special opportunity for the kids to meet their great-grandparents on my dad's side.
