Cajun Connections

Since I've lost my dad and both of his parents, it's been very important to me to keep up my Cain connections. My best memories growing up involve family, and the Cain side of my family was all about crawfish boils, trips to the beach, crabbing, and cousins. As I got older, I began to realize how special all of my uncles and aunts are. Now that my dad is gone, I can't describe how much it warms my heart to be with people who knew who he was - faults and all - and still loved him. Grandmama and Papa's house was a place of love and fun. I can still see Grandmama sitting in her recliner talking to Papa even after he silently slipped out of the room to go tinker with something. Grandmama made the best rice and gravy, and one of the last things my dad did before he died was teach me how to make it.

While we were in Louisiana, my Cain family all met at Hollier's (which also makes a mean rice and gravy). Aunt Liz & Uncle Clay drove in from New Orleans, Aunt Karen & Uncle Benny organized the whole thing, Uncle Jud & Aunt Lupita came despite Aunt Lupita not feeling well, and Aunt Vera became James' new best friend. We had a great time eating lunch and talking. My cousin Ann is getting married Super Bowl weekend and there were several comments about her choice of date. Robert & Clay have boys around the age of my three monkeys, so it was fun to compare all of their stats.
Uncle Jud & James have a pretty riveting conversation. The boys ate lots of sausage (their Papa would have been proud), chicken, and rice then they ran around the back room of the restaurant like mad-men. They had a great time and loved being the center of all that attention. Of course, now that they are older, it takes them a little longer to warm up to people, but they sure did love their Cain relatives.
Aunt Liz had some great kid-friendly games on her iPhone which both Michael and Ryan LOVED.

Aunt Karen attempts to hold Ryan back from his destructive tear throughout the restaurant.
I'm pretty sure that Michael would have gotten in the car and gone home with Uncle Clay & Aunt Liz. They definitely have the grandma and grandpa spoil them rotten moves down pat. Notice Aunt Vera & James in the background. James would run around and make Aunt Vera chase him. If she stopped, he'd go back, get her attention, and then run away again. He loved every second of it.
Aunt Karen finally manages to tame Ryan's urge to run with her pink flower earrings. I'm pretty sure Alie didn't mind sharing her grammy for a little while, but I know that it was probably best that she was in Nebraska.
After our lunch with the Cains, we headed to Uncle Frank & Aunt Lynn Dee's house for a dip in the pool (by way of the snow cone stand). My biggest regret of the weekend is that my snow cone melted on the counter while I changed the boys into their swim gear. Ah, the sacrifices a mother makes.
Even Momo hopped into the pool for some fun with the boys. They had a blast swimming until the rain forced us all out of the pool.
Much like when I was a kid, Uncle Frank & Aunt Lynn Dee prefer to lounge along side the pool rather than get in. Of course, since I was younger, the number of fruit trees in the backyard has grown exponentially. I'm pretty sure Uncle Frank was meant to be a gentleman farmer.
Momo gives rides in the float. The boys love the freedom of playing in the water without being restrained. Of course, they don't mind taking a leap off of their safety net, either, so one must be vigilant.
Daddy does the dastardly deed of making the kids get out of the pool. For the first time, all three of the kids had a blast in the pool, and there were no tears from one more cautious little man (Michael). It was so much fun, but the crowd was getting hungry so we headed back to Momo's house for "LobsterFest." Uncle Frank cooked so much food that I'm still full from all of the lobster, shrimp, corn, potatoes, and crab legs.
Michael is not so impressed by Lucy the Lobster despite the entertaining song and dance Aunt Lynn Dee made her perform. Ryan, on the other hand, was all about the lobsters. That's my boy, lobster taste on a crawfish budget.
TWO Lobsters! How decadent! I'm pretty sure the one crawfish I was allowed to torture into submission during family boils was much less expensive than these shellfish. Uncle Frank & Aunt Lynn Dee do know how to spoil a boy.

It's on, Lucy, hit me with your best shot, I'll take you down!

Examining the victim.

Ryan shows the lobster who's boss.

After such a long day, you'd expect our little monkeys to be tired and ready for bed. The evidence definitely proves the opposite is true. The boys love sleeping in the same room. They always have company, but on trips, they end up closer together which means more time for fun. I love watching them play. It's purely unadulterated joy.

We had such a fantastic time in Louisiana that I'm itching to go back. I can't wait until the boys are old enough to go to the beach, walk the Creole Nature Trail to see some alligators, and perform the sacred ritual which is crabbing. There are so many good times ahead!

Traveling In Style

A few weeks ago, Bob, the boys, and I took a trip to Louisiana to see my family. It's a six to seven hour trip, and I was a little apprehensive about how well the boys would do on such a long trip. Of course, they were wonderful, thanks to a few episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba! On the way down, we stopped at a McDonalds to eat lunch and give the kids a little time to play. I have decided that there is no reason to stop at McDonalds. Our kids aren't quite big enough to play on the playground stuff there, the food is less than par, and the line at the bathroom was ridiculous. At least this fast food establishment had three high chairs, but still we ended up eating outside in 100 weather. It was less than ideal. It took us around an hour to eat, change diapers, and give the kids a little walking time. For our second stop, it was raining, so we just stopped and got gas. While Bob was pumping the gas, we let the kids play in the car. They had a fabulous time hanging out - literally.

The boys love looking out the window. The cargo features of the 'burb create a great play area.

Mommy makes sure no one departs the vehicle unexpectedly.

Michael takes some time to stretch.

Ryan and Michael would have preferred to keep looking out the window, but it was time to hop back into our seats and head to Momo's house. When we pulled up, Momo came out to meet "us," and the kids were very excited to see her. We had a great time with both the Campbells and the Cains. When we left, Michael refused to let go, and we had to pull him away from his Momo. These boys know how to hold 'em. On our return trip, we stopped at a rest stop (I can never stop at a rest area without thinking of the Grapes of Wrath) for a potty/diaper change break. Bob watched the kids while I changed diapers, then we hopped back in the car, and the boys ate on the go. It was a much smoother return trip. I've learned that the boys are going to sit and eat, and I'd rather they sit in their car seats while we're on the move than sit at a fast food establishment for extended periods of time. For all those moms out there, let me recommend the snack trap - it makes for much neater snack eating - thanks, Anne!

Holy Crap! Ryan Has the Camera!

The boys enjoy very little more than walking around the house with expensive equipment.  It doesn't matter if it's a cordless phone, an iPhone, the remote control or the HD video camera.  We find it kind of funny for a bit and then take the item away from them.  Little did we know that Ryan has discovered the record button on the video camera.



I'm not even sure how he did this, he switched it from video mode to picture mode and took some stills as well.  As you can see, he hasn't learned which way is up on the camera.

I guess we should hold a contest or something - Identify the image in the pictures

The moral of the story here - 14 month olds have an odd eye for photography.

Spoon Man

I'm not sure why people buy kids expensive toys. Lately, the boys have been obsessed with wooden spoons and boxes. The other day, I'm pretty sure they played with the wooden spoons for six hours.
Strawberry face Michael drops his spoons and attempts to grab Mom's camera. The little monkey is wise to the green focus light and always gives me his best smile when he sees it.
Socks for Michael, spoons for Ryan, and thousands of dollars of toys being neglected.
Ryan puts his spoons in the laundry hamper while James takes time for a strawberry snack break.
I'm pretty sure Ryan will be the drummer in our tween band. I'm still thinking the Newhouse Triplets can replace the Jonas Brothers, we just have to groom them for stardom.
Spoons do go in your mouth, maybe just smaller spoons.
Michael trades in his spoons for a book. That boy loves his books. His hair is getting a little longer in the back, and you can see his two little curls in the back. I think they are pretty cute.
James wonders how Ryan got to play his spoons on the couch. The boys are getting to be much better climbers, but the couch is still just a little too tall for them to boost themselves up on. I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before they are able to breach the sanctity of the couch and find the remote between the cushions where I hide it. I'm already plotting a new safe location for said remote.

Sightseeing and Stadiums

NEW YORK! For Bob's 40th, we took a baseball trip to New York and Philly. The first place we went after checking into the hotel and having a little lunch was Times Square. For those of you Project Runway fans, you'll recognize this billboard as the one Gretchen won in the week 2 challenge. I think it was the most exciting thing I saw in New York. It was sort of like my reality show had become reality. Pretty fun stuff.
The day we were in Times Square, there was a kiss in for peace, and they had a statute of that iconic Life magazine cover of the sailor kissing a lady. It was pretty neat, and I made Bob pose in front of it. If I had true skills, I would have done a self portrait while participating in the kiss in for peace, but alas, I lack such self-photographing talent.

One of the things we were most excited about was seeing Greenday's American Idiot play. Bob was nervous that they would "Broadway it up," but the music was rocking, the story line was interesting and easy to follow, and we both loved it. We're not sure if the average person would love the play, but if you like the album, I'd say the play is pretty fantastic. After our night at the theater, I went shopping for toiletries in the Walgreens in Times Square. I forgot my travel kit on the bathroom counter, so I was forced to pay $7 for deodorant, but I figured that avoidance of funk was worth it.
On Sunday, our day game at the Mets turned into a night game. The weather was beautiful all day. Bob and I went to FAO Schwartz & the 24 hour Apple Store then we ate at the Carnegie Deli. It was a fun day, and we were ready for our game at 8 pm.
Citifield was nice, and the home run apple was cute. We got there a little early to ensure we got our promotional lunch boxes (which the boys find lots of fun). Bob checked out the rotunda, we shopped for our first souvenir for the boys (an orange Mr. Met t-shirt for James), and then we headed up to the nose bleed section to our seats.
When we got there, the sky was somewhat ominous. I think I would have really enjoyed the Mets game if it wasn't raining. We luckily had seats right under the overhang of the shade. It was pretty nice for most of the game, but when the wind stopped blowing, we would get wet, and since we weren't sure about the location of our seats, we ate our dinner before we headed to our seats and missed the opening ceremonies that Bob enjoys so much.
We sat next to a family of Mets fans, and the two kids next to us reminded me of Faith and Joseph. They good natured-ly bickered for the entire game. It cracked me up that they referred to themselves as the poor Jews. They said most of the Jews were in the lower level in the good seats. We took the subway to and from the game. Bob, not a huge fan of public transportation, was pretty impressed at how smoothly they got us on and off the train. We hopped off at Grand Central and walked back to our hotel. Unfortunately, we took a similar route to the one we took in the day time, and it was much darker and more bum-ridden at night. Perhaps the highlight of the walk home was the guy puking his guts out into the trash can near Grand Central. We heard him for two blocks. It almost made me toss my cookies, too.
On Monday, we had lunch with a work friend of Bob's, Laurie, she is a huge Mets fan and a fan of the city. She took us to a great pizza place around the corner from the Buffet Showroom. We had a very nice time, and I did some souvenir shopping (for postcards mostly) and stopped by Rockerfeller plaza on our way back to the hotel. We had planned on doing the NBC studio tour, but the reviews were so awful, we decided to save ourselves $40 and spend our cash on drinks instead. After my mid-afternoon drunk, we went to Grand Central to hop the train to the Yankee game. We were on the train when I realized we had forgotten the tickets at the hotel. We made a quick run back to get them and still made it to the game in plenty of time. It did manage to kill my buzz, though. Bob prepared himself to enter the house that George built, but he was a little apprehensive about the whole experience. Apparently he and his dad had a less than wonderul experience when they went to the old stadium.

One of the things Bob really wanted to see was Monument Park. It was pretty neat in a creepy graveyard type of way.
My favorite part of Monument Park was getting my picture made with Babe Ruth. Note that in the picture, there are TWO babes.
It rained at the Yankee game, too. We were under the overhang again, and the seats near us were empty, so we had lots of room. The people next to us were from England, so the guy and Bob talked baseball. That combined with the helmet ice cream and the Yankees losing, made the whole experience acceptable for Bob. The most difficult part of our Yankee experience was finding an appropriate shirt for Michael. We found a shirt that said Yankee Stadium rather than Yankee fan, so Bob was appeased, and Michael got a souvenir.
Tuesday morning, we took the train to Philly. We ended up in the quiet car, but I think we both enjoyed the ride. Once we checked into the hotel, we ate lunch at the Redding Station. I got a cheesesteak (can you eat anything else in Philly?). After our lunch, we headed out to see the historical sites. I was pretty stoked about the history portion of our trip. Bob was a good sport, but I got a little frustrated with myself for forgetting to order tickets to go into Independence Hall. We did enjoy seeing the sights, though.
Bob mugs in front of the Liberty Bell. It was pretty neat to see the crack up close, but it felt a little like seeing the Mona Lisa to me. It wasn't as impressive as I wanted it to be, and there were too many tourists in front of it for me to feel comfortable spending time admiring it. One side effecct of Bob's wardrobe is his innumerable Cowboy shirts. He got booed by a security guard and taunted by a park ranger. It made me realize that not all cities are as accepting of other fans as others. Ironic that the City of Brotherly Love was definitely lacking in love.
Here we are in front of the elusive Independence Hall. I guess my inability to see the interior means that at some point in the future, I can force the kids and Bob to go back and share the historic locale with my nearest and dearest.
Finally, a sunny day for a ball game! Of all the parks, I liked Philly the best - probably because it was most like the Rangers (although it was PACKED with fans and it was Irish Heritage night rather than Hispanic Heritage night). I had trouble finding souvenirs and spent a good portion of the game searching them out. It was the only game we saw where the home team won. I decided to go with the locals and had crabfries (sadly it was only crab boil and not real crabs). They were good, but around midnight, I regretted choosing french fries for dinner as I was pretty hungry. Bob and I had a great time just being together. We missed the kids, and I was definitely ready to see them. Coming home was pretty cool. The boys were very excited to see us, and we were ecstatic to see them. Overall, my first baseball trip was pretty fun, but both Bob and I were wishing we were watching our Rangers at all those games.

40 & Fab

Bob spent his 30th birthday by himself sans celebration. He claims to be fine with that, but just thinking about it breaks my heart. Since we've been together, Bob has been a victim of my birthdays are a big deal attitude. Last year, I dropped the ball. With three two month olds, it was a little difficult to get my party mojo together. This year, was a big one. Any birthday that ends in 0 gets to be a bigger deal than your average birthday, so to celebrate 40, we had steaks and cakes.
Since the boys love going outside, the whole family hung out in the backyard while Dad grilled his own steaks. The boys played in the pool, chased the sprinkler around, and put the swing set to good use.
James was all over the back yard. I had very little opportunity to get a good picture of him since he spent the whole time running around the back yard and attempting to touch the hot grill when my back was turned. Here, Grandpa Newhouse wrangled him for a couple of seconds, and James was not happy about being restrained from his wild romp around the back yard.
Michael enjoyed the pool but avoided the sprinkler like the plague. He loves the water, but he doesn't really appreciate when the water comes to him rather than the other way around.
Ryan really enjoys the sprinkler. We've got this beach ball sprinkler and a shark sprinkler. The shark is to wild for the kids this summer (and besides they'd rather drag him around the living room and chew on the sprinkler heads). Ryan likes to run up and avoid the spray then slap the ball. Here he miscalculated the trajectory of the water and gets a surprise. He still took a minute to slap the ball before heading off to another part of the yard.
Pool time with Uncle Joseph. There's nothing like a refreshing dip and a surreptious sip of pool water to give a young man his second wind.
Wet pants make the slide a little faster than normal. Between flipping the steaks and defending the hot grill from little hands, Daddy takes a minute to help James slide.
Bob's favorite thing to eat is chocolate cookies, and he has a love for all things Seasame Street, thus when I saw this beauty sitting in the Albertson's bakery, I had to have it. The 40 candles were just for entertainment purposes. I think he had to blow about 7 times before he got all of them out.
Michael makes a temporary escape from his chair, but when he realizes that cake was on the menu, he was happy to return to his seat.
James shows his brothers how to properly consume cake. Blue hands and mouth are just a byproduct of tasty.
Somehow, I'm pretty sure that Grandma and Papa Joe made sure that James got more than his fair share of cake.
Ryan, aka Eagle Eye, can spot food, Diet Coke, and anything else that you have from a mile away. He has no qualms about pointing to said item and saying that he'd like "that." Here, he requests more cake.
Ahh, a meal well done. Steaks and cakes. Uncle Joseph and Michael assume the post-dinner, I'm replete posture - hands linked over your tummy. I think Bob enjoyed his day, and I know the rest of us were happy to have an excuse to eat steak and get together for a visit. I hope that we have at least forty more of these celebrations.