Happy Memorial Day

These are some pictures from Nola's calendar shoot. They're not from the month of May, but I was feeling extra patriotic at the time of posting this entry, so I thought we'd jump a few months ahead and show off Nola's pictures from July.

Happy Memorial Day, Everyone!

May Flower

Nola's sweet little photo shoot for the month of May.

Sid, the Most Loyal Cat We Would Ever Know

Sid (pictured above), hanging outside the house, most likely waiting for his next meal.

We've been back from Louisiana for some time now, but life's been slower here without the daily guided tour of a swamp or near-safari, so I haven't found much home-life material to be blog-worthy, that is until our cat, Sid, disappeared.

To be honest, Sid disappeared before we even returned from Louisiana. We had been back for about a week, when Nick came back to the house from taking a walk with Nola one evening and saw the "biggest coyote" he had ever seen.

That night, we mourned Sid's inevitable loss. We knew that he had become part of a food chain that saw him on the winning-end of things most of the time. We got out his kitten pictures. We cried, and ultimately came to the conclusion that he had a great life, and will always be remembered as the most loyal cat we would ever know.

The next day, Rocky was batting at the door and whimpering. Nick checked to see what Rocky was so upset about, and lo and behold, Sid was sitting outside, just staring in at the house.

When he realized he had been spotted by us, he started to bail, so we had to entice him back with a special treat of tuna. He stayed long enough to eat, then left again.

Nick was very seriously convinced for about a week after that we had just encountered Sid's ghost. Turns out, it wasn't his ghost. It was all Sid. He just moved up the street to somebody else's house. His new owner came by just a few days ago and apologetically explained to Nick that they "didn't mean to take Sid, he just chose them."

Oh well. What are we going to do? I've had Sid as a pet for 13 years, and due to his temporary break from 3 cans of Fancy Feast a day, he decided he had to move out and find somebody else. I have yet to meet the new owners, but did stop by their house to bring some catnip toys, a hairbrush, and a box of Fancy Feast, just as a way to say, "No hard feelings." (Well, to say that to the humans, but to make Sid feel really bad about totally ditching us.)

Anyhow, the people weren't home, but I did see (I swear, no creepy voyeuristic peeping required to catch this, as you could see it through an open window right next to the front door), but they had a huge cat calendar on the fridge, and I realized that Sid, while loyal he may not be, is one smart cat.

Here's Sid with Jon Thomas (our other cat) when things were still going well. Apparently, according to our neighbors, he still visits Jon Thomas when we're not at home. Ouch.

It's the Humidity

Check out Nola's glorious curls! My hair gets frizzy down here, while Nola's gets stylish!

Global Wildlife

Another cool attraction near Nonnie and Papa's is Global Wildlife, a preserve with hundreds of various animals who really, really like corn. I'm sure that's not what their website boasts, but it was pretty awesome to head out on our own ATV and feed these fairly friendly beasts straight from our hands.

Allyson, with Rhys, Emma and Declan joined us along with Aunt Jaimee and Nonnie. Here we are in front of our ATV.

Jaimee is feeding Sally, the very stinky camel, while I mentally go to a much safer time and place -- before I ever let my nine month old near a camel.

While most of the animals were seemingly more exotic, there were cattle on the preserve, who liked to lob their ginormous tongues to one side to better allow entry of the corn.

Apparently, Food Inc. had very little impact on Nick, who readily contributed to the corn-fed beef.

Emma's checking out her food stocks, while Nick cozies up with a llama.

The giraffes bypassed the cup feedings and went straight to the bucket at our feet, just because they could.

Nola definitely dug this outing.

Oak Alley Plantation

Not too far from Nonnie and Papa's house, rolls the Mississippi River and the haunting remains of antebellum life. One of the most visually spectacular examples of this is the Oak Alley Plantation. The oak trees that line the entryway to the home are over 300 years old, while the house itself is about 200 years old.

Nola, Nick and I toured the house with our niece, Emma, while Nonnie and, Emma's little brother, Rhys, stayed outside during the tour -- one of their jobs was to wreak havoc on the premises, while the other's job was to document said havoc-wreaking for posterity's sake. The photo to the right should reveal who had which job between Nonnie and Rhys.

How genteel!

Jazz Fest, Day One

We went to Jazz Fest last weekend, and got caught up in a parade of Mardi Gras Indians en route to their stage performance. It was pretty cool, and definitely an experience you could only find in New Orleans.

Still not sure which I like more, getting caught in the parade -- or Nola's reaction to the whole thing.