Gone Country

Yes, I have been AWOL. But I have a good reason! We went to visit my sister Andrea in deep country Louisiana. My kids LOVE going to see Aunt Andrea. They will talk about it for weeks before and weeks afterwards. Ella doesn't waste a moment after we get there to put on her cowgirl persona:

Though this cute little thing:

is quick to remind everyone that she's the real cowgirl there. Isn't she a doll? She's so chubby and cute! You just want to squish her. She's my niece.

Alex loves Aunt Andrea's too. See:

"I love Aunt Andrea's! But I've got to say, I have ulterior motives for being here."

He sure does. The one and only reason he goes is for this:

"Yeehaw!" he says. When we first got there I was trying to let him pet the horses but he kept pointing behind them. I couldn't figure out what he was trying to say. Finally, I realized he was saying he wanted to get on the horses. He loves this.

He rode forever. Though he was nice and took turns with Ella.

She really wishes she could live with Aunt Andrea full-time and be a cowgirl.

They love riding. Now me? Not so much. I didn't bother this time after the fiasco last time.

Alex also got a few other tastes of country living. He got to ride on a tractor:

Okay. So technically that's a lawnmower, but he did get to ride on a tractor. I just didn't get a picture of it.

Alex also played in a lot of water and mud. Anywhere there was a puddle you were sure to find Alex in it. I probably changed his clothes 5 times a day. However, one day he picked the wrong puddle to fall in. You see, Andrea has a septic tank, and it's overflow drainpipe leads to a ditch in front of their house. And you guessed it, Alex found himself in it.

It was sooooooooo nasty!

He stank to high heaven. We hosed him off outside. Such fun.

We did all sorts of other fun things while we were there, but I saved them for other posts. I didn't want you to have to read a full novel at one sitting. Besides, it gives me something to blog about for the next few days! So stay tuned!!