A Day in the Country

One of Kristen's long time friends, Lauren and her husband Ryan live in Fannett, Texas. For those of you that read this that have no idea where that is, take I-10 East from Houston to 73 to 146...wind around on some back roads and BAM...Fannett! You can't miss it! Kristen, Emmy, Collin, Betsy, Caroline and I loaded into the Tahoe and headed to a house warming party for the Richard's (REE-Shards). One note, if you plan on going, make sure you don't take the "back way"...Collin lead us to a dead end, a downed bridge over troubled water left over from good old Hurricane Ike. We had a bit of back-tracking, but found the way courtesy of Kristen's ever so reliable Iphone. If you don't have an Iphone, I highly recommend one...they can be very helpful in some very tight situations.

Lauren and Ryan have a great place. A large piece of property with a house, a garage that has been converted into an outdoor living space, a shop/garage, a horse stable, a covered porch and a pond complete with hundreds of catfish, a three foot alligator Kristen named Lloyd and two sprinklers that Ryan had so aptly named "s**t spitters". They also have 4-wheelers and plenty of room to roam, so of course, I loved it.

To kick off their lives in their new digs Ryan purchased and cooked 400 pounds of crawfish. 400! In retrospect, Ryan confided that he should have cut it off at 300, but the additional 100 was just to good to pass up. We ate many and then tried to help Ryan peel the rest so that he and Lauren could use them later in other recipes. Ryan...how late did you stay up Saturday night? Hope some of your boys ended up helping you...

The Hap Hap Happy Family by the Pond

"Caroline, I don't care how old you are..."

My baby girl with the Hostess

The Ladies

MOTORBOAT!

"Yes, I've been eating...eating gooooooooood!"

Classic Caroline

A little Father/Daughter Time

"This is one of my favorite ways to sit now...Daddy likes it too. I heard him saying something about a good workout. Daddy, you're my dumbell, I'm not yours. Now dance Monkey!"

Daddy was very happy I can already do this...

"Riding Horses ain't no big thing."

"Dad, never turn your nose up again at my turkey and sweet potato mash."

"Formula is different in the country."

Kristen, Emmy and I appreciated that hospitality and look forward to a return trip to the country. Ryan already told me that I have much to learn...