Family Reunion and Gatherings...Pics

The weekend that I was supposed to leave Louisiana to come home my Aunt Betty, cousin Michael and his wife April decided to come to Louisiana for a family visit. They're the only family I have left on my Mom's side (besides Aunt Betty's other two kids who didn't come). I hadn't seen my Aunt since my Mom's funeral (11 years) and my cousin Michael since my ex and I got married (15 years). So I had to stay for another week, I couldn't just leave and come home knowing they were on their way.

Too bad the day she got there is the day that I fell in my sisters yard. I didn't realize it until the next day that I had a black eye (that only got worse by the day) and my chest was killing me. It wasn't until two days after I fell that I couldn't take the chest pain anymore and went to the ER. One broken rib, 4 fractured ribs. Ouch. If you've never broken a rib...DON'T! Shit hurts. Still hurts lol. I guess that's what I get for bragging the week before that I was 41 and had never broken a bone! Karma y'all!!

The day after I fell. Notice the nice green bruise that goes down my cheek. So cute. Not.

Three days later. Uugh...walk around with a black eye y'all. People look at you like "Oh poor thing! Her husband must have been the shit out of her!" Lol...

Once I got back to North Carolina I had an appointment with my dr here and told her what happened. She thinks I may have broken/fractured something in my face...it still hurts to touch it. So if it's still this sore in two weeks I have to go get it Xrayed along with my ribs again! Only I could be this clumsy...on vacation!

Anyblackeyes, my Aunt Betty is 60 years old and (to me) she looks amazing! She came out with us, drank with us (she drank my ass under the damn table!!) and even danced with us!

April (Michael's wife), Aunt Betty, Denise and I out at a local bar. Whew...they wore me out y'all! I was the first one to go "home" for the night. I can't hang with them lol.

Aunt Betty, April and Michael...passing a good time.

 Lmao the later it got, the blurrier the pics seemed to get. And the "looser" Aunt Betty got haha.

Michael was trying to tell her to look at the camera...it didn't work lol.

Get it Aunt Betty!

Woot! Woot!

Aunt Betty was a rollin' stone! (And Denise lol)

Don't stop get it get it!

We had a blast while they were there (for the most part). Denise (my sister), Ronnie (her bf) and I took them to the karaoke bar one night. My cousin Michael got up and sang (turns out he sang one of my favorite songs without even knowing it!), and once he got past his nerves he did pretty damn good.

Aunt Betty and I

Denise and Aunt Betty

Michael and I

Michael and April

Mike singing (duhh lol)

Oh he wanted to KILL me lol

Here's a video of him singing one of my favorite songs...

My BIL Tomy took them out on an airboat one of the days that they were there, I was bummed that they didn't have enough room in the boat for me! I've never been on an airboat and I've always wanted to go in one...though it would probably scare the hell out of me lol!

On my Nephew's birthday we all went out to dinner. We had a wonderful time!! It was really like a mini family reunion even though two of my cousin's couldn't be there.

Diann (my sister) and my BIL Tomy

Me, the Mack Daddy birthday boy (my Nephew Eric) and Aunt Betty

Daddy and Aunt Betty

My Godchild Destiny and her fiance' Brock

The one (and apparently only) pic that I have of Rusty and I from the entire time I was there lol. Don't you just love the "raccoon eyes)

Eric and his girlfriend Kimmie

My Niece Amanda (with her new boobs lol) and her hubby Luis

Diann, Eric and Denise (Eric's Mom)

Diann and Eric

 Eric and I

Michael and April

Everything was going fine with out visit with Aunt Betty and them (besides Aunt Betty and April not getting along too well the entire time they were there!) until my sister Diann's Dad arrived into town. I wont go into the whole story now...I'll save it for another blog entry. But let me just say...I don't take kindly to people talking about my Mom in any kind of negativity...at all.

Anydrama...back to the pics... the rest of these were taken the day that Aunt Betty and the crew left to go back to Tennessee. I swear, I think if Michael had his way...he'd move to Louisiana tomorrow lol.

Denise, Diann, Aunt Betty and I standing in Diann's kitchen (I so freakin' love her kitchen, it's gorgeous!!)

It runs in the family!

Ok, that's it for today. Tomorrow...my favorite part...the gumbo cook off. Whew...I had a blast there, and worked my ass off lol. Thanks for sharing my trip with me!

Boat Parades, Fais Do Do's, and Festival Fun in pictures.

The Friday night after I got home they had the Sugar Cane Festival boat parade. We were supposed to have a boat for my sisters Bar/Restaurant but the boat broke down at the last minute so we weren't able to ride in the parade. I was really looking forward to it since I'd never been in the boat parade before.

Instead Diann (my sister) and Tomy (bro in law) invited a bunch of friends to their house and they had a huge cookout! Best food of the night? Tomy put some hot tamales on the grill. If you've never had grilled/smoked hot tamales before...try them. Good lawd those things were good. I wish I would have gotten some pics of them. They went too fast though lol. Actually this is the only pic of (any of) the food that I got!

I loved this cake! These Cajun people have pride for their Saints yeah!

When it came time for the boat parade we all walked down to the bayou in Diann and Tomy's backyard and climbed on their yacht to watch the parade. Their in the process of having the boat repainted and remodled. It's going to be gorgeous when their done. There's three bedrooms and two bathrooms on it. Just going below deck made me dizzy as hell...I don't know how long I could stay down there if I was out on a cruise on the damn thing to be honest with you lol. They're going to the Bahamas when the boat is finished. They said they may even make a stop down in the Outer Banks (about an hour from us)! I hope they do!!

I didn't take pics of all the boats in the parade...I was too busy eating the damn hot tamales lol! But here are a few pics.

That's a triple decker house boat! Damn thing was huge!

The Po-Po boat.

The triple decker boat again (can you tell these aren't in order? lol).

On their way back.

Damn that's a tiny lil boat!

The Berry Queens. I didn't even know what they were all about until I Googled them and found that they have their very own blog here. They're (in their own words) fun-raisers for Iberia Habitat for Humanity. How cool is that??

How gorgeous is that sky?

Now really, can you see why I have such a love affair with my home state? Just look at that sky.

Diann (my sister) and T-Pop (her FIL).

Diann, Susan (her bff) and T-Pop.

Diann's bro in law in his high powered boat...that wont start! Bwaaa!!

Up sh*t bayou with a paddle! haha...

He was pissed that I was taking these pics, but I thought it was hilarious!

Fireworks at the end of the parade. Yeah...I don't know why they turned out like this!

Almost a heart! Well....OK damn it, not quite! Tomato, tomoto...you get it!

Diann apologizing to Tomy for being so "bitchy" the last few days! It doesn't happen often! I tried to video tape it but my camera was being just as bitchy as Diann had been lol.

I know his eyes are close, but they're so damn cute together! So in love, even when she's being a bitch!

Geaux Cajuns!! Tiger pide baby!

Can you tell that I was NOT happy about having my pic taken? Lol... I was in a weird mood that night.

Sunset over da Bayou Teche'!

Diann and my Daddy.

Saturday morning was the children's parade. My Niece Amanda's two daughters were both in the parade with their dance school. Man it was HOT! I felt so bad for all the kids that had to walk in that heat! Whew!

When my Dad lived in Hawaii he had a truck just like this one, same color and everything! I had to take a pic of this one!

Bet y'all didn't know this...I'm a freak for "hot rods!" Especially Camaro's! My first car was a 1981 Camaro Z28. I love 'em! I was in Heaven seeing these.

Geaux Tigers...I'm tellin' y'all, Cajun people love their Tigers!!!

My Camaro was the same gray color as this one!

My Niece Amanda's little boy Maddox. Look at those eyes y'all.

My Godchild (and Niece) Destiny's little girl Farrah.

Farrah and I enjoying the parade (not the heat). This was about as close as she would let me get to her lol.

Amanda's husband Luis and Maddox.

My Godchild (and Niece) Destiny, Farrah and I.

 Uncle Sam, and Lady Libery...poor babies were so hot!

The Farmer's Day queen, how cute!!

Mona Lisa and da Vinci lol.

 The minute Amanda's girls went dancing past us we got the hell out of there! It was just too damn hot to sit out there and watch the rest of the parade. We all walked over to Pelican's for lunch!

Kira and Maleia after the parade cooling off in Pelican's.

Poor babies were soaking wet!

Lol...I love Maddox's expression in this pic! I don't know what he saw but it must have been something cool (to him)!

On Saturday night Denise (my oldest Sister), Ronnie (her bf) and I went out to the Sugar Cane Festival Fais Do Do (fay dough dough). I didn't take many pictures, we just walked around (it was feaking HOT!!!) for the most part. While we were walking around I looked across the street and saw this little beauty...

My ex's daughter. I hate calling her my ex step daughter because I'll never feel like she's not still my daughter. She isn't only my step daughter, she was my best friend. And even though her Dad and I ended on a VERY sour note, she doesn't hold any of it against me. The minute we saw each other, we both started bawling our eyes out!! She's pregnant, and adorable. (I also found out she got a boob job, the lil shit!) She looks amazing.

Our night of fais' do do'ing was pretty much over once we ran into Ashely and her husband Brad. We all took off to Pelican's (my sisters bar/restaurant) to grab a table and "visit" with one another. Ashely and I (OK...mostly me!!) ended up crying most of the night, we were so happy to see each other!

Ashley, her (very drunk lol) husband Brad, and I. They're having a little boy. I couldn't keep my hands off of her belly, and talking about my Grandson lol. I can't wait to meet him, he's going to be a gorgeous baby! Just look at his Momma! She's going to be a wonderful Mother. When I met her Dad, Ashley and her Sister Brandi were 5 and 6 (Ashley is the oldest). At 6 years old Ashely could pick out their clothes, down to the matching hair bows, get them both dressed, get both of their hair fixed and fix themselves breakfast! She's amazing. Can you tell that I love her?? Cher' baby!

Ashley, Denise and I.

We ended up running into Denise's daughter Amanda (my Niece) and her husband that night too. She was so nervous...the following Monday morning she was getting a boob job too! Damn...all these big boobies makes me want some too! Lol... Kinda late at 41 though huh? Isn't she gorgeous? Everyone usually thinks she's my daughter, we love it!

Whew...that's enough for tonight! More to come tomorrow!