Cajun Crawtator

Its official--Cora's Cajun!  Well, half anyway. The three of us along with Geron's parents headed down south right after the morning service last Sunday.  Cora's first trip to meet her Mimi Brown, last of her living great grandparents, was 12 hours long.  She was a trooper! When we got to Uncle Duke and Aunt Judy's in Lake Charles, LA, she was sound asleep, or so we thought.  She woke up briefly to greet Jenn, Joni and Judy.  (I guess she wanted to make sure everyone noticed she'd arrived.) 

 

Cora had tons of opportunities to experience the fine cuisine of Lake Charles.  Firsts for her--that are neccessary if you're going to spend time in Lake Charles, LA, were bites of: 

                    1. Meatball Poboy (like a sub sandwich) at Tony's

                    2.  Whole peas and garlic bread at Aunt Judy's (part of a meal that also included beef brisket, baked beans and potato salad)

                    3.  Burrito and spanish rice at Casa Manana

                    4.  Roll at Pat's of Henderson (Great seafood and steak restaurant)

                    5.  BOUDIN from Hackett's  (boudin is a combination of rice, sausage or seafood, and spices in sausage casings)

We didn't give her any seafood this time--I think its still a little too early--but she'll be having her share of crawfish ettoufee soon enough, I'm sure.

   

Our "shah baby" (cute baby) was spoiled rotten by the Quinton Brown's, the Jonathan Brown's, the Jonathan Brown in-laws (who were down from Indianapolis), PawPaw and YaYa Brown, MiMi and anyone else who could get their hands on her.  She especially enjoyed attempting to play with Jonathan's miniature schnouser puppy, Jasmine Claire, who was quite afraid of Cora.  Wednesday night after church, Jonathan brought Jasmine over.  We'd heard a lot about her and how hyper she is, so people were kind of concerned how she would be around Cora.  When they arrived, Jasmine came bounding into the living room wagging her tail at everyone, making her rounds and then she spied Cora.  Of course, Miss Co was especially excited about seeing a dog and started bouncing up and down trying to get at her.  Jasmine GROWLED at Cora.  She barked and barked and would come close and back off when Cora tried to grab her.  It was hilarious to watch.  Eventually, Geron and Jonathan were able to tame their "babies" and introduce them to each other.  After that they were friends, or "cousins". 

 

Another dash of excitement came by way of a quick storm one afternoon.  I say quick because it was not in the least way small.  If you've been to Lake Charles, then you know it is very flat and there aren't nearly as many trees as Tennessee to block the winds that come with storms.  Also, considering that the hurricanes hit not so long ago, we were quite frightened.  Rain just started pouring out of nowhere it seemed--like God had just turned on the shower head in Heaven.  Winds were blowing so hard and suddenly it started hailing!  For a girl who hasn't seen much hail, these pieces looked huge!!  Some were as big around as quarters, maybe even pingpong balls.  Fortunately, the storm didn't last very long, quick, I tell you.  Made me thankful to live in beautiful Tennessee. 

 

A quick little funny to show you how much Cora has taken to her cousins....Wednesday night, we went to church with the Quinton Brown crew.  Cora and I attended Kids Club with Cousin Jennifer--an excellent children's teacher, by the way!  In the children's room, there are several bins full of all different kinds of puppets.  One lad, Logan, was taken to attacking Jenn with a rather realistic looking orangutan puppet.  He'd shove the puppet toward Jenn and make a loud growling sound.  Cora was sitting on the floor watching.  Everytime Logan's 'puppet would attack, Cora would make "muscle arms" and yell at the orangutan--as if to say "Get off of my cousin you hairy freak!" It sounded more like "Yaaaghhhhhhhhhhh!!! EEEEyaaaaaaaaaghHHHHH!!", but I'm sure it meant what I said before.  She was really quite good once Bible study started.  She loved being around the older kids and watching them interact with each other.  I know she was longing to chase after them.  She made a good buddy, too--Audrey.  Audrey is three and tried to hold Cora's hand a lot of the time....Cora also found out how much cousin Jennifer loved HER when she let loose on us one day.  I'll just say, Cousin Jennifer endured MUCH in helping me give Cora an extra bath that afternoon. 

 

Cora's first trip to Louisiana was certainly worth every minute.  She loves her "new" cousins, Jennifer, Joni and Jeffrey (oh, and Jasmine, who can "praise the Lord"--another blog entirely).  She loves playing with Aunt Judy and watching Uncle Duke turn into a complete crazy when he sees a baby.  Her Mimi Brown holds an extra special place in her heart, even though you couldn't tell by the way she smacked Mimi when it was time to say Goodbye.  Of course, seeing the country with Mommy, Daddy, YaYa and PawPaw will be a cherished memory for her.  But the cajun food is what she is looking forward to most when she goes back--by then she'll have teeth!!