More Red Stick Ramblins

So I told you it was a big trip and it was going to take more than one post to sum it all up.  This is me taking a stab at sharing some of the adventures in 4 parts:

Part one: Family, family, family.  We love our nieces, and they are seriously going to give Asher a run for his money.  Not to name any names here, but Charlotte, I’m talking about you.  It also does our hearts so good to see Asher with his cousins, and snuggled up with his grandparents and aunts and uncles.  And ya’ll, Asher knows.  He knows who is people are, and we had a number of moments where Asher nuzzled into his Grandpa or Grandma thoroughly rejecting any advances from his boring old parents.

Part Two: Drew loves the outdoors, something that he gets from his dad.  He loves the snow and the mountains, he loves a steep climb, a good long view, and the changing seasons, but at his heart, I think he really loves the waters of Louisiana.  If you want to see Drew get excited, put a fishing rod in his hand and tell him there is a lake nearby.  Drew and his dad got to spend an afternoon fishing and seeing the store that Drew’s paternal grandfather owned in a nearby town.  We also took in the urban outdoors with a quick trip to New Orleans one afternoon for po boys and flower laden balconies and the general sense of abandon that comes with NOLA’s big heart.

Part Three: Purple and Gold, honey child.  We watched those LSU Tigers with Drew’s mom’s side of the family last Saturday, and while the Tigers didn’t get a W up on the board, I thoroughly enjoyed an afternoon of gumbo and first and second and once removed and any other kind of cousin that we could round up, and felt like I fit right in with the purple and gold shirt that Drew’s aunt Christie gave me.  While I understand the game relatively well, and while I deeply hope that Asher doesn’t want to play football (I just heard Drew sigh in exasperation), I will tell you that I mostly like football because it’s an excuse to get together.  So even though the Tigers couldn’t pull one out, I thought the afternoon was a success, and just so so loved seeing Drew and (one day) Asher in his element.  It’s tough for a Louisiana boy to find solidarity all the way up here in Virginia, so you know that he was happy.

Part Four: Some nuts and bolts…This trip was also epic because Asher came down with pink eye, got his first serious fever (unrelated to the pink eye) and we ran into a little trouble with the airport.  Brace yourself for a quick rant here, but Delta!  What’s up! You’re terrible! Some of you may remember that the last time we flew to Baton Rouge, we wound up renting a car and driving from Atlanta to BR when our flight was canceled.  This time we got delays coming and going, and while we were stoked to get an extra day with our family, we were supposed to be home by 2pm on Sunday, and found ourselves walking through our front door at 7pm on Monday.  In the end though, this is a story about redemption because they gave us meal vouchers which we didn’t have time to spend, and so after picking up our bags from baggage claim, Drew marched over to a newsstand by the front door and asked if they accepted the vouchers.  They said yes, and Drew and I…well, it’s not a pretty thing to say, but we bought 50.00 worth of snacks before walking out the front door with our heads held high.  We have a lifetime supply of popcorn, chips, beef jerky, gum, mints, dark chocolate, and some delicious little pretzel chips if anyone’s in the mood.  As we were standing out on the curb waiting for the shuttle to the parking lot holding our child, suitcases, a stroller, and um, a bag of groceries, Drew looked at me and said, “Yeah.  We just did that.  We’re those people.”

Whatever.

I am going to do everything in my power to never fly on Delta again, and also to spread the word that our pediatrician (the one that made a house call last night for Asher’s lingering cold, that one.) is the coolest man alive.  He doctored over the phone, kept us calm, and joked with us that we had just learned one of the cold hard truths about parenthood: we pay for past life transgressions by attempting to go on “vacation” with children.  Ahh well, in the end, it worked out beautifully and Asher was his usual cool self, despite his warm head.

Are you still reading this?  Then I’ll finish with a picture that I think sums it up best and say this: We love you Deep South.  We love the family that you house, we love that it’s 80 degrees in October, we love that you love to be loved.  See you soon, mmkay?