our Easter weekend

On the Thursday of our Spring Break week, Ashley went through the Canes drive-through for lunch and came to my office (on her way to her office) so we could have lunch together. At lunch, she said, "Whitney asked if we were coming for Easter. I told her I had to talk to you. To which Whitney replied, 'Oh, I guess y'all aren't coming.' What do you think?" After Ashley laid out her thoughts about Whitney and Boston not being this close forever and the fact that we could visit my parents (whom we haven't seen since Eden's birthday), I was sold. "Okay. Let's go." Much to Whitney's surprise, we called her that evening to tell her the good news. We'd be heading out the next day.

Of course, with very little planning that meant washing clothes and packing on top of what we needed to do before we left town. To get organized, Ashley got a brilliant idea. After a year of packing for trips with a baby and writing nearly the same packing list every time, she made a permanent list. It only took her a year ... she was very excited.

Eden also liked the list idea ...

... and watching me pack the car -- she would wave every time I came into and went out of the house ...

Trips seem more interesting now that Eden is facing forward. In the process, we also figured out why they really make that little switch on the rear-view mirror (hint: it's not for night vision after all).

Our first stop off I-10 was Robbie's house for a congratulations crawfish boil (he successfuly defended his Master's thesis and got a summer research fellowship at Rutger's).



While there we saw Aunt Sarah ...



... Nonna and Big Daddy ...

...and Eden's new best friend, Lilly.

Reportedly, Lilly was talking all the next day about how much Eden loved her (more than she liked Lilly's brother Luke) and how Eden kept trying to give her kisses ...

After spending the night with my folks and lounging around most of the day, we headed to Milton, FL for dinner with Whitney, Boston, and their friends ... it's bright in Florida, you know.

We ate at La Hacienda's, a locally-owned Mexican restaurant with a cool indoor fountain.

Here's the whole crew ... Boston, Whitney, Eden, Kara, Cali, Jason, Nehemiah, Ashley, and me:

Then it was off to Whitney and Boston's for a friendly game of Settlers of Catan ... The Lafayette Settlers Clan is very jealous now ... you know who you are!

Although I won't go into detail, Ashley and I did not rule the game ... we've lost our Settlers mojo.

The next morning, after we had weeped about our loss, we woke up and had breakfast. Boston cooked waffles ... mmmmmmm ....

Then we went to Easter Sunday service at McIlwain Presbyterian Church in Pensacola, where we met up with Ashley's parents who just happened to be spending the weekend at the beach in Gulf Shores [[think Ashley just couldn't stay away when more than 2 members of her family were going to be in the same place?]]. It was a good service, full of passion and good music.

After church (and after the after church photo shoot), we headed downtown to The Fish House, where Ashley parents treated us to a delicious Easter lunch and we got to spend more time with the Little-Jones clan. Yes, it was still bright in Florida.

Then, on our way out of town to Mobile, we stopped to have a peek at Whitney's store, Celebrations.

We got to stay in Mobile that night and hang out with the Bodie clan (as well as see Robbie one more time before he leaves for the summer). Overall, it was a nice end to an otherwise catch-up-with-work Spring Break. Although we didn't make it to the beach, it was plenty sunny where we were ... it was great to see everyone! Hope to do it again soon!