Mom's turn: Date Night

My HH thought we might make up for our last night out, since it was a bust! So he took me to the Wine Loft for dinner and a stroll around the shopping center. How sweet is that…and I dressed up TWICE in two weeks. People might get the wrong impression, lol. Don’t worry…back in my pajamas!

Mom's turn: Mao's Mardi Gras

We introduced Mao to our Mardi-Gras traditions by taking her to a Baton Rouge parade, the Krewe of Orion, since she was going to be at Disney in Florida for actual mardi-gras. Baton Rouge is definitely not New Orleans…not very exciting, in other words, but I think she got the general idea. During the parades it’s custom to shout out “throw me somethin’ Mister!” and jump up and down with your hands in the air, the idea being the louder you are the more the float riders notice you and “throw you somethin’” – in this case, strings of plastic beads and other items. Christina enjoys wearing a mask.

“Masks have been worn in New Orleans during masked balls for centuries. Masking originated with secretive organizations (carnival crews) and the secret upper class. No one knew who they were and they could stay anonymous. The concept of wearing masks moved to the street where everyone would wear a mask and have a big celebration on the street.”

Unfortunately it was chilly and windy, but they giggled over some of the silly dancers, caught several beads and cups, laughed over one float in particular, and listened to the bands…my favorite was the bagpipe brigade.

Mom's turn: Uh...I live WHERE?

Okay – I thought I lived in south Louisiana…but I woke up yesterday morning in a fairytale winter wonderland! It was SNOWING –

Samson was confused..."this isn't my back yard!"

and not a wet and wimpy snow like we’ve had once or twice before, but a full blown snow storm! I think they said we ended up getting 3 inches in our area, but it sure felt and looked like more!

in pajamas...boy were we prepared!

It was AWESOME!!!! We all woke up to see the extraordinary event…before dawn (that was impressive enough, but were smiling too!!).

good thing we had finished knitting our hats - who knew there would be a snowstorm!?!?!?!?!

We played and ate and photographed until we were numb

then we went inside to watch from the warmth and comfort of the couch.

Samson decided to get warm in MY purple quilt...who said I would share ;-)

Teeny’s favorite part was NO SCHOOL!!!!!!! :-D See, she has a nice teacher after all!!! And the view of the snow stuck to the side of the giant pine trees across the street. Later, when it had cleared up a little, Travis, Samson & I went driving around to see the various snow men and get in the Christmas spirit.

this fine example was our neighbor's snowman

I must say it was very inspiring…I went home, wrapped presents, and finished my Christmas cards while sipping on eggnog :-D

Fantasy sushi!

Sushi is my ALL TIME favorite food! I LOVE sushi! Also, my favorite fruit is mango. So when we went to get sushi the other day at Kamado's, and they had the fantasy roll which had mango in it, we just had to try it! It was awesome and very nicely displayed! Kamado's is located 2 places: one is on Sherwood Forest and the other is on Bennington right off of College Dr. If you enjoy sushi I would highly recommend going and trying this roll! Enjoy!

Mom's turn: Back in the BIKE-saddle, again!

I found an awesome bike ride put on by B.R.A.S.S. to raise awareness for street safety and also increase art appreciation for the pieces all around Baton Rouge. It was the Velo des Arts that start/finished at the new state capitol.

“Starting at the state capitol we’ll head out through the downtown area on a 12 mile odyssey to view the public art scattered across our city’s landscape. Re-gathering at the Civic Center Complex we’ll head to Westdale Middle School to experience the much-debated and currently threatened student created sculpture. We’ll stop along the way to see other works of art including those in the B'nai Israel synagogue. On the return trip we’ll stop at Circa 1857 before returning to the capitol. At the capitol we will learn a bit about the art and architecture of the building before adjourning for the after party at Lafayette Park. We will receive our own personal commemorative t-shirt and enjoy food, drink, and the last Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge ‘Sunday in the Park’ with Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Carla Cook.”

My family was a bit reluctant at first because when we woke up the temperatures were a very nippy 41 degrees! And to a good ol’ Southerner – that’s FREEZING! They thought I had lost my mind!! However as the ride went along and they warmed up the smiles came out.

We saw several interesting things and learned quite a bit; that's nice since we actually live here! Our first stop was close to the starting point and we saw a motion sculpture that represented a flock of birds; Teeny and I were distracted with the awesome embroidered biking shirt and even cooler helmet, though. Then we moved on to the downtown buildings that incorporated intricate tile work with the native Louisiana iris and the state flower, the magnolia. See – there are some more smiles!! Next stop was close to the Centroplex

I love photostich...how cool is that - a panoramic shot!

with the infamous “paper clip dock” that is rumored to be up for destruction and a memorial to Martin Luther King. Then we went on to a synagogue. The first piece we saw was an intricate work celebrating the freedom of both Jews from the Holocaust and African-Americans. I also learned the difference between a holiday menorah (having 9 branches) and a traditional menorah (having only 7 branches) along with the fact that they allow no human art reference within the synagogue itself. We saw the torah, covered in some beautiful hand painted silk cloths, and kept in a cupboard, of sorts, with tiles on the front depicting the Jewish holidays that are celebrated. My favorite piece actually came at the end of our tour from the place I would have least likely expected, since I dislike the work as a whole. It was hidden inside the West Dale sculpture and it personified my family from one extreme to the other so perfectly that I couldn’t help but fall in love with it! I still do not like the sculpture and have the unlucky fortune to live in it’s vicinity; I do, however, have a much better appreciation for it and what it represents now.

Of course most rides are all about the shirt - and here is our super cool trophy that we got for this one!