LOUISIANNA

The kids and I took a trip to Louisiana to visit my sister Jennifer. It was such a great trip. We had never been to Louisiana and had a great time. Seeing the swamps was probably one of our favorite things. It's just so much different down there and I love seeing different parts of our country. The drive down was actually pretty nice. I was nervous about it with this being my first solo LONG drive with the kids. We left at about 7:30am and arrived in Baton Rouge around 6-7pm. We stopped quite a bit on the way down and drove through Arkansas on some 2 lane highways so I think that's why it took us a little longer. On the way back home we took a different route and went more through TX and stayed on 4 lane hwys. It went much faster. I think we left at about 9am and arrived home around 7:30pm. We didn't stop as much and the kids slept a lot more on the way back! They were completely worn out!

The first full day we were in LA we spent the day in New Orleans. We went to the Audubon Nature Institute Zoo. Wow! What an amazing zoo! One of our favorites was that the elephants came up close so the kids could touch them! The whole zoo is just great! After the zoo we headed to the French Quarter. We ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde. YUM! And then walked the streets. We stopped in the French Market where we got mardi gras masks & beads and pralines! There was so much to see! The river, the old buildings, artists, performers, some weirdos (LOL), the St Louis Cathedral, any kind of daiquiri you can think of...and so much more! Lots of fun!

The 2nd full day we spent in Baton Rouge. We started that morning at the farmers market. We left there with chocolate covered oreos and chocolates from the best chocolatier! We then went to the World Market which is such a fun store. My sister and a friend of mine had told me about it and so it was on my list of places I wanted to go. I really wish they would open one here in Tulsa! I could spend every day in that store. After lunch we visited a plantation just south of Baton Rouge called the Houmas House Plantation. It was beautiful! There were 2 weddings going on while we were there. It was fun to see these gorgeous weddings.

There are so many pics that I can share them all on here. Visit my facebook page and you can see all the pics!

HALLOWEEN

We are so behind this year it's not even funny! We came up with some very last minute costumes (and when I say last minute...I mean just hrs before trick or treating time!). Megan went as Guinevere, Kylee was a mechanic, and Cody wanted to be Wolverine again this year! We started our Halloween night in Collinsville at the halloween parade and merchant trick or treating downtown. Afterwards we hit up sonic for their free hotdogs & drinks for the kids and 50 cent corndogs! We finished up trick or treating our neighborhood. The kids were worn out by the end of the night and came home with a TON of candy!

CARMICHAEL'S PUMPKIN PATCH

I am so far behind on posts so here goes!

We visited the Carmichael's pumpkin patch earlier this month to pick out our perfect pumpkins. Last year I was on a hunt to find a "real" pumpkin patch here in OK but had no luck. They just don't have them here where you walk the field and pick your own pumpkin. I did find Carmichael's pumpkin patch in Bixby though. Last year we went for the first time and had so much fun. They do grow many of their own pumpkins there but they still don't let you walk the field and pick your own. Not sure why...But they do have an amazing display of pumpkins and so many different varieties. Along with the pumpkin patch they also have a corn maze, petting zoo area, camel rides, homemade fudge, and a bunch other fun displays around for you to take pictures. It's a lot of fun and a place we will continue to visit every year. Here are a few of our pics. You can find more on my facebook page.