Labor Day with Oma and Opa

We had a great visit with Oma and Opa in Mandeville over the Labor Day weekend.


Fun times in Oma's garden

Rachel loves the bridge

Oma and Henry

YaYa visited us too.  She brought a fun project for Rachel to work on.

As always, we had yummy lasagna for dinner.

We also had our standard tea party fun time.

YaYa's tea was more of the fermented grape variety

Henry is getting so big!  He loves his high chair.

Henry and YaYa

Rachel loved her new bubbles

Another tea party!

YaYa demonstrating for Henry how to make a really big mouth.

Fun Times with Opa

We made sure Opa did not feel lonely or bored while we were in town.


He showed us where he likes to go walking at the nature center.

He did a great job of pushing Henry.

Mandeville swamp

 

After our walk, we enjoyed some snoballs.  It was a little rainy, but Rachel insisted.

Happy Opa

Owen was dancing after getting some sugar in him

Woohoo...cotton candy sno-ball!

Henry relaxing with Opa.  They love to share the big chair.

Next day's outing to the playground.

YaYa is super fun.

Working hard in the sand area

Tea party (no visit to Oma and Opa's is complete without it)

Owen's self portrait

More watermelon

Delicious

More time with Opa in the seat.  They were a great pair for nap time.

Fourth of July

On July 3, we headed over to Mandeville for a visit and the celebrate the 4th.


Opa and Rachel were resting the next morning after breakfast.  It took us FOREVER to get there with the traffic so it was a pretty late night before.

Henry decked out in his "little firecracker" outfit.  He loves the swing that Oma has for him.

YaYa enjoying a traditional burger for America

Opa and Henry

Rachel painting a beautiful rainbow - currently her favorite art subject.

Tummy time on the couch.  We were sad Oma was visiting Australia so she did not get to see in person how well Henry is doing.

YaYa and Henry

Owen says "cheese"

His painting is not quite as refined as Rachel's but he is making progress.

Celebrating Covington's 200th birthday!

 

Cooling off in the misting fan

Opa had fun on the outing.

Happy Henry

Yummy watermelon

Sparklers to top off the evening

Owen was tempted to grab the sparkly part, but we managed to keep it under control.

 

Mardi Gras and Mia's Birthday

Last weekend, we made a trip over to Mandeville to enjoy a Mardi Gras parade.  The timing also worked out that we got to celebrate Mia's second birthday.


The weather was great so we spent a lot of time outside.

The big sandbox at the park is fun.

A picnic before the Eve parade.

Watching flags and marching bands.

From the first floats, we caught a few beads and big teddy bear.

By the end, Rachel had amassed quite a haul.  Here she is with all of her bead, as well as her headband and ring.  Not pictured are the 5 new stuffed animals and various other stuff we caught.

Owen liked the headband too.

On Saturday, we headed to Hattiesburg for Mia's birthday party.  She welcomed us all graciously when we arrived.

Owen and Mia were a little uncertain about the party hats at first, but then decided they liked them.  All of the kids loved the Curious George theme.

Rachel helped inspect the jeep when it was not running...turns out the battery was charging.

They had it up and running in no time.

Owen enjoyed riding while Mia drove.

 

Yummy birthday cake

Rachel wanted to stay close to Mia (and the cake)

Mmmmm...delicious

Cake for everyone

Rachel finally got a turn to drive :)

Present time!

Rachel showing Mia how to dance with the flags.  They had so much fun playing at Mia's house they did not want to leave.

Before we drove back on Sunday, we had to make another visit to the playground.  The kids love it!

Owen did not mind being covered in sand.

Sand is the best!