Author: Gary

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Crawfishfest

After choosing not to go to the Fest the last 2 years because of rain, I decided the kids were old enough to handle a little rain, so I committed to this year by buying tix in advance.

Sho ’nuff, rain!

The kids were champs. I was right, they could handle a little rain. It was the lotsa rain that came later in the day that they couldn’t handle. And I can’t blame them, I’d had about enough by then, too.

Saw the Rebirth Brass Band and Marcia Ball. Ate Red Beans & Rice, BBQ Shrimp, Cachon de Lait (roast pork), and we all had some Alligator Sausage.

We also got some cool hats.

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SMOKIN’!!

The 1st BBQ of the season. Pork Butt, smoked 12 hrs., hickory and apple woods. I’ll be making Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches.

This is 7am this morning.

Below is a shot of the butts (about 16 lbs, total) after 2 hrs.

I’ll add a shot later of the butts after 12 hrs.

Hmmm-hmmm-good!

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Fall Family Sportsnet Presents



FRIDAY NIGHT
T-BALL!

We had our first neighborhood T-Ball game Friday night. 20 kids (too many), 1 hr of chaos, 1 minor injury (Lex took a linedrive off the side of his head, finished the game, tho).

We all agree, wiffle-ball from now on.


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Lex’s Birthday Dinner

We went out to dinner for Lex’s birthday Friday night. We brought the kids next door, too… Emily and Will, Lex and Charlotte’s best friends.

We went to the local Japanese Steak House, a no-star but convenient, very kid-friendly, reasonably-priced, reasonably-healthy-food establishment.

Lex got to wear a crown during dessert. At least I think it’s a crown. And they took our picture with a Polaroid that they’ll put on the wall with a hundred others…. gee, I wonder why they’re so nice to do that?

We’re having a party for him this Sunday in the backyard. The yard’s a bit damp right now, always is in the spring, and we’re hoping it’ll be drier this weekend. We’ll have gobs of kids, relay races, a pinata (which seems to be standard now), and hopefully no injuries on the see-saws.

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Make Your Daughter Work Day

Thursday was “Take Your Daughters/Sons to Work Day”. Charlotte went to work with me and I put her to work. We had to edit 3 Yankees promos. I taught Charlotte how it’s done while I cut the first two. Then it was her turn. She cut the 3rd spot. You can see it here.

She truly did most of the work. Well, most of the work that needed to be done. If you watch the spot you’ll see it’s what we call a donut, you basically just need to fill the hole in the middle. And she did that. She took direction from the producer (Joe Pepitone, btw… nephew), and chose the best part of each shot (with a small bit of reassurance from me).

We both had a great day, and not just because she was at work with me…. much more, really. Just walking to work together was special, quality-time. Making mundane chit-chat, talking about people that are homeless, eating lunch, laughing with adult co-workers, shopping leisurely for a b-day present for Lex, listening to music on the train home. It was great.

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New Cousins

Well, newly met cousins. Lisman’s cousin Ruth (Lis’ father’s brother’s daughter) and her husband Keith have adopted 2 kids, Alex and Andrea. Now 9 and 6 1/2, they were just months old when adopted. We’d never met the kids, they live in Idaho. But they spent a few days with us this week during a 2 week East Coast vacation.

The kids hit it off famously. The first day here they all got to play, along with a bunch of neighborhood kids, in the backyard. I think that cemented the friendships. By the time I got home that night they were best buddies and definitely family. Hangin’ in PJs helps too, I guess.

Pretty cool. From the mouths of babes and all that, y’know? Quite heartening.

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L’anniversaire de Charlotte


Charlotte’s seven. So we went out to dinner with her best friend, Emily. All had steak. All went to the powder rooms by themselves (Lex, too).

Came home and opened presents. For some reason, 7 seems very poignant to me. Somehow more significant than most of the others, so far. I guess ‘cuz I can truly remember being seven. And because Charlotte’s clearly her own person now.

I suspect this may be the last teddy bear she wants; tho it’s not just a teddy bear, it’s a “glow-in-the-dark Doodle-Bear”.