Bang for your buck

It turns out the more you don't post on your blog, the more you can't post on your blog. I have all the usual excuses of too much work and too many children (depending on the hour and the mood, two can be too many) and the upshot is: I got stage fright. We were doing all these interesting things and I'd think, I can't write about that, it's been ages since I've written and I'm all out of practice and all my events are out of order.

So I didn't write... but suddenly I've remembered, when it doubt – pad with pictures.

Now without further ado (a phrase my high school headmaster loved, and which always preceded more ado), here's all the stuff and all the photos, in no particular order.


After determinedly avoiding long car trips for the whole of Kickbaby's eight months, we ran into Nathan's mom's 60th birthday. She lives in Texas, so we had to man up and drive the technically-ten-hours there. I say "technically" because that's how long it takes sans kids. With two kids, you have to make many stops and also stay overnight in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Our first night back in Texas, we went to the Fort Worth Rodeo.


Ever since, Berry has been saying "Remember at the radio, that clown did fall off that yittle yittle horse?" Yep, a two-second prank fall was the highlight of the radio.


There was a midway too. The midway had many, many highlights. Nathan took her on the Teacups, and the spinning strawberries, and bought her pizza, and we took her to the petting zoo. She was most taken with a baby rabbit that she found hiding behind a broom at the exit. Of course.


In Dallas, the kids met their cousin little P for the first time. She's just turned one, so she and Kickbaby spent their time crawling and getting into mischief and experimentally pulling each other's hair.


To be fair, Kickbaby did do the bulk of the hair-pulling. He's excitable like that. Berry spent a lot of time hugging them both and saying, in her best Southern sorority-girl voice, "Awwwwwwwww, they're so so cuuuuuuuuute!"


A little while back, Berry got her first hair cut. I took her to see our friend Natalie in Ocean Springs and when I told Berry where we were going she said, "Is Miss Natalie going to paint my hair?" Just another reminder that this three-year-old has indeed seen too much hair-colouring on the salon section of What Not To Wear.


I took the kids to New Orleans during mardi gras for the Krewe of Thoth parade, emboldened by the fact that it was a day parade and by the fact that Stu and Rikki live right on the parade route. Friends, food, facilities – right there.

Berry had some King Cake, and almost tottered under the weight of her bazillion beads.


Kickbaby ate organic rice snacks and charmed a couple of nine-month-old girls from the comfort of his stroller.


And I survived. A good day all round.


I spent a lot of time with the letterpress, printing hundreds of beautiful baby announcements. More on that (and pictures) when I feel sure they've all been sent out. I'd hate to steal any thunder. Inserting random Berry picture here, so I'm not tempted to give any sneak peeks....


We went to Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, for the traditional Cajun Mardi Gras which is entirely different to the New Orleans mardi gras. But I have so many pictures from that day, I'll have to make it into a separate post.

Stay tuned. But don't hold your breath...