As promised... road trip part deux!

Now that I'm home, I've uploaded pictures from the first several days.

Perhaps the highlight of Peter's trip

Two of my favorite guys

Pretty boy Davis

Digging in the mulch

Let me go!  I'll only put one foot in the street - promise!

Nanny Love

Watch me "fuhlipp!"

Fearless Pedestrian

Downward Dog

Next time I'll take the yoga mat.

And the piece de resistance:

 
Day 9: An early morning put us on the road at 7:20 in hopes of making a 9:30 safari. Yes, you read that correctly. No, we weren't zipping over to Africa for the morning. We actually have this "global wildlife center" a couple of hours away that took us on a wagon train to feed giraffes, antelope, zebras, deer, llamas, bison, watussi cattle, camels, ostriches, donkeys and more species whose names I missed.  Well, we were stuck in traffic on the Atchafalaya Spillway for almost an hour, so we made it for the 11:30 show.  It was an incredible field trip, to be able to pet giraffes and zebras and llamas... oh my! We arrived back home in time to play in the fading sunshine before two very tired boys got scrubbed and sacked out before sunset.

Safari park picnic

I don't remember what this animal is, but it's beautiful with it's twisted horns (antlers?).

Antelope, deer, zebras... coming right up to us on the wagon train.

I engaged in a staring contest with this ostrich.  He won. 

FYI: A zebra's stripes are like fingerprints - everyone's are different

Never did I even consider this scene could occur in Louisiana

How these gigantic animals hold themselves up is beyond me.

munch, munch, munch...

A hippie camel

Day 10: As we had not had enough of exotic animals, we headed to the zoo with a my friend Jessica and her youngest, who is just a bit younger than Davis.  The babies were happy to stroll all over, but Peter was all over the place.  I had heard mixed reviews of the local zoo, but I was really pleasantly surprised!  It has a train (we get ours this spring) and lots of animals we don't have at home.  Granted, there weren't any elephants, but the lion and the alligators made up for it.  An afternoon trip to Aunt Myra and Uncle Sonny's ended with Girl Scout cookies and donuts.  Not surprisingly, Davis liked the treats even more than Peter!  (Ed. Note:  Davis and I both gained a few pounds this trip - and meal for meal he ate about as much as I did.) After the kids went down, I visited my friend Ashley in her brand new home and we went to a long overdue dinner to catch up.  Let's just say I ended the night wanting to sell our house and build from scratch.  Then I woke up a wee bit more clear-headed.  Literally and figuratively.

Day 11:  Daddy's coming! Daddy's coming!! I know a boy who has missed his daddy.  After a very busy week, we thought we'd take the day to decompress and I would start packing for our journey home via my cousin's wedding.  Then the zipper on my cocktail dress broke.  The plan changed.  The dress couldn't be fixed, but I found an alternate.  Then I had to go find shoes to wear since the originals didn't match the new dress.  On and on.... finally, I felt like I wouldn't embarrass the family.  My mom went ahead to the rehearsal dinner, so I packed up all evening and Hayes finally arrived after I had already fallen asleep.  It was to be a busy morning.

Day 12:  Thankfully, the boys slept in a bit so we were able to get dressed before un-caging the animals.  By 7:45am, Davis had showcased his new stepping skills (and his new roundness) for a wide-eyed Daddy we were on the road with an overloaded car and the brand new iPads that Daddy brought for us.  We had some hotel room drama but eventually dropped the right name and got what we needed so that we weren't all crammed into one room.  Long story short, my family rocks.  Oh, and we got another Zaunbrecher girl in the mix who's pretty much the bee's knees.  Congratulations to Katie and Craig - I hope you guys had as much fun as we did.

Thank you, Steve Jobs.  The iPad is a sanity-saver for all of us. 

Day 13:  12 hours in the car.  1 prolonged lunch stop and 1 Birmingham stopover to visit with Reenie and Boopah.  Two snoozing boys.  Two exhausted parents.  One daddy who was glad to go back to work so he could get some rest.  No tears. No tantrums.  Jiggety jig.