Familymoon Part II - The Vows

We had it all planned out. We were getting married on June 23rd and I had ordered necklaces for the girls and I to wear on our wedding day. They were engraved with the date, so the 23rd it was. We found a hillbilly preacher that was going to perform the ceremony in his overalls and everything was set!

Then, on June 19th we were driving to Superior Grill for my birthday dinner and Duane's cell phone rang. In the time it took for him to decide if he was going to take the call, from a number he didn't recognize, it went to voicemail. And it was a message we did not want to hear! Our hillbilly preacher had to go out of town at the last minute. Leaving on Monday and coming back on Wednesday. Uhh...hello! We were getting married on Tuesday! Had to get married on Tuesday!! Like in 4 days Tuesday!!!

So on Saturday morning we called up the lovely woman who was renting us her cabin during our stay in Tennessee. She put us in touch with someone who put us in touch with Pastor Rob. And he assured us that he could perform our ceremony on Tuesday. Crisis averted.

Pastor Rob had a quaint little gazebo up against a hill on his property. He also had a cute little orange cat named McCain that hung out with us during our ceremony. Pastor Rob informed us that during the Presidential Election someone had dropped off three kittens on his driveway. He named one Obama, one McCain and one Hillary. I would have loved for Obama to have been the one hanging out during our vows, but since he was a black cat I suppose it was better that he didn't. Not that I'm superstitious :)

It was a beautiful day and the surroundings were perfect! Pastor Rob takes really good care of the people that come to him on their special day. And he had this cute little buttercream cake for us. I was so nice and fed Duane his little bit like a good wife. And he smashed that cake on my face. Do all men do that?

Here is our new family! Well, we've always been a family, now it's just legal. And now when I pull into the driveway and see the "Bauer" sign hanging over the carport, I know it's my home :)

Oh...and I got my revenge.

Happy 2 month anniversary to us :)

RIP

Our swimming pool is dying a slow, painful death. Painful to me anyway. Last weekend I spent the morning vacuuming out the bottom of the pool. Then we noticed that the ring was deflating, right after Duane had inflated it. I could deal with a floppy ring if I had to. As long as the water stayed in the pool.

After spending all that time vacuuming it last weekend, we forgot to put the algecide in it. So, this weekend I got in again and vacuumed. Then I went around the whole ring, twice, with a cup that I used to pour water on it trying to find the hole. I never found it. But still, I can live with a floppy ring. As long as the water stays in it.

And then I woke up this morning. And the water has decided not to stay in it. It is slowly draining and we have no idea where it is coming from. Duane mowed the grass yesterday, so maybe something flew out from under the tractor and punctured it. But wouldn't we be able to tell where? Or maybe it has a hole on the bottom. Or split a seam underneath. Or MAYBE Duane punctured it with his mower and should go get me a hamster. The hamster he thought I would forget about if he bought me a pool.

I love you swimming pool.

This little girl has been hanging out on the agapanthus for the past couple weeks. I was so excited when I found her because, not only did I think that I possibly could have seen her being conceived, but also because when I posted my blog about lizards so long ago, I had done some research on the Green Anole lizards. I learned that when the momma lizard lays her eggs she just leaves them and when the babies are born they must fend for themselves. And they're lucky if they make it. For two weeks I went out to the agapanthus and would look for her hiding among the leaves. And that wasn't easy!

She was tiny! About the size of my finger, including her tail. In the beginning she would lay among the leaves, but she recently started hanging out on the withered blossom. It was an adorable site to see her hanging onto the stem that used to have the flower on it. She would wrap both hands around it and clasp her little fingers together.

And she would sleep that way too. I would see her like that at night and wake up in the morning and she would be in the same exact position. Her little legs laid out flat behind her.

Saturday morning I found her dead. I guess she wasn't one of the lucky ones. Sad.

I love you little lizard.

And this is Prince. I've blogged about him too. He lived next door. I fed him milkbones every day. And he died on Saturday too. I know he's in a better place now. With someone that won't neglect him.

I love you Prince.

Oak Alley Plantation

Yesterday we journeyed to Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana. In the early 1700's a settler claimed land from an original royal grant for his dwelling and defined its entrance with an alley of live oaks in two rows leading to the Mississippi River. In this photo my back is to the Mississippi. While today the levee is built up, back then it was only 5 feet high you could see the river from the house. There are 28 oak trees, 14 on each side, stretching out for a 1/4 mile. They are incredible.

The roots on those 28 trees are gigantic, poised above the ground like old arthritic fingers. We were told on our tour that the oak trees have a life expectancy of around 600 years, so these trees have around 300 years of life left in them!

Around the back of the house, more oak trees were planted by the most recent owners, Andrew & Josephine Stewart, who acquired it in 1925. Several of these trees have these sweeping limbs, just taunting all the young visitors who want to climb them...if it weren't for the signs forbidding you to! Mrs. Stewart died in 1972 and the management of the plantation was placed in the hands of a nonprofit organization, which opened the plantation to the public.

Aunt Penny was still visiting from West Monroe and she brought her great niece Karrah. Karrah was visiting for the summer from Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania. As we waited to enter the mansion for the tour, I couldn't help but envision Scarlett and the Tarleton Twins in the opening scene of Gone with the Wind.

In between the period of time when the setter planted the oaks and when the Stewart's purchased the plantation, several families claimed Oak Alley as their home. Most notably, as we learned from our adorable Cajun Plantation Guide Whitlee (seen below), was Jacques Telesphore Roman and his young bride Celina. Jacques and Celina had been married on June 14th, 1834 and in 1836 they purchased the plantation.

Jacques Telesphore and Celina plunged with enthusiasm into the project of building their plantation home. There would be no corners cut ... only the best would do. Their home took over two years to complete.

The most notable part of the house, aside from the majestic oaks towering outside, were the 28 classic columns surrounding the house. The columns measure 8 feet in circumference and are solid brick. All the materials used in the construction of the home were found or manufactured on the plantation with the exception of the marble for the floors and fireplaces and the slate for the roof, both of which were imported.

The house was designed for maximum protection from the fierce summers of this area. The veranda extends approximately 13 feet from the walls, keeping the home in shade most of the day. The tall windows and doors face each other for cross ventilation and the ceilings are 12 feet high. Most important are the 16 inch thick brick walls throughout the house.

Improvements and additions continued through the end of the decade and the kitchen facilities were finally completed in 1841. Furnishings and interior fittings had been arriving continuously by steamboat, and special care was given to the gardens. The final result was a plantation home to be envied by the most discerning of the well-to-do sugar planters of the day. Legend has it that Celina Roman proudly christened her new home "Bon Sejour" (pleasant sojourn), but travelers on the Mississippi, impressed by the avenue of mighty oaks, called it "Oak Alley", and so it remained!

We were not allowed to photograph anything in the home, so the following pictures are images that I've found on the Internet.

As we begun our tour we were ushered into the living room. I had a hard time understanding Whitlee and her Cajun accent, but I did learn about the gold convex mirror on the far wall and the courting candle.

The convex mirrow was used so that father's could see all corners of the room when a young suitor was courting his daughter.

The courting candle was used in the 1800s, if a young man would come to visit a young lady. The father of the young lady would set the candle at a height he felt appropriate for the young man to stay. When the candle burnt down to the top of the metal, it was time for the young man to leave. For example, if the Father liked the young man he would set the candle all the way to the top, but if he did not like the young man he would set it much like it is in the picture so he would have to leave soon.

This is Oak Alley's Dining room. Notice the large, harp-like object hanging in the middle of the table. This is the ceiling fan and it is attached to that string you see in the top right corner of the photo. A young slave boy would sit in the corner of the dining room and swing the fan during meals to keep the guest cool.

This room is called the sick room. After someone died they would place black netting over the mirrors so the spirits would not be trapped. See the rolling pin on the bed? Each day the servants would roll out all the mattresses in the house. This process would take hours and no one was allowed onto the beds again until it was time to sleep.

This is the Master Bedroom. The bed is a pineapple post bed. The Pineapple was a sign of welcome. Guest were often presented with a cut pineapple when they arrived. Yet, if you woke up one morning to find an uncut pineapple placed at the end of your bed, it was a polite way of saying you had over stayed your welcome. You should take your pineapple and go.

Also in the master bedroom was the only piece of furniture that had belonged to Jacques and Celina. It was a gorgeous bassinet and my favorite piece in the whole house.

The house tour was over before we knew it and then we were free to walk the grounds. We bought mint juleps and lemon juleps and lemonade and strolled a bit through the grounds before leaving for home.

I can't wait for Penny to come back for a visit. We'll be making plans to visit more of the plantations in the area!

More Fondant Fun!

So, when Blaire saw my fondant cake she wanted to make her own. This book I bought has so many great things that we can make with fondant and other sweet stuff and she's a pretty talented kid. I knew she could do something creative.

Instead of cake though, we made cupcakes. Severely deformed cupcakes. This cupcake is a product of my ancient oven. The one that is in need of replacement. BAD.


Duane's sister Penny came down to visit and we enlisted her talents too!

Blaire worked diligently on her cupcakes and churned out some really cute ones.


These are just some of the adorable little cupcakes they both made!

Blaire was the adventurous one and actually ate one of the cupcakes. I still haven't actually eaten anything with fondant on it, although I have nibbled a bit to see what it tastes like. Her verdict was, after lots of chewing, that fondant is.... chewy! But good.

I only decorated one cupcake. Some of Bri's friends think she looks like Nemo, so I made her a Nemo cupcake. It was time consuming and when you look close it looks like it was my first time making shapes, but I loved it! And Bri liked it too!

My First Fancy Cake

We've found a new show that we love to watch! It's Ace of Cakes and it's on the Food Network. It's all about the awesome cakes that the fantastically talented team at Charm City Cakes create.

I'm sort of a creative person and figured that I could make a cool cake too! Probably not as cool as their cakes, but something somewhat cool. So I started picking up supplies this week and with the thought that I wouldn't have to make the whole cake all at once, I started.

On Tuesday all I did was make a 6 inch and an 8 inch Devils Food cake. Wednesday all I made was a 6 inch and an 8 inch Golden Butter flavored cake. Wouldn't want to wear myself out early in the process!

I should mention that since this was a practice cake I didn't have any intention of eating it or feeding it to anyone, so I could take as long as I wanted.

I think I frosted the the 6 inch cakes on Thursday and the 8 inch Cakes on Friday with a little bit of buttercream frosting. Again...didn't want to wear myself out. And I also had no clue yet about what my design would be.

On Saturday I actually got the fondant out! I used gel colors and made the white fondant, and also my hands, pink and covered the two 6 inch layers. With my hands already pink I didn't want to add another color to their prettiness, so I went with plain white fondant for the 8 inch layers. It was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be.

Finally on Sunday I decorated it with cute little flowers. I had envisioned cute circles and stripes and lots of colors, but this is what I ended up with.

And I was pretty proud of my pretty little cake.

Can't wait to see what I end up with next time.

And maybe people will even get to eat it!

What did you do this week that was adventurous?