Louisiana

We just returned from a trip to see the Hardy family in Louisiana. We had an absolute blast! I loved seeing my cousins and staying with my awesome aunt and uncle, Melissa and Bob. G had a great time playing with my cousin Aimee's son, Charlie. She recently had a new baby boy, Jack, who is a sweet pea! Here is my aunt, cousins Aimee and Stacy, and Stacy's hilarious husband, Hab.

G and Charlie took a quick dip in the pool. They played SO well together - not once did we hear "mine" or any tattling or fighting! We can't wait for them to come visit us!

G and Bob had a little jam session!

We then drove into Arnaudville, where Mom is from, and ate at our favorite restaurant - Myran's. Hands down, the best shrimp burgers AND onion rings EVER. G is not a fan of the onion, but boy did he mow through some onion rings. Some of Mom's cousins met us for lunch - it was so nice to see them and have them chat with G :)

A drive-thru daiquiri hut....fun!

Sweet G and Charlie!

The shrimp burger. I want another one.

Ice cream cone followed the onion rings....

My favorite stop was at my Maw-Maw Hardy's house - where Mom grew up and much of my childhood was spent. It was bittersweet since a new family now lives there, but I am so glad I got to take G to this special place. As I left, I started singing, "The House That Built Me," because it fits how I feel perfectly.

Cousins!

Mom wanted to stop and pray for Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw so we did. I hope my sweet Griffin Hardy Reed knows what a beautiful and saintly woman he is named after....I love my sweet Maw-Maw and could use her delicate and faithful spirit right about now. Weird as it is, I love thinking of her and Dad in Heaven together. He is teasing her and they are both watching over my sweet boy. I tried to think of a way to explain what the cemetery was. After a few failed attempts, G said, "so this is like Heaven?" Sweet, sweet boy. Love his little mind.

More of Maw-Maw's house - many, many memories on this porch.

The beautiful cemetery and St. Francis Catholic Church - where my Mom and Dad were married :)

Sweet heaven, did we eat...my aunt made homemade shrimp gumbo and crawfish etoufee - I dare you to try and find any this good (well, except for Mom's :) ).

Our daiquiri picnic - strawberry colada, pina colada, peach colada, and margarita. YUM!

This trip meant so much to me - as I know it did for my mom. My Aunt Melissa and Uncle Bob are the greatest. Since Dad died, they both have been there EVERY SECOND. When I have any concerns or need advice, I call Bob. I remember very vividly him being there right after everything happened with my dad - from the very first moment it all started. When I chose to name Griffin, I knew he had to have the middle name of Hardy - for my mom, my Maw-Maw, and for Bob. I had a wonderful trip and feel so blessed to be a Cajun....and a Hardy too!