Memorial Day weekend.....2013

Let me begin this post by saying I "stunk" at recording our weekend.  I didn't get any group family shots of us together and most of the day on Saturday, when our friends and family were there, I was too busy socializing and playing with grandbabies to stop and photograph what was going on.  Makes me sad too cuz I do like to have a running photo story of our families events! 
So, our weekend began on Friday when there was work to be done!  First things first....we have a big ol' tree in the drive into the cabin that has a big hole in it.  Everytime I've driven up, I think hmmmm..something needs to go in that hole.  And now there IS something there!! heh.

Cap'n cleaning out the hole!

He's camoflaged!!!  Perfect for the deer camp!!  Pretty cute, eh?!!

will get a better pic next time I go over there.

Then, there was garden watching to do!  We had to ride out to the vegetable/fruit garden that our middle boy has planted and is taking care of ..... cannot wait for the fresh tomatoes! He's got just about everything you can think of in it!

the farmer harvesting his first batch of squash and zucchini!

On Saturday morn, while the cap'n is cooking breakfast for everyone....

uncle josh and hailey are having a "talk" with ms. sweetcheeks!

and dad is taking care of his business while carrying around the lil sack of taters...ms. sweetcheeks #2!

don't think that just because this little one is about to "pop" that she gets outa the work around there!

but she also got to get a lil practice in too!!!

After breakfast, there was some 4-wheeler riding to do!

that little girl loves her uncle josh...

and she really loves her daddy!

We had a little get-together on Saturday afternoon and I got busy putting some appetizers together.

Everyone liked these!  Won Tons wrapped around a slice of pepper cheese and a dill pickle. Brushed with butter and sprinkled with black sesame seeds and baked.  The mix of the baked wrapper around the hot of the pepper cheese and crunch of the pickle was pretty tasty!!

 But can you believe this is the only food pic I got all day??? Unforgivable. We had lots of snacks and Cap'n barbequed ribs, sausage and boudin.  Then cooked fried fish, french fries, hushpuppies....for everyone to enjoy!

And of course, a little white sangria to quench the thirst on a warm breezy afternoon!

Rachel had a birthday earlier in the week and we wanted her to know we were thinking about her!

Katie Jane and Lilli were dressed so cute for the party

Little Mr. Austin got to meet his new cousin for the first time....um....he was a lil perplexed!

and really wondered what was up when his mom was holding new cousin!!

Lilli and Austin had a blast together. This was really the first time they had gotten to play since he's been walking...he loves her!

Wild Man!!

Cousins first bath together with uncle matt being the supervisor!!

 

And one of my dear peeps loves to hold the new babies!!

It was a lovely time we had.  So neat to get the loved ones together to just enjoy each other's company with good friends, good food, good drink and lotsa love!

Only thing that would have made it better is if I had gotten just one group shot of the whole gang!!

Look out 4th of July.......I WILL get it then and we may have another brand new member of our family by then.......WOOOOOHOOOOOO!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memorial Day weekend re-cap coming soon to a blog near you!!!!

But this ol' YaYa has to rest a bit first!! All of the bones in mah body are hurtin' this morning!
But "rest" being a non-relevant term.....pilates and then hair appt MUST be done with many errands in between the two first thing today....Back Soon!!

From Ducks and Frogs to Tutus!!

My, oh my...........how a little girl can change!  One afternoon, she's swimming with me in all of her swimming gear ~ ~ and the next, she's a sweet princess all dressed up in her first ballet recital gear!!

riding with her Cap'n while he paddles the board!

Time is going by waaaaay too fast!

 

Cajun Style Ribs!

30 something yrs ago, a very good friend and PARRAINE...Cajun word, often used in Southern Louisiana, meaning "God Father"...to one of my sons gave me a recipe and showed me how to make these easy peasy ribs!  You use Country Style Pork Ribs....you know, the really inexpensive kind!!

Generously season them with Zatarains Crab Boil.  It's what we use for our crawfish boils and to cook shrimp also.

Put them into a boiliing pot and boil for about 15 min...till they start to get tender.  Then turn off heat and let them sit in the seasoned water for 15-20 min. This will assure they are quite tasty!

Take them out and put on tray to cool.  Yes, they look a lil gross at this point but just wait!  Oh and I forgot.  I threw a bunch of whole cloves of garlic into the boiling water. That's what the little white things on top of the ribs are.  I used them on the toasted french bread.

After they are cool, get your fingers dirty by rolling each rib in you most favorite barbeque sauce. This is ours and its so secret that it's in an unmarked bottle.   T-bacon -- shhhhhhhh!!

After you've covered them in sauce, grill them for just long enough to heat them up and get a good char on them and the barbeque sauce caramelizes.

I have to say that even those this cut of rib has alot of fat on them, the boiling takes alot of that out. The crab boil really gives them a different  taste.

And they are Y-U-M-M-Y!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Little Boy that Thought He Could!!!

Once upon a time, there was a boy....actually a man boy.....who dreamed of sailing the seas as the captain of his ship.  He worked and worked and worked a long life and finally succeeded in making his dream come true.  On one of his adventures to Central America, specifically Guatamala, he came across a KAY-U-KA!  Now, you might be wondering, what the hell is a kay-u-ka??  Well, you know what a kayak is, right?  Something like this.....

or a more modern version like this..

But for those of you who know our cap'n...I mean, this manboy....he doesn't always conform to what's new or modern.  He found himself a KAY-U-KA in Guatamala....bought it.....and had it shipped home!!  Crazy, I tell ya. 

Let me show you what it looks like before I begin the real story!

It is a hand carved wooden boat that the fishermen from the ages have used to catch their meals for themselves or to sell.

Here is a pic from one of our sailing trips to Central America.....he paddled right up to our boat and sold us fresh caught lobster!!

see the lobsters in the front of his boat?!!

It is very narrow and often water will seep into the boat.

Well..........yesterday, that manboy decided it was time to get in and paddle his KAY-U-KA up the river.  And here is where the hilarity begins....

Putting it into the water...

                                     

easing down into it...

hmmmmm....that didn't work so well.

Let's try again!

he decided that he needed to start off in the center of the boat this time...

Hmmmmm....maybe if I try just one more time....

The Little Boy thought He Could .....but found out that maybe he couldn't!

So, hmmmmmm...what to do, what to do?  In typical manboy/cap'n fashion, I hear him saying,

"I need to go find a little Guatamala sized girl on the river to get this done!!!"

So, he did!!!! 

We can always count on our cap'n to follow thru on any goal he sets for himself!! heh!

This is the girlfriend of one of our neighbors down the river....she was glad to participate! (and she's tiny, which is a big plus for this type of boat!)

She took off, with Goose their dog, following right behind! She had NO problem keeping it afloat...

She paddled ALL OVER that river....never going down!

Meanwhile, mom judy took off on the paddle board!

As soon as said neighbor realized what his girlfriend was doing?  You know where I'm going here.....he was set to prove that he could do it too!!

And it looked promising......until......

after we all stopped laughing, ms. you know who was right back in it to show us all how it's done!

Moral of this story??  KAY-U-KA's are built for little tiny people who have great balance!!

It was a fun Saturday afternoon!

Even for the little boy that thought he could!!