Crawfish Boil

Every year Justin's parents in Cushing, Texas, host a good-old-fashioned crawfish boil. It seemed a good opportunity for Ezekiel's first trip out to Cushing, so we loaded him up for the three-hour car ride out there and hit the road. He is not a big fan of riding in cars.

I can't say I blame him. Still, Justin and I didn't let his grouchiness spoil the trip for us.

Despite his refusal to nap for more than 3o minutes of the drive out there, he was a very good sport for a big day of fun in the East-Texas sun. He enjoyed getting to see some of the beautiful scenery as we approached the Crawfish boil.

We got to meet some of Justin's friends from long ago. One such friend greeted Ezekiel by holding out a live crawfish for him to examine. After staring at it for a few minutes he decided it was safe, and reached out to touch it.

Justin's parents have a very fruitful garden. My favorite garden produce was the tomatoes! Ezekiel helped me pick a cherry tomato, which he couldn't quite figure out how to eat. I bit into it for him, and then he dropped it on the ground.

He enjoyed the opportunity to play in the dirt.

And although he was clearly very tired, he maintained a mostly cheerful demeanor- he was just so excited about all the new sights, sounds and people.

The O'Shay family home is also home to a bunch of cats, several of whom just had kittens. This shows three of about 13 kittens that were lingering around the porch.

By the time we left, we were all feeling rather tired and worn out by our long but fun day. But then again, with only one baby it could have been a lot harder; I'm imagining how I'll feel when I have a whole brood of little O'Shays to take care of.

O'Shay Visit

Last weekend Justin's parents came in for a visit. They got to "ooooh" and "aaaaah" about Ezekiel's cuteness. They also brought us some fresh, home-grown green beans and potatoes! Awesome! And although we hadn't planned this ahead of time, Kipp was able to help Justin get rid of the stinky old hot tub that came with the house!

They cut it up with a sawz-all and loaded it into Kipp's truck. Then they used a small jack-hammer to break up the concrete block underneath.

Ezekiel enjoyed playing on the porch and watching.