Jazz Fest

David and I went to Jazz Fest, sans kids. The weather was beautiful, and the crowds weren't bad where we were.  We stayed away from the Acura and Gentilly stages in late afternoon onwards. 

 

After getting a daiquiri, we went over to Gentilly Stage early to catch Flow Tribe. They put on a good show and are a diverse band. 

 

Next, another daiquiri, Nachitoches meat pie, and hot sausage poboy before seeing Kermit Ruffins at Congo Square with David cousin.

We then saw The Subdudes. We hung out in the Blues Tent and saw Walter Trout, who I had never heard of. There's a great story behind him, and he rocked out that tent.

We stuck with the Blues Tent for the closeout with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. She is high energy, and we got to see Michael's doppelganger on tenor sax.

More Softball

The girls had a double header Monday, resulting in two more wins. Here is a video of one of her hits. She didn't bat quite as well that day, striking out a couple of times swinging. I guess I'd rather her strike out swinging than watching it go past her. 

 

Next games: Monday and Thursday, no double headers next week. The girls are really pooped afterwards.

Softball Game 2

Eva had a great second game Saturday (this was after running the 5k).  She hit a single right over the first baseman's head, a perfect hit. She later caught a grounder (at 2nd base) and threw it to first getting the out.  In the next inning she caught a pop up for the 3rd out for that inning. Her team won 14-0. 

 

I'm so happy we changed leagues this year.

Chick-fil-a Race

Chick-fil-a hosts a series of races each year to raise money for church camp scholarships. This year the race was at Sonia's church (that's where the camp is held). There was a 10k, a 5k and a one mile race.

 

 Pre-race

Eva kept up with me for about half the race then fell back. She did great though, winning 2nd in her age group.

 Eva coming over the finish line.

 My stats.

 Eva's stats.

 

 

 Finisher picture.

I look at this picture knowing Eva is 11, and have a hard time believing either of these girls are older than she is. Look how little they are!

 Places 1st-3rd in girls age group 10-14.

 Eva took 2nd place in her age group and I took first in female masters. I was actually 2nd in my age group, but the person who was first was the overall female winner, so that bumped me up.

For winning first in masters I got the medal, and a Chick-fil-a cooler filled with 12 Chick-fil-a gift cards, a long sleeved shirt, pencils, cozies, and 2 (thankfully) Chick-fil-a cows. It was quite a shock to hear my name called as first place in masters. LOL!

Me with my goody pack and medal.

Softball Begins!

We were unhappy with the Hammond softball league last year, so we are trying out the Ponchatoula Recreation softball league this year. The park is literally 5 minutes from the Hammond park, so that is not an issue. So far, we've been please. I won't go into details, but all around this has been a much better experience.

 

Eva is playing in the 11-12 year old league. There are only 3 teams, as many players have opted for travel softball. I did consider it, but I'm not sure she wants to do that just yet. They play 3 games per week, two of them being a double header on that day. 

 

The coach is great, the girls get along great. Many have met for the first time this year. Eva does know one girl on her team. They have played together for many years. She is also Eva's principal's daughter. 

 

 Pre-game photo.

The game was great. They have a really good pitcher who is very consistent.  Eva played 3rd base, and did a great job. Last year she played shortstop, so it wasn't much of a change for her. I think she is definitely an infielder. 

During the 2nd inning, the ball was hit to Eva, she scooped it up and made a great throw to 1st base getting the batter out. That whole inning was great. Three batters, three hits, three outs.

Post-game team photo. Silly girls!

 

Next game is Saturday!

Kite Festival

Port Allen (across the river from downtown Baton Rouge) has a kite festival each year. It's a free event with music, food, and activities for kids.  Not only can you bring your own kite and fly it, but you can purchase kites at the festival.  There are also professional kite fliers there who fly kites in a separate section.

 

One of the kids activities was racing with a parachute on your back.  I think it was a lot harder than they thought it would be. 

 

 

 

The kites below are in the professional section and are all parafoils.

 

Eva and Emily each brought a kite that they caught in a parade.  Eva's was a parafoil, and Emily's was a regular kite, but it had no tail.  Emily's never flew, but Eva's did great...for a while. It was flying perfectly until I left to get Emily a kite, came back and Eva's was no longer flying.  So, then I was off to get her a kite.

 Parafoil we brought.

 

 Eva's new kite.

 

Emily's new kite flew great, but it hit the ground one too many times and a part came unstitched. I just need to sew it up and it should be fine. I think we'll bring these to Grand Isle in July to fly at the beach. 

It was a perfect kite flying day: very windy, 70 degrees and sunny.

Wisteria

This year is the first year to really have our wisteria blooming. Last year we got a few from one of our trees, but none on the other. We knew one was purple, but as it turns out, the other is pink (we got them at different times/places). We've never seen a pink wisteria, so it's pretty neat to have both. 

 

 Up close purple.

 Whole tree purple.

 Up close pink.

Whole tree pink.

Blooms!

Our warm winter has brought our blooms early!

 

 Lorapetulum - flowers all year long.

 Indian Hawthorne

 Azalea - that color!

 Another azalea

 Sweet olive - smells awesome!

 Meyer lemon tree - tons of blooms - do you see the lizard to the left of the flower?

Wisteria - smells awesome!

Shamrock 5K

We did our first family race last weekend.   Eva and I ran while David ran/walked and Emily walked with friends.   The weather was fine at first, but started drizzling during the race and continued until after we left. 

 

 Family pic before.

 Sisters before.

 Emily's walking crew.

This was Eva's first race, and she did great. It was her first (race or practice) where she did not stop at all.  Her time was 29:16 which left her in 2nd place for ages 14 and under. There was a discrepancy with the timing company. They listed an additional age group, 11 and under, where Eva placed first. They were only handing medals out for 14 and under, so she did not get the medal.  She was very upset after seeing 1st next to her name, but got over it eventually.

 Eva and I sprinting at the finish. Notice both of our feet are off the ground!

 Emily cruising in.

 

 Eva and me after the race.

 First 5k medal!

Friends!

David ran 2 miles, his most since his surgery. His time was 30:33 and placed 7th in his age group. Not bad considering he walked a mile.  Emily walked an 18 minute mile pace and came in 7th in her age group, which was the same age group as Eva, lol.  My time was 29:18, 6th place in my age group. I ran with Eva the whole time to make sure she didn't lose pace. 

Next race:  April 16 in the Chick-fil-a Race Series. This race gives medals for first, second and third place in each age group.  Let's keep our fingers crossed she can get a medal that day.

Daddy-Daughter Date Night

Chick-fil-a does lots of activities for kids throughout the year. This was our first time participating in any of them, and it was pretty cute. This was daddy-daughter date night. David parked in a parking lot in a nearby Holiday Inn. There, the girls could get some lip gloss and eye shadow, if they wanted (mine did not).

 

They then took a limo to Chick-fil-a where they were brought to their table (reservations required!). 

 

 

 In the limo!

 

 

The tables had tablecloths and they were waited on instead of ordering at the counter like usual.

 

 The table!

 

 

They all got masks and the girls got flowers (not pictured).

 

I think they all had a good time, and we'll try another activity there again. Plus, mama got a quiet evening alone (with Phoebe). Two thumbs up!