From Grandma and Grandpa's, we went to visit my cousin Megan, her family, my Aunt Linda & Uncle Mike, and my other cousins Sarah and Michael at Megan's home in Covington. They had a huge crawfish boil and all kinds of treats for the kids. It was so nice to see all of them! Megan had made the kids these really cute frosted cookies and my aunt decorated Easter eggs with them. (Each year we get all the supplies, but always seem to forget to do them.) The kids loved it. They also really enjoyed playing with Megan's dog Stella, and riding in the wagon with their little son Matthew. (What a doll!)

The Kids and Stella the Dog

My Aunt Linda, Cousin Megan,

and her son Matthew

Sam and I really enjoyed socializing with the adults while the kids were able to play and just be kids. When it was time to go, all they wanted to do was have us tell them that we would come back again. Unfortunately, we were only going to be in Baton Rouge for a total of 27 hours. We still had several people to see, and had to include sleep in there somewhere. We definitely realized that we have to go and visit more often.

After we made it back into Baton Rouge from Covington, we checked into the hotel then decided to take the kids to our famous Coffee Call on College Street for hot chocolate and Louisiana's famous beignets! Call us crazy, considering it was after 10:00pm at this point, but I really wanted to share the exciting memories I remembered from my childhood of Louisiana with my kids. It was well worth it! The kids were completely covered in powdered sugar, full of it too(right before bed), but we had a great time and only managed to spill one cup of hot chocolate as we were getting ready to leave. Luckily it all stayed on the counter.

William covered in sugar

For Easter Sunday, we sneakily hid Easter eggs in our hotel room for the kids while we were at breakfast. After Natalie kept telling us she wanted to go home because she was not getting an Easter Basket this year, she was quite surprised. So were Brie, Nate, and William. Instead of Easter baskets though, we gave them Easter Bags full of goodies. The bags were more compact and fit in our back-pack unnoticed. After all the eggs were found, we were dressed in Sunday best, and our van was again packed, we snuck away to visit the state capitol of LA before going to church. The kids have been studying American History and the 50 states this semester, so they have been making a book to keep track of all the state capitols they visit. They were so excited to see how incredible the Louisiana state capitol was! It was covered in beautifully carved statues and very very tall. They were also quite amazed at the number of sparrows that built their nests inside the decorative metal work above the entrance doors. I was so glad that we were able to go, even if it was only a quick trip and we couldn't go inside.

Our Family outside the Capitol

From the Capitol, we met my Aunt Pam, Uncle John, cousin Johnathan, his wife Katie, their beautiful little daughters Grace and Agatha, my grandma and grandpa, and Grandma Mutt at their church for Easter services. It was a wonderful sermon and very spiritual. We really enjoyed the opportunity that we had to be with our family, whom we never have been before, on this special day. It really meant a lot to me. It made me feel so blessed to have the family that I have, whom I love so very much, and know that they love me and my family so much too! It was GREAT!

After services were over, we followed my family back to my aunt and uncle's neighborhood to have Easter Dinner at their clubhouse. It was incredible! We sat an enormous table that stretched the length of the room we were seated in. Everyone had a massive buffet of food to choose from, the kids had visits from the Easter Bunny, who brought them little goody bags and Easter Eggs, and then we had dessert. Oh my goodness! I think we must have gained 20 pounds each after that meal. The togetherness and laughter we were able to have was priceless! I didn't want it to end, but knew that if we were going to keep on our schedule, it would have to.

For the last couple of hours we had, before we needed to head out of town, we went over to my Aunt Pam and Uncle John's house to visit with them a little longer and to let the kids move around before being couped in the van for several hours. I cannot say enough at how excited the kids were to be able to visit their home. We have had some wonderful memories there! My older children especially remember them. Brie and Nate played pool, explored the yard, and Natalie and William raced the kiddy-car with Aunt Pam, played soccer, and had a blast with little Grace until Natalie wiped-out and skinned her knee pretty bad. Thank goodness for Dr. Uncle John though! He had her bandaged up and fixed up quicker than whip! We were really sad to leave when it was time to go, but we knew we needed to get on the road before it got too late. Grandma and Grandpa had one more surprise for the kiddos, before we headed out of town, that we needed to go by their house and pick up. It was also really starting to rain! We gave everyone our kisses and hugs goodbye, pushing back tears from my eyes, and headed out. Grandma and Grandpa met us at our van at their home with an enormous Easter Basket for each of our kids, full of all kinds of goodies. It was so nice of them to do that. I know the kids will have that in their memories for life! I could not tell them, "Thank you!" enough.

As we left out of Baton Rouge, there was one last thing I wanted to do. The last time we came, Sam and I took a trip down to New Orleans to visit my other grandma and grandpa's tomb. I wanted so badly to leave some flowers in the vase on the front of it, but we could not find a shop to buy some. This time, I found a beautiful bouquet of Easter roses for them. As we arrived at the gates to the cemetery, we realized that they were chained and locked shut. I was devastated! I couldn't see why they felt no one visits their loved ones on Easter, but it was what it was. I knew that my grandparents knew my intentions, and that was enough for me.

From this point, we headed on to FLORIDA!