Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

Yesterday we went to Duane's company picnic and had a lot of fun! There was a crawfish boil and a bunch of activities for both the kids and adults.

We weren't there for very long before it was time to eat! I'm not a big fan of boiled crawfish, it has to do with eating things that still have their eyeballs attached. But Duane and the girls can never get enough of them.

If you've never been to a crawfish boil, you've never been to Louisiana. If you really want to experience it though, springtime is the time when you want to visit.

There was a ton of crawfish, potatoes and corn on the cob.

I ate a hot dog.

I can't actually say that eating boiled crawfish is quite the experience, since I've never technically done it myself. Duane peels them for me. But if you're a true native, you have no issues with the process and you dig right in.

First you have to remove the head.

You do this by holding both ends of the crawfish and twisting it so the tail separates from the head. Then you pinch the end of the tail and pull the tail meat out with your hand or your teeth. At least I think this is how it works!

When you remove the head from the crawfish, if you want to savor every drop of spice, you can suck the head before you discard it. Yuck!

Or you can stick it on your finger and terrorize your sister.

After the boil, there was a crawfish hunt for the kids. They did it in 3 separate groups so the little ones had a chance. This was the 11 and up group.

They hid plastic crawfish in the hay and once they get the go ahead, the kids start digging through the hay to find them.

And they win money depending on how many and what size they find. There are crawfish worth $1, $5, $10 and even a $20 crawfish!

Bri came away with $9 and Blaire won a whopping $22.

Then it was time for the chipping contest. Whoever chipped their golf ball into the hula hoop, or closest to it, won the prize. No one got their ball inside the hoop, but the wife of one of the "golfers" at the plant won!

And then we had the egg toss. Bri and Blaire entered as a team and they did really good! In fact we thought they had won, and they were even given their prizes. They were each handed a $40 gift card to Walmart! Bri was excited...that mean a tank full of gas for her car!

And then it was realized that there was another team still in the competition, so they started tossing again. Bri caught the egg, but when she tossed it back to Blaire... this is what happened. No $40 gift card for you!

The final competition was the trike race. All week out at the plant people were voting on who they wanted to see in the race. Each vote cost $1. All the money was going to support the March of Dimes and the top 5 vote getters would be entered in the race.

When we got there Duane only had $10 on him and wasn't one of the top 5. But then Blaire won some money and by the time the race started he had the 3rd most votes, so he picked his trike and was all ready to race!

Then this happened. Twice. He started out backwards on his bike and didn't like that, so he turned around, rode for a second and bit the dust.

He wasn't the only one though. This is the Plant Manager taking his turn on the gravel. They should have had elbow and knee pads!

Duane was determined and kept racing. I, on the other hand, couldn't stop laughing.

And down he goes again!

But he got back on and after scoping out the competition he knew he had 2nd place in the bag.

What a blast we had! They really did a nice job putting on this picnic and we can't wait for next year!

We probably should get a tricycle for Duane to practice on though, because I'm saving up my dollars since I don't want to miss out on seeing him race again.