Tallulah!

 After Virginia, the only way was South, and, unbelievably, it was cooler in Louisiana.  The girls celebrated by dressing up and heading out to pick Peepaw's tomatoes.

 
 Farmer Millie led the way!

 

 It was a bountiful crop and unfortunately I don't have a picture of the amazing Cora chowing down on a ripe tomato fresh of the vine...something that my children would never do! 

 There's always time for a ride on the big golf cart thing...but Evie declined to drive it.

 It's really wonderful that our girls get to experience the same things we did when we were growing up...like walking through cotton fields...

 And swimming in the same pool that we had when we were kids....albeit without all the nice shade from the big tree that has been growing there for the past thirty years. It's so shady now that the pool is actually cool in the summer.  When we were kids, it was always bath water temperature.  It still has lots of crawfish in it, though.  One day I removed eight before Evie would get into the water!

 Same diving board!

 The beautiful Kate and Cora basked in the sunshine! (same grapevines!)

 There is always time for being a fairy princess and Cora was really feeling her inner fairy princess last summer. I think she might have exceeded even Evie's enthusiasm!

 Millie enjoyed a rest on the front porch.

 And we all went out for a yummy, greasy, po-boy filled lunch at Rusty's (I think that's the name) in Vicksburg!

 I'm pretty sure that Obama's win had a lot to do with Scooter the Cat's campaigning.

 Jackson, MS, it turns out, has a really fun Children's museum, where we wiled away an afternoon after much foot dragging and driving through a torrential downpour.

 Evie channeled her inner shoeless country girl,

 While Millie did some pretty serious catfish fishing.

 ...followed by princess dresses, of course,

 and a jaunt through the (slightly treacherous and filled with wild big kids) digestive system, which ended with them sliding down into a big toilet (sound effects included).  My little poops!

 Fake food always holds a lot of appeal.

 And putting on a velcro suit and then throwing oneself into a velcro wall also is, apparently, a lot of fun.

 Art work and playing peek a boo were popular past times...

 But, of course, stripping down into their skivvies and running through fountains was definitely the highlight, I think.

 Sassy!

 Even though it rains a lot in England, there are not thunderstorms like we get in Louisiana, and I really miss those torrential downpours that you can smell coming.  During this storm, we stayed on the porch until the lighting got too crazy, and then we watched the rest from inside.

 Inspired by the storm, Millie performed a dramatic piece on the piano.

 And Evie helped Lala make her famous French bread. Some day I hope we'll have enough counter space for her to do it at home, too!

 It was delicious!

 All good things must come to an end, so on our last (really hot) day in Tallulah, we headed over to the Vicksburg water park for some splashing.  Mom and I huddled in the shade while the girls were in water park heaven.

 And you can't see them very well, but all five cats (now four since our sweet Emma died) and Millie were resting in this picture.  I'm always homesick!