Hello? Anybody still out there? It's been awhile. I haven't been home much this month, and up until this week, when I was home, I was taking classes three days a week. It's been a tiring marathon of a summer.
Classes went well. I took Psychology of Human Development and Intro to Watercolor Painting. I needed them so I can go to grad school next year. This fall I am taking Ceramics and then completing my portfolio and applying.
The first weekend of August we went to Crane Lake, MN. We stayed with my grandma in the same cabin she rents every summer since longer than I've been alive. My aunt, uncle and cousin also were there. It was a good trip. The boys liked the boat rides (though Chi kept falling asleep on the boat), Gabe went fishing and managed to sacrifice his rod to the fish (in other words, he dropped his pole and it sunk), and we saw bears. We went to a wild bear preserve and got to see about 40 bears just sitting around eating. The cubs were perched up in the trees. Oh, and Grandma, Aunt Jeryl, and I all did Jello shots...mostly just because they were there and Chase told us to.
On our way back home, through the Upper Peninsula, we stopped off and played on the Lake Superior shore (clear, beautiful, amazing water!) and the Lake Michigan shore as well. It was kind of fun to be in both great lakes within a few hours of each other.
After a whirlwind final weeks of classes for me, we loaded up the car again and drove to Springfield to drop the boys off with Mom and Dad. Then Matt and I drove on to New Orleans to (belatedly) celebrate our 10th Anniversary in the city where we spent our honeymoon.
We had a nice trip. The French Quarter is now dirty, stinky and not very well maintained. That part was sad and disappointing. But we plowed our way through the city, one forkful at a time. Really, NOLA is all about the food. People think of Bourbon Street and the drinking, but it's the food that makes the city sing. We had an amazing meal at Domenica and even met the chef. I still dream of that desert... Muffaleta's from Central Grocery (twice!), beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde, red beans and rice and crawfish etouffe at Coop's, cheeses and preserves at the art museum... oh, I'm hungry just thinking about it all.
And that's not to say there was no drinking. We had great fun at Pat O'Brien's, where Earl kept the drinks flowing and we met Pat and Lucy who ran around with us for the night. (They were old enough to be our parents, and we were the ones to throw in the towel, how sad!) I sat at Carousel Bar and chatted with a local (of all places to find one!) which was cool because the bar really is a carousel that moves slowly around. And we popped into other places, including a jazz club. One of the best parts of the trip was the day we went to the Museum of Art and the City Park. It was beautiful up there. The museum was great and the sculpture garden was worth the visit.
Now we are home. We have traveled enough miles this summer to have crossed the country and started back. The car is tired and beginning to protest. We are happy to be home. We do have Amanda's wedding next month, but other than that we are refusing to travel for awhile. We need the break! School starts for Gabe after Labor Day. Matt has started working this week and he starts teaching next week. Chi's great adventure will be part time day care. I think it's still going to be busier than I'd really like, but at least we are about to have a routine again.
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