Finally Fall

If you need us, you can find us outside, soaking up as much of this perfect season as possible.

Our Weekend in Photos

The weather is great down here, as I'm sure it is in most of the country, and Caribbean. We have been taking full advantage and spending most of our days outside because as I have been warned, soon it will be too warm and humid to do so. 

"Mom, we have a pool, right? Just not one of those big ones like other people." Love her positive outlook on things.

We are still discovering the area and ventured out to a new park on Saturday and oh was it wonderful. Nature and a lake and interesting play equipment. Jude went for his first swing and giggle more than ever. Video to come in the next post.

Doing the Easter egg thing. Wait, you don't dye eggs in your swimsuit?

 And finally, Easter morning. The Easter rabbit was good to his girls.

 And boy.

We are happy anytime we have George home for an extra day and this weekend was not exception. Hope you are enjoying the season as much as we are.

Crawfish Season

Its crawfish season and we are quickly learning that is a really good thing. 

This little girl is even a fan.

Pop stopped in the other day for a quick visit. Since we had an extra pair of hands on deck we felt brave and decided to venture out and enjoy a meal outside of the home. Sammy's is our spot. A restaurant we take our family to for local flavors and Southern charm and its just loud enough for us to almost blend in.

Eating out is something we just don't do since we became a family of five. It's way too exhausting.  

But we took turns holding babies and peeling crawfish and ended up having a wonderful evening out with minimal damage to the restaurant. All in the name of hot, boiled crawfish.

Moments of Firsts: Braids & Socks

This sweet little girl got her first set of braids the other day. 

I am not sure what made her decided to actually sit still long enough for me to do something with her hair, but I will take it. There may or may not beens some bribing involved in the from of foam soap and toothpaste, but once I got started, I was determined. 

While her sister absolutely loves getting her hair done, Elsa isn't into it so much. And I am not into torturing her so she usually just has curly/frizzy hair which I of course think is adorable, but her Aunt doesn't quite agree, and prefers her hair like this. And though she has tried to teach me how to properly fix Elsa's hair, she knows I am not listening. So these braid are for you Aunty Cline, I am not a total failure in the hair department. 

And as I look at Elsa in all of her braided glory, I can't believe how old she looks. 

If you are reading this post from Indiana, you are probably thinking I must be crazy for having my child in a dress because of the shocking shiver the air has to it. But if you are reading this from Indiana, you also understand that just three days ago, this was the proper attire for a kid when it was one hundred degrees out. The weather here is totally bipolar and confused. 


But today, oh no, today we have clothes on. Lots of them. Because it is very cold outside and the kids just keep looking at me when were out like, "What the heck is this?" 

And though my inner workings are feeling nostalgic remembering the feeling of a proper season change, my better self knows things could change tomorrow and it could the sun could be blazing again. But Elsa is happy with the cold because it caused us to bring the socks out, another first for her, and let me just say, she is in love.

And though I am tempted to pick up a few extra warm weather clothes for the girls, I think we will just make do with what we have because I don't trust Indiana weather and who knows what in this world Louisiana has in store for us. I guess I could just look at a Louisiana forecast but that is too simple, too modern. I prefer a good surprise.

Mango Madness

Oh no, not another mango post! Well, what can I say, we have been eating a lot of mangoes around here.  Can you believe I just learned how to cut the thing properly? Seriously, how did it take me so many years of island living to learn this important skill?  


Actually, I am not too surprised it took me so long to learn the cutting technique considering that prior to moving to St. Croix, I don't think I had ever eaten or maybe even seen a mango in the raw? Embarrassing, I know. I remember trying my first taste of the magical fruit here and not totally knowing if I should eat the skin or not, just kinda hung back and watched others before I dove in. 


Today I will share with you my newly acquired knowledge of how to cut a mango, for snacking. When cooking with mango, I cut it a completely different way. We do it two ways around here, the civilized (clean) way and then the other way, which is really messy, depending on the ripeness of the fruit.


So here is the first way we cut the mango, the way we do it at home when a knife is handy. I thought I knew how to do this and then yesterday I realized I was constantly cutting into the tough seed in the middle of the fruit. My knowledgeable island boy husband then revealed to me the key fact that I must cut along the long end of the oval of the mango, like so. Of course, wait to cut  the mango until its ripe or feels soft to touch, about the softness of a ripe avocado.

Repeat on the other side.

Then pick up the slices and scoop the delicious fruit out with your teeth, using the skin as a bowl and a way to keep fingers clean, but don't eat the skin.

Finally, peel the center and eat all the goodness left around the seed you wish.


The next way we eat mangos is how we do it when out in nature with no knife in sight. Simply start at the top and pull the peel down all around leaving the skin intact at the bottom of the fruit so there is a place to hold the fruit without getting your hands covered in mango juice.

Then devour. 

Be careful, your face might look like this after eating a mango this way (smile included). Trust me, its inevitable.

I am sure this is probably old news but to most of you but for some, hopefully, the lightbulb just went off as it did for me yesterday. 


Hope this helps so next time you are in the islands you will look like a professional and not embarrass yourself as I did by trying to eat the mango peel. And please don't think I am stingy, I would mail you all mangoes but the USDA doesn't think it's a good idea and if they got smashed en route, it might result in a huge mess by the time it arrives which really wouldn't be fun for anyone.


Sending mango love to everyone.