Another quick trip to Lockport has come to an end, and although it was very busy, it was lots of fun.  As you may remember, after picking up Joey and Beau at the airport in BR and bringing them to NO, I went to Lockport for the night; Randi and I returned to the Cottage on Saturday morning.

On Monday, Randi and I headed back to Lockport so I would be ready to pick up Joey on Tuesday at some point, a time and place to be decided in the morning.  Beau's Mom and Grandmother drove to NO to pick them up and dropped Joey off at the Tourist Info Center in Mathews, where I was waiting for them.  This was a big time-saver for me, and I really appreciate Catherine and Elsie taking the time to do that for us.

After picking up Joey, we went to the Manor to visit with Dad.  He wasn't in a very good mood, a mood he gets into on occasion, wanting to GO HOME by all means.  After chatting with him a while and taking a few pictures, he was almost OK.  To finalize the change in his mood, we got a newspaper for him, after which he really was fine.  Joey and I then headed to Mom's for a visit as well.  By the way, although Dad did not remember Joey's name, he did recognize that he was my son, so we were happy about that.

Mom was so excited to see Joey (and me, too, a little, I hope).  We visited with her a while, just listening and listening and listening as she talked and talked and talked.  I think Mom is alone so much that when she has someone there, she really tries to "catch up" on everything.  Mostly, though, she was just so happy to see Joey--and I think he was glad to have gone to see BOTH Mom and Dad.

After leaving there, we finally reached our destination in Gheens.  We unloaded all his stuff at Jess' and then went over to Jan's.  The girls had really gone all out for him--cake, brownies, spinach/artichoke dip, ground meat/cheese dip, baked spaghetti, grilled hot dogs/burgers, boiled hot dogs (for the kids who were too impatient to wait--LOL), drinks, and mostly, family.  Five of our seven kids were there; Mike called, though, to speak with Joey.  He couldn't come because he had just gotten off work and was really tired.  No problem, though, 'cuz he and Joey spoke on the phone a good while.  Josh, of course, was in Castle Rock, so he definitely couldn't be there.  And, as usual, he and his family were missed.

In addition to our kids, we had Bec's kids (Randi, Cade, Carly), Jess' kids (Ty, Rett, Channie), and Steve's kids (Emma and Jack), so we had a pretty full house.  I think everyone had a great time, mostly just visiting and snacking on all the good food.  It was great!  Unfortunately, Sid couldn't be there because he had to teach and taking time off for this just wasn't acceptable, but we brought back lots of goodies for him, too.

Today, Randi, Joey, and I came back to the Cottage with all our goodies. We had lunch at Western Sizzlin' in Thibodaux rather early, giving him time to get some pictures developed; tonight, we took Joey (and Randi, too, of course) to NOT YOUR MAMA'S, one of our favorite places and one which Joey had not visited as yet.  We brought home lots of left-overs and Joey seemed to really enjoy the meal.

Now, we are trying to relax for the evening.  Tomorrow, Randi and I will drive Joey to Lafayette to spend time with Beau's family, too.  I'm sure we'll all be exhausted by tomorrow evening.  Joey's return trip to Denver is on Saturday, and then, everyone will be back on schedule--none-the-worse for wear after a rough week of back/forth driving.  Please say a prayer for a safe return flight for Joey and Beau.

That's it for tonight!  Have a great evening and a wonderful weekend!

"Patriarchy's chief institution is the family.  It is both a mirror of and a connection with the larger society; a patriarchal unit within a patriarchal whole.  Mediating between the individual and the social structure, the family affects control and conformity where political and other authorities are insufficient...Servicing as an agent of the larger society, the family not only encourages its own members to adjust and conform, but acts as a unit in the government of the patriarchal state which rules its citizens through its family heads."                       --Kate Millet