Backyard Wildlife and Natchitoches

My dad's parents live on a country road and the houses are pretty spread out. Their backyard backs up to a wooded area that's really thick with trees, so they frequently have "visitors" wandering along the back edge of their yard.

This morning, we drove down to Natchitoches for the day. Our first stop was Main Street, which is lined with antique/souvenir shops and restaurants. After running in and out of a few of the shops, we headed over to Lasyonne's for lunch (it was recommended by the ladies who worked in one of the little shops). The food was fantastic--best meat pies and crawfish pies I've ever had. Connor wasn't too keen on them, so we got a grilled cheese sandwich for him. But, Tyler loved them--he's going to be my little Cajun food lover, I can already tell. :) After lunch, we headed to the Alligator Park, which was actually a pretty cool place. There weren't many people there at all--I'm guessing because it's a weekday and SO HOT--so that made it easier for us to get up close to and feed the animals. It also assured us a front row seat for the alligator feedings, which the boys LOVED.

Lunch at Lasyonne's

We're 54 miles from my home town!

The alligator feedings were the boys' fave part of the whole park.

But, they also enjoyed feeding the goats.

Feeding the emus was kind of a challenge-we found out just how mean they really are!

These pics were taken from our vantage point on the bleachers. This man-made "muddy river" is FULL of alligators--and they obviously know that it's feeding time.

The boys were rooted to the spot the whole time. Tyler couldn't believe that that alligators were "jumping" so high! :)

Dave and the boys on the "broken bridge."

I thought that the restroom doors were cute. :)

We made a quick stop for a cool drink--and cool air!

We'll definitely be back!