14 months

It was another busy month for the May family. Lots and lots and lots and lots of travelling which resulted in lots of firsts for Connor. First time at the beach, first time in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas (technically), first visit to the zoo, and first time in a lake. My little squishy is gaining TONS of personality lately as well and is so funny to watch! We have gotten a lot of new videos of him recently but haven't uploaded them yet. Hopefully I will remember to do that soon.

He...

*has started singing and 'playing' Micah's guitar

*can climb on the couch all by himself

*dances whenever he hears music which includes when he's the one singing

*uses a spoon and a fork

*has added his own version of milk, ball, water, and baba (paci) to the word list

Micah is enjoying Connor even more lately as well and loves when he will actually play with him. He doesn't quite understand that Connor is not ready to play for long periods of time yet but I promised him before long he will so I hope Micah is still wanting his little brother to hang out when that happens!

louisiana: Natchitoches

Natchitoches, LA is the filming location for Steel Magnolias. It was only 30ish minutes north of Leesville so we decided to go there Tuesday morning before we left for home. It was well worth the 2 hour detour. We didn't do much. We walked down along the front shops stopping only for a few souvenirs (we buy ornaments everywhere we go) and to go in the general store. They have the most random collection of items in general stores!! They had glass bottled cokes right when you walk in which I just couldn't resist, a large display of vintage toys in the back that we played with for quite sometime, and rack of cowboy hats that Micah needed to try on.

We walked back along the river, the Cane River, which was where the Christmas Festival and Easter Egg Hunt were filmed. We went to Lasyone's Meat Pie Restaurant for lunch. YUM YUM YUM!!! After lunch we said our goodbyes, jumped in the car, but HAD to make a quick stop on the street to take a picture in front of the Steel Magnolia's house.

12 hours, and many potty stops, later we pulled in to our driveway exhausted but happy!

louisiana: texas and sunsets

Our last full day was a sightseeing extravaganza. We took Micah on his first canoe ride and paddled around a curve to see the trailer Justin was living in when they first met. We also drove 20 minutes so that Zach and I could say we have been to Texas :) Next stop was Fort Polk where Justin was working/stationed/whatever military word you use. We came back to devour a DELICIOUS fried fish dinner and then went to the dock to enjoy an amazingly beautiful sunset. The evening ended with a sing a long by the fire and roasted marshmallows.

(Micah took this picture!)

louisiana: the 4th

It was nice being away from Conyers for the 4th this year. The last two years Zach and I haven't been together for this holiday. Two years ago we were technically at the same location but our church band (which he leads) were doing cover songs for our barbecue picnic the whole time so I saw him only. Last year he did that again while I went home to Enterprise to see my family and aunt and cousins who were visiting from Chicago.

After church that morning we spent the rest of the afternoon eating yummy barbecue and sitting/swimming/playing in the lake. All the kids were asleep for about an hour and a half so I actually got to relax in the water. It was nice :) Micah loved the lake. I think it had a lot to do with the lack of waves like the ocean ;) He swam with his floaties on and sat FOREVER on a big float with Zach. It was one with a mesh middle so it felt like his only private pool. Connor loved the water the first five minutes we were in it on Friday and then decided he didn't like the mushy bottom sucking him down. He finally sat with me in the water for awhile and was content but he mostly just liked standing on the ladder part of the baby slide feeling like the king of the world. Silas was a dang fish. He crawled everywhere since it was very shallow and cared nothing at all whenever he fell under. Amazing how different kids can be!

That night after Connor and Silas were asleep we went to the Louisiana Lions Camp to watch the fireworks. Steph's grandfather was the director there for many years and still lives on the property. In fact her whole family are the ones who put the fireworks display on. We already knew going in that Micah would be TERRIFIED of the noise but we've been working on plugging our ears during scary noises instead of leaving or freaking out. He was visibly nervous the entire time and whenever he's fingers slipped he'd start to cry but you could tell he liked the colors and bursts so Zach helped him with the ear plugging thing and he made it through the whole thing. I was a proud mama!

embrace the camera: 4th

Love is plugging your son's ears during the fireworks when his hands are too tired.

louisiana: zoo

Last Friday we woke up BRIGHT AND EARLY to follow the Moons down to Louisiana to visit Steph's hometown. 12 hours later we arrived in Leesville, LA at her parents house on Lake Vernon. The girls and babies headed straight to the water while the boys headed straight to the boat for some fishing.

Saturday we headed to Alexandria (a.k.a Alex pronounced 'elek' FYI Nothing in Lousiana is spelled how it looks!) to go to the zoo. It was Connor and Silas's first zoo experience. There were lots of native animals and some out of towners as well. Micah loved the alligators and seriously stared through the glass at them for a good 15 minutes. The only sad part of the day was that Micah didn't want to ride the train. This was technically only sad for me because I love riding them but would look stupid doing it childless!!

Next Up the 4th!

embrace the camera

Better late than never :) We got in from the beach midnight last Friday and since then have had two birthday parties (both for Zach, one friend, one just us) and ten tons of errands to run for out next travel marathon to Louisiana. Before we left however we wanted to squeeze in a little extra family time so we took advantage of our Kids Bowl Free coupons and had a family bowling night. We got through one and a half games before Connor decided he was D.O.N.E! I love Micah's posture in the first picture. He looks like he's willing the ball down the lane. So cute!