Year 4, December 30th-31st, 2019: NOLA Part 3, Rough Start, Smooth Finish

Oh wow, what an emotionally and emotionally exhausting start to the day. I thought we weren't going to do anything this morning, so when I fell back asleep after the others left, I thought it was ok. I tried to wake up several times and couldn't get past the dream stage or something. I had some pretty intense dreams, all needing Jared to help me or something. Not really fun. Then when I did wake up and was about to shower, I get a text saying that Shauna was taking the kids to this Storyland park in the city she's been talking about. Well, it wasn't on the agenda last night, and if I had known, I would have forced myself up at 8 am or something (it was now 10am). She didn't realize it was only open today until 3:30. And a normal sane person would have not thrown a fit about letting their children go do something fun without them. But you know what I did? Threw a fit. Because I'm me. The social idiot. I was triggered and the tears started to fall. I took it out on Leah through text instead of waiting until I got to the other house to sort it out. By the time I got there, Gary had taken the kids to the local park because they were being rambuntious and Shauna was mad at probably both Gary and I. I sheepishly sat down with Shauna and Leah while Jared listened in. I verbalized a few things that I had been feeling about being a burden and how I can't stop myself sometimes. Honestly, I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was words I hadn't said before. Then when Gary got back Shauna shared her feelings. A few apologies were made. I don't think anything got really resolved but just the fact that Shauna and I both spoke up is a gigantic step in the right direction. Then we kind of went our separate ways.

Shauna went to her appointment and had some time by herself to run some errands. The rest of us had lunch and headed out to pick oranges. I stayed quiet most of the day because I didn't have the energy to think anymore about it, and now felt ashamed and sheepish and mad at myself for pitching a fit.  I know most people won't understand. And I wish I wasn't so picky or I wasn't teetering on the fence so much between letting go and holding on. I'm just in a hard spot right now. But we moved on with the day, and I was glad for that.

We picked oranges and lemons in a friend's little grove about 30 minutes away down a road that follows the Mississippi River. It's just on some rundown property they own. But how cool that we got to pick fruit that we don't normally get to do! Abishai loved it and the other kids were pretty involved, too. We could have picked buckets and buckets and buckets full. The harvest of citrus fruits happens in December/January and that's it. On some of the oranges, you could easily peel off the peel. Others were similar to the grocery store ones. Anyway, it was a fun new experience for everyone.  Then we came home and most of us just puttered around while Leah and Jared made supper. I haven't participated much on supper prep and clean up because they seem to have it handled or Jared has volunteered. So, I did help with clean up tonight. Leah said that I can't rat on the kids for not helping when I don't help. And that's the dilemma. Vacation is a vacation from the things I don't like to do like cleaning and cooking, right? And as long as someone from our household is helping, what does it matter? My kids don't see me jump up to serve because it's hard on me to serve. So no, I'm a horrible example to my kids, thanks for reminding me. I guess I could try to volunteer more quickly. That conversation devolved into talking about chores and why my kids won't and blah blah blah and I had zero brain capacity to think about it after this morning, so I didn't. I sat in silence. We ate dinner and then played board games. Shauna came home just in time to eat and then went to have some quiet time in her room. Good choice. It's been a rough day for us.

Tomorrow will be better, hopefully. It's our last full day together. We plan on going to insectorium and out for ice cream/food and then staying up for New Year's Eve stuff. Gary and Leah will leave first thing on New Year's Day. We didn't want to travel on New Year's because most gas stations and restaurants we like are closed. I haven't heard much from Benaiah except "I'm fine." so I assume all is well at home. He should be finishing up his shift at work. He has less hours than normal this week, which is a bummer, but at least he has some. And then it's back to school for all of us come next Monday. So today, I did start a little updating process for the IAHE today so I feel a little better about that. If I don't get much response, I'll have to make phone calls. But we'll see. And I have kept up with the blog for the most part, which will help immensely when I get home. It's been tricky because things haven't uploaded quickly, but I made a chart and I straightened everything out through yesterday. Wish me luck on today's!

NOLA December 30th, 2019 Playlist

While we decided what to do and tried to calm down, Gary took the 4 middles to the park. They had a great time. It had cooled off somewhat so it was perfect weather.

Exercising together.

Jared, Abishai and I got to visit Uncle Aaron's police office! This had been on my agenda ever since Aaron had mentioned it and showed us a picture of all his police vehicles.  Abishai obviously loved it!

Abishai told us how he didn't want to play with the squishy cars and he knew not to play with the ornament and ceramic ones because they were fragile. But he didn't hesitate on getting all of the rest of them down without asking. Oh well, that's the whole point, right?

He lined them all up and at one point had the bad guy surrounded.  Also, he got in front of the remote controlled police SUV so it would chase him as the bad guy.

The only ice cream stop the kids had on this trip at the gas station near their house and right before lunch. Thanks Grandpa.

Aw, police Christmas tree. I should explain that Aaron is a chaplain but also does a lot of community relations. He helped to update all the logs of businesses and who to contact with something happens at their buildings. He coordinates volunteer officers for special events. One of the other guys retired this week, but they had a good transition. Aaron has the perfect personality for the job and seems to be loving it so far.

When we got back, Shauna went to her appointment by herself, and we had lunch. Then all 10 of us went to a friend's orange grove! Ernie and his wife have been very generous with their time and resources to Aaron and the Gathering. The orange grove is on some family property, where they tried to build a home but the land was too soft on their part of their property. Then after Katrina, some wealthy people tried to build on a plot next to them and eventually abandoned this beatiful log cabin. They didn't finish it though and Ernie bought it, but hasn't had time to do anything with it either. Pretty sad story. But the oranges trees were well established by Ernie's parents and had abundant fruit on them.

Wow, I've never seen an orange tree before! Very similar in shape to apple trees, and you only pick them if they fall off into your hands with a little tug. December is when the citrus fruit ripen, and that's it for the year. There were tons of them out here! We could have picked for an hour but it took just a few minutes to fill the few plastic bags we brought.

I think Nora and Shauna had picked before during a field trip with preschool, but Everly hadn't.

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There were a few different varieties. The yellow lemon looking ones were very bitter. But the big navel ones were perfect!

Have YOU been to an orange grove before?

Just like apple picking this year, Abishai loved picking oranges. He even had his own special bagful we had to bring home to Indiana. We have fresh oranges for days!

Abishai said "all done!" And that's the beautiful log cabin that isn't finished and has open sides and it's pretty sad. It's about 30 minutes from Aaron's house right along the Mississippi River, which followed all the way from Aaron's house on pretty much just one road that comes out here into the delta/farming area. There's a pretty big levee though between the road and the river now after Katrina came through.

Abishai said this looked like where the big alien piggy pushed Finn aside in Star Wars: Episode 7 or 8 to take a drink.

Beautiful, eh? It's in a sad state!

Property near the Mississippi River.

Most homes built before and after Katrina are built on stilts. I can't imagine living in them. I guess they have a great view of the Mississippi River, but I'd be too afraid of kids falling or myself or the dog, etc. And all those stairs would eventually hurt, or make my backside look better.

People do store RV's or trailers and other things under their houses. But can you imagine how the water really did flood this whole area 10-15 ft worth? A lot of restoration has been done in 15 years.

The road, then the levee, and then the Mississippi on the other side to the left.

Um, no, not that many stairs.

Even single wide and double wide trailers are put up high.

Ah, the water gate or whatever it's called. This was installed after Katrina. So all those houses you just saw would still be flooded but the town in front of us would be protected. Aaron said they close this once or twice a year.

Lots of very old trees that survived Katrina out here in the farmland. We saw lots of animals, especially cows out this way.

This coffee pod was super yummy!

A little bit of Minecraft after a lot of outside time today.

Thanks Nora! I played Monolopy America edition with these two and they were so slow! Plus all they wanted to do was trade. Nora ended up winning because she got the "Boardwalk and Park Place" cards on her first time around the board.

Trying to hide from Mom.

Last blog entry of 2019!  Today went much smoother than yesterday. We woke up on time and were out at the door by 9:30, including breakfast, to go to the Audobon Insectatarium! Through a friend in Indiana and an employee at the insects, we were given some free tickets. Shauna has a zoo pass that includes the insects, so she got some of us in for free as well. Now, bugs aren't our thing, but, it was a wonderful 90 minutes of learning. Even Abishai enjoyed staring at the bugs!  Justin even ate a bug cookie and so did Shauna! That's nuts! Then we headed to a park for a little bit, but Keturah was already hangry beyond belief. She wouldn't eat the granola bars we brought so by the time she got home and got something to eat, her stomach was a wreck. She ended up sleeping for 2 hrs and developed a headache and still had a stomachache. I really should have thought through bringing something she would actually eat. But this is still new to me that she's that sensitive. And no one was really listening to me when I said we need lunch before the park because by the time we found something, it still would have been 30 minutes anyways. 90 minutes later and she ate some rice stuff we had last night and was done for. Sometimes, I really wish everyone else would believe me when I say things. I had already given Keturah a travel medication pill for the day. We rushed into the day without letting her stomach settle. Justin even accused her of not eating a good enough breakfast, and yet she had! When you have stomach issues, you know your limits. This is not something she is making up and not something she can wait out like Grandpa and his ability to skip meals and iron stomach. I have no idea what's going to happen to me in Israel and I keep trying to stop myself before I run down that rabbit hole again. I'll start making plans on our van ride home in a couple of days.

Goodness I'm tired. I can't think with all this noise on this New Year's Eve. That was pretty much our day, just puttering around the house for the rest of the day. Shauna went back to her room until dinnertime, but she is working on a puzzle tonight. Abishai is already stir crazy. Benaiah is all by himself at home with the dog, his friends are scattered elsewhere. He doesn't even get to kiss Ava at midnight! How sad! We had hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner, grilled outside of course since it's about 60 degrees still. When we were at the park, NOLA people were wearing puffy winter jackets! Uh, it's nearly 65 degrees, a light sweatshirt will do, folks. Puffy jackets are for 45 degrees and below! And even I've been too warm at home in Indiana. Oh well, you're used to what you're used to I guess. I melt at 80 degrees and this humidity so, yeah, I won't ever live here. Moving on. We'll have some non alcoholic bubbly at midnight, and maybe a few more sweets, but that's it. I'm thinking Abishai will make it, but I'm not sure Keturah will. Jared might not either. I think he didn't last time we were here, and Keturah was sick, too. Oh well. I think my cold is coming back, too. I'm not sure what we will do tomorrow with just Aaron and Shauna. But I am glad that we have one more day to gather our things and start washing sheets and what not, especially after staying up late.  I think we left after midnight two years ago and it was so cold in the 12 passenger van. But we already know that story.

I'm kind of missing not having Benaiah around. First New Year's without him. Last one of his childhood years. Not sure what he's going to do with himself tomorrow and Friday since he has both of them off and Ava is out of town. Gary and Leah leave tomorrow so I told them to call him and have supper with him on Thursday or something. Go to a movie. I don't know, but now's your chance.

4 hrs to go....4 hrs of catching up with YouTube now that Vlogmas is over? Phew! So many channels uploaded every single day!  I need days to catch up! I think I'll start putting pictures on cd's while I watch. I can't put words together to journal the pictures, but I'm still caught up, which makes me SOOO happy because it means less work when I get home AND I've taken less pictures overall because I'm not wandering the halls taking pictures because I'm bored. Plus, it's been my "alone" time. We all win! Here we go!

Abishai didn't make it midnight. In fact, he put himself to sleep! He said he was tired, so he tried laying down on the couch, but was watching the kids play video games. Then he moved to the office where I was working, but that didn't work well either. He ended up on the playroom floor with a blanket and pillow surrounded by Barbies. When he went in, he was in the one to move things out of the way. He knew his limits, and he listened to his body, just like he does with sweets. And he finally got to have a sleepover at Uncle Aaron's house. He did great and didn't bother anyone until Uncle Aaron heard him use the bathroom in the morning and found him in Everly's bed snuggling her. Awwww, I'm glad that they are still young enough that it's all innocent. I think Aaron was hesitating on having Justin sleep over because he's older now. It was his call to make in order to protect his girls. Not that naive Justin would do anything. And not that Justin was at all offended, but he was disappointed. He treats his cousins like siblings and/or friends. But that's ok. It all worked out. Gary and Leah took naps on the couch, too, after playing games for a bit. We were a very solemn, quiet crowd until about 11:55pm. I called Benaiah at 10:55pm to help him ring in the new year because he was alone at home. Then I called him again so he could hear all the fireworks. He wasn't happy with me because he wanted to sleep. Oh well, I didn't want him to be lonely. I'm just used to him being around on NYE in some shape and form. Keturah made it this year, but barely. Her and my stomachs started to act up. Too much sugar and dairy. Oh and we ended up doing communion as well at 11:40pm, even the not baptized ones, whoops. Happy New Year!

Video link: NOLA December 31st, 2019 Playlist

Why yes, this new edition of a kitchen playset has a coffee pot with coffee pots just like a Keurig. Hilarious!

My sister has our old school Little People house and figures so I'm glad Abishai had a chance to play with them at the guest house.

He was super excited to sleep on the top bunk! He did well, too! I'm glad the family put pool noodles on those metal stairs though. They hurt my feet when I went to strip the bed the next day.

Such a big almost 5 yr old.

What a gigantic orange!

These two introverts are always reading. We found them multiple times just hanging out on their beds in Nora's room engrossed in their books.

Time for the Audobon Insectatorium! Here are some leaf cutter ants! Wowzers! I haven't seen them in person before!

My favorite! Praying mantis! I tried to keep telling the kids how important ALL insects are to our ecosystems because Grandma would rather squish them all. Thanks, Grandma.

Near our parking spot in downtown New Orleans, close to Bourbon Street.

We don't have those kinds of trees at home.

Metal bug sculpture.

Blue crayfish.

These guys are like 3 inches long. Eww!

One of the many tarantulas they have. Each one has a name, too. One of the guides said a female can live up to 30 years and a male lives up to 20. They are big but harmless.

Look at those little guys go! If only we were so industrious!

The size of some of these creatures are out of this world! This is a first class museum though. It costs $20 to get in, although we got free tickets.

Can you find it? Oh, and some of the cages were decorated for Christmas. One even had a Jewish menorah!

Hiding in a cave! When you first walk into this dark cave/underground/supersized area (think Honey I Shrunk the Kids), a trapdoor spider comes out and scares you.

The lighting was horrible in the cave but here are some oversized ants.

An earthworm!

Interesting.

This exhibit was to show how cockroaches invade your home. They had live cockroaches going all over everyday stuff.

Live cockroaches! Gives me the willies!

Ewww!!!! It's a roach motel! And it reminds me of the little alien guys in Men in Black.  They also had this garbage can display explaining the life cycle of flies and mosquitoes.

Huge grasshoppers! Think the 10 plagues of Exodus!

Monarch caterpillar.

You guessed it, bug cookies! Sweetest people behind the counter making them without a hint of being squeamish. They also had a display board showing how nutritious bugs are.  It's definitely mind over matter.

The samples were free, but not many wanted to try them even with the appetizing names.

Blech! But check out the video of Shauna and Justin eating the cookies! Brave!

See, bugs do play a role in our every day lives like providing red dye!

We all got to see our first real live baby alligators! They looks so cute! And yet, we know they do bite!

Baby gators!

Don't they have this bee catching game at Chuckie Cheese's?

Bugs with lots of armors. Abishai called it his diving suit.

Awesome display of the the different parts of insects. It reinforced what Keturah and Justin learned last year. There was even a display of the different types of mouths that insects have.  Then we went into the theater where watched a 10 minute video. It was hilarious and scary because the seats would move, and air was squirted at you. You felt like you were getting stung because it was a quick jerk. Abishai liked it though and we learned some interesting facts about a few insects.

God created bugs for a lot of reasons. And he created such a diversity among them, but also within the same species.  These are all kinds of different beetles in a rainbow of colors and shapes and stripes and dots. They are beautiful to look at.  They also had displays of butterflies like that, too.

So hard to capture because of the low lighting, but so many colors!

Wow!

Then we went around the corner and saw the different stages of metamorphsis, complete and incomplete, as well as silk worms! The employee said that the silkworms have been bred so much that they are completely dependent on humans for food. Traditionally, once they spin their cocoon, they are boiled and the silkworm dies. The silk is then unraveled and I think the caterpillar/worm is then eaten. So all parts are used, just like a Native America would use all the parts of animal in our country. It's an industry and when done right, it's ok. But this picture shows a freshly emerged butterfly or moth from it's cocoon. They had lots of cocoons just hanging there twitching. All sorts of butterflies and moths, some freshly hatched with their wings still wrinkled. It was amazing! I love this process!

Then we went into the butterfly garden. Be careful! Some of the butterflies were on the floor! We didn't stay long because it was so hot and humid in there. It was very similar to the one we have at our zoo in Indianapolis. Same species it looked like.

Abishai liked the big goldfish!

Lots of different butterflies hanging out together.

There were some beautiful blue ones in here, but it was hard to capture them all. And we were tired and getting hangry.

After a few minutes in the gift shop, we hung outside for a few minutes to talk about lunch and the park. These scultupres were moving around the ceiling like they were a fan.

This is the first hallway in the insectarium. Very beautiful displays.  First class museum with lots of live animals!

Worth $20? Maybe. But world class for sure.

Downtown NOLA is nice. But other areas are very, very poor.

Always finding something goofy to do.

Nora had to copy him of course.

Time to visit the famous downtown City Park! As we drove into it, I remembered that it was the same park with all the lights we drove through and Santa's village we saw two years ago. Yes, there's this Storyland thing that Shauna wanted to take us to,  as well. But it wasn't open that day. Instead, the kids climbed trees and Abisha ran around the regular playground. It's a pretty big area in the a very, very large park.  Hi, Justin! This is a real tree stump!

Another huge, but real tree! Survived Katrina and many other storms.

Barefooted princess. What cracked me up was watching native New Orleans people dressed in their puffy winter coats! It was nearly 60 degrees! Wimps! Some even had hats on!

Not us! Just a t-shirt! Abishai walked just a little bit on this tree.

There is a famous place called Cafe de Monde where they sell coffee and beignets and one location is right nearby this area of City Park. They took over the lease from a well established restaurant who had operated there for 50 years but didn't renew their lease in time a few years ago. That's so sad! But at least you don't have to go to crowded bourbon street to have some. We did got to Bourbon Street on our first trip here in 2009? I do remember it. But we aren't that kind of people to window shop and be in the touristy areas if we can help it.  Keturah was very upset and hangry but couldn't eat something so sweet so we ended up not buying anything. She also refused to eat a granola bar and I had forgotten that they hurt her stomach. I'm not used to packing snacks for her new regimen.

Keturah came home sick from the park, and ended up taking a 2 hr nap in the afternoon, poor thing.

Playing the board game, New Orleans style.

Abishai took it upon himself to play candy land by himself. Aw.  He kept asking people to play with him and they refused to or couldn't, poor guy.

Saved the best for last and boy was it good! I love fudge!

Abishai watching Everly paint her art project while Nora looks like a nun with her hair towel wrap.

Abishai loved this little hideway in Shauna's sofa lounge. He wanted to sleep here.

They made it into a little fort, too.

Shauna and Nora started their "I Spy" puzzle.  Shauna and Aaron ended up finishing it up that night before bed.

Dinner was hot dogs and hamburgers. Justin was wearing his crown on backwards and at an odd angle on purpose.  These crowns have been used for many years now!

Justin changed our plans and added Pirates of the Caribbean to the list.

Keturah still didn't feel good but she was awake. Nora and Abisha were goofing around.

Temps on New Year's Eve 2019.

Sounds right.

Same in Manchester.

Getting her puzzle on.

Playing cards, quietly, so Grandma and Grandpa can nap. They are leaving at 5:30 am the next day.

Watching a little Thor Ragnarok.

A little board game playing.

Time for poppers! Shauna was trying to get out all the fun stuff and emptying her drawers! Abishai loved throwing the poppers down!

Everly showing him how it's done!  It wasn't as cold as it was 2 yrs ago when it was 0 degrees, but it wasn't that warm either.

The kids having fun with more poppers.

The men chatting by the firepit.

Fireworks had been going off for several nights now, but they started picking up near midnight! At this point Abishai had put himself to sleep in the play room and he slept right through it all! Check out the video I took from inside the playroom. It sounds like hail was hitting the roof from all the booms of the fireworks!

Shauna tried lighting several sparklers at once, but the kids didn't grab them in time and they ended up on the ground.

Beware! Sparklers on the ground! It was pretty, but dangerous, too!

My panoramic view. Jared's is probably better. But he didn't end up going on the roof as he had planned.

I did end up with many decent shots on my phone. I tried not to take too many videos as I'm sure it's not much different than two years ago.

After midnight madness! One neighbor was just down the street to the left a bit. They left a burn scar on the road. To the right, I could hear a neighbor use a leaf blower to clean up his debris. And the next day, I saw a man mowing his lawn. On New Year's Day. Yeah, this is pretty, but I miss my snow and cold weather, too.  Gotta love the way southerners party though! To each their own! Good night!

The End