New Orleans

We spent one day in New Orleans. It was such a unique cool city. Unlike anywhere I had been before. While we were there a free Jazz festival going on so there was music everywhere. Deacon was dancing to these street performers while we waited for our biegnets.

Right after he put a dollar in he took two out.

Us in front of Jackson square, or Sleeping Beauties castle, you choose.

This is where all the old people were listening to their old people music so naturally Grandma and Grandpa went and danced for thirty seconds (As long as Curt and I could stand the horrible cajun music)

Eating the glorious beignets. We were finding powdered sugar all ove for the rest of the night! So delicious!

The restuarant where those three fools tried alligator. Who wants to try alligator "just to try it? " not me! I do not care if it tastes like chicken! This restuarant was great because it was all open and you could here all the music and excitment all around. Loved New Orleans! Hard to imagine that at one point so much of it was flooded due to hurricane Katrina, really amazing and incredible to see it so alive.

Alligator Bayou

We went to a Bayou while in Baton Rouge and it was amazing! It was so cool to see such huge alligators and other creepy things. Going on this tour reminded me I am easily creeped out and that Deacon is such a boy!

Deacon could not even be bothered that there was a huge snake around his neck, I on the other hand stayed far away. Grandma was brave and stayed with Deacon. What is it about snakes? They totally give me the creeps.

This is a ten year old alligator that gave Curt back pain.

Please click on this picturea nd prepare to be creeped out. This is a Nutria- awater rodent. So gross. Also the curly haired little girl in this picture was crying her eyes out before the tour and would not let her mom put her down because she was afraid of the tour guides 100 year old sweet as pie black lab. Later I saw her holding a gator with a snake around her neck. I could not stop laughing.

The tour guide picked on my dad to hold this baby alligator and let all the little kids touch it. It was hilarious because this was one of the first alligators they showed us so it seemed scary. right after that they took us to see the full grown gators and they were HUGE! It was so fun and very educational, i reccomend it the next time you are in Baton Rouge.

Back from Baton Rouge!

We had so much fun on our trip to visit my Dad and Dana in Baton Rouge! On the last night we were there they invited over some families from their ward with kids Deacons age, here they are five boys and five ice cream cones!

This is at the LSU stadium in front of "Mike" the tiger. The real Mike is behind them in the cage but was not interested in waking up to see us.

Playing in Grandmas office at LSU. He loved running around campus and having everyone dote on him and give him treats.

This is in front of this great greasy spoon called Louies, Curtis ate his weight in cajun potatoes here. Sidenote, this picture is amazing mainly because of the reflection in the window.

He was so happy to play trains with Grandma and Grandpa all week long. We left these choo choos out all week and Deacon was happy as a clam. It was such a fun relaxing week spent with our family. I was sad to leave. When I asked Curt if he was sad to leave he said " No I am just excited to go back." Me too!

I love a good list

Reasons to stay in Baton Rouge:

-Lots of good food.
-The sweet music festival this weekend in New Orleans with the likes of James Taylor, Wilco, and Bon Jovi to name a few.
-I could really use another pile of Beginets. ( A french type of donut. wow.)
-Nothing but free time.
- Best neighborhood to jog, full of trees and pretty houses.
-Entertainment for Deacon every minute in the form of a Grandma and Grandpa.
-Canes!
-Awesome weather!
- A midday nap each day, nothing better.


Reasons to go home:

- Duke will be waiting, tail wagging!
- I cleaned the house before I left, so I get to walk into a clean house.
- No humidity! Yuck.
-Time to get serious about 1/2 marathon training.
-Miss my Utah family.
- A tivo full of precious tv.
- I need to see if my tulips survived the snow!

It is bittersweet to come home! We have had so much fun, I will miss my dad and Dana. They definitely know how to show out of towners a great time so hustle out here! Heres hoping Deacons second flight is as excellent as his first.

Lets just pretend this is healthy

Tonight in Baton Rouge I felt like a cake. After poking around in their cupboards I decided a pineapple upside down cake it should be. It was delish! And very simple to boot! So I decided to share it with my loyal following, my mom and my sisters (ha ha!) Here it is:

1/4 c butter (for melting)
2/3 c brown sugar
8 or 9 rings of pineapple
1 1/3 c whole wheat flour
1 c sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 c milk
1 egg
1/3 c shortening

Heat oven to 350 and melt 1/4 c butter in the pan, when butter is melted sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter. Arrange the pineapple rings over top. Mix remaining ingredients for about 3 minutes or until smooth. Pour the batter over that and bake for about 50 minutes. Here comes the trick, after you take the cake out of the oven take a serving platter (I used a foil covered cookie sheet for easy clean up) and place it on top, the flip! And you have a beautiful caramelized ooey gooey good cake! Ta da! And the whole wheat flour cut the sweetness just right so it was not sickeningly sweet. Try this cake, so easy and people will think your cool when you make it.

Blogging Recession

I am in the middle of a blogging funk. We are doing fun stuff and I have lots to say but I suppose just like the rest of the world I am in a recession. Right now we are in Louisiana having a good ole time eating way too many beignets and wrestling alligators. Catch up when we get back!