Tired, Sore and back in New Orleans

WOW we had SO MUCH FUN today! I was completely wrong about where we were going, we ended up in Goutier, Mississippi. As we were leaving town we passed the castle that is visible on I-10 near Slidell. Sebastian wanted to see it up close so we stopped and checked it out. I'm told the castle was built for a sick little girl by her father. She always wanted to live in a castle and he made her wish come true. This building is absolutely beautiful. I want my own castle one day! Sebastian stayed well behaved during the 2 hour car ride there. Here he is posing for the picture while we waited for Ashley and Sonny, Sebastian's Uncle, to leave the gas station (about half way there). I don't think Seb has had this much fun in a long long time. Look at this picture and tell me this is not a happy boy! lol It's times like this I wish Martina was here to share in all the fun. When we arrived to Ashley's Mom's House it was absolutely gorgeous. We lounged for a few minutes in the air conditioning as we rested from the journey. It wasn't long before Sebastian (and I) felt the need to go explore the grounds. Sebastian played in the back yard for a few minutes but we were both drawn to the boat house and the water (even if it is swamp water). lol We threw the crab net out a few times with no luck as we waited for the boat to arrive. It turned out the problem regarding the boat, I mentioned in a previous post, was it had run out of gas. rofl. So while Sebastian practiced his casting and fished Sonny and Ashley's Sister gased up the boat and drove it down the winding swamp channels up to us at the boat house. Once the boat got there I was ready! Oh ya ready to get some water skiing in. I had been talking about all my prior water skiing experience (albeit 15 years go lmao) so I was hoping I wouldn't land flat on my face instead of getting up and out of the water. Well as you can see not only did I manage to pull myself out of the water but I did quite well for not water skiing in 15 years or so. Oh it was so much fun, it reminded me of summers of my youth. In my adoptive family, the grandparents had a cabin in northern Minnesota. I forget the town but I know it was located on lake Shaminaw (sp?). We used to go there multiple times every summer and fish, water ski, swim, explore the woods, etc. As my friend Ashley said when I told her, the following information dates me severly. As I was skiing around, jumping the wake of the boat I was reminded of the very first time I got up on water skis. I sang the song, "Eye of the Tiger" as loud as I could while I held on for dear life! See that last picture up there, of me in the water? As I look at it now, I'm still not sure if that is a smile or a grimace on my face, I was pretty winded after all that skiing. I was so incredibly tired, my muscles burned and my body ached all over. I skied 3 times and hit the water tube once and my body will certainly be paying the price when I wake up! When all the fun was done we ate some shrimp with red beans and rice for dinner. It was awesome, fresh caught shrimp, sausage in the red beans.. mmmmmmm yummi. Before we left we got to see Ashley's Mom's picture DVD from her recent trip to Africa. Every single picture was absolutely amazing. Pictures of lions, water buffalo, hyenas, and all kinds of natives... Soon after, we piled into the car for the ride back home to New Orleans. I was happy to let Sonny drive so I could simply rest my tired old body lol. The ride home was uneventful other than the occasional bickering between Sebastian and Cody (Ashley's Son). I'm happy to report neither Sebastian, nor I, really got sunburnt. So its only the aches in my muscles I'll cuddle up with tonite. Tune in next time for a picture of lightening I captured just as I was finishing this bloglet ;)