Trip to The Big Easy

Tom had some time off, so we decided to hit the road and go to New Orleans to visit his brother, Ross, and his family.

Henry was SUPER excited to see "Gabe, Arden, Isabelle, Uncle Ross, and Aunt Jenny Amen".

We stopped in Shreveport to break the trip up.
Watched a big storm come in- picture doesn't do the dark sky justice.


MG and Henry had fun with Mimi and Papa, but had to say good-bye the next morning.

We got back in the car and headed down I49.

Stopped off at Lea's Lunchroom, which is outside Alexandria, LA.

As a kid, we would stop here on the way to the beach. Seemed like we would always run into someone else from Shreveport.

Great ham sandwiches.

We got to New Orleans in time for the 1st Mardi Gras parade of the year- Krewe of Oshun.

It was very fitting that Margaret got this toothbrush.... she is always stealing ours.

After the parade, we went out to eat.

MMM... sausage.

Jenny and Ross never disappoint as our host and hostess.



The next day we went to an arts festival. Looked around and ate lunch.

Henry was pretty upset that his french fries were too hot to eat.

His frustration was understood- these were the best fries any of us had ever eaten.

If you are ever in New Orleans, find out where the Fry Bar is going to be. So worth it.

And after naptime, we had a little playtime at the school across from their house....

(Ross + cane... had a little spill the weekend before)

... and some ice cream before dinner. That's was being on vacation is all about.

Day 3- Krewe of Barkus Parade

Jenny and I forgot our wigs

While walking to our spot on the parade route, we ran into The Roots of Music marching band.
Its a free, year round, music education program for kids in New Orleans. Not only does is offer music lessons, but also a meal and school help- 5 nights a week.

Henry loved walking along with the band and was quite upset when we went our separate ways.

Ready for the parade

Being the animal lover that she is, Margaret was super excited about the dog parade.

This picture is not of Ross.
Love the sights of the French Quarter.

That night was Oscar Night. We girls did our nails in preparation for our viewing.

Margaret's 1st pedi

She also ate her 1st gumbo- loved it! The rice on her eye is because she dumped the bowl on her face- guess she thought she could eat it faster that way.

Their dog, Lafitte, made MG very happy.

On our final day, Monday, we joined the other tourists in the French Quarter.

We took a street car to get there.

We stopped off at Cafe du Monde for some beignets.
Margaret shoved as much as she could into her mouth.

We "cheers-ed" my cafe au lait and his chocolate milk.

In Jackson Square... before the rain.

Went into St. Louis Cathedral for some shelter and some history.

Had to go get some Aunt Sally's pralines.

And walk down the Mississippi.

Did I mention that we forgot our stroller?

It was time to head back for lunch/naps.

(Not sure why we didn't get lunch down there)

Waited for the wrong street car for about 10 mins.

There was a PinkBerry across from the street car stop. Wanted to waste some time.

It wasn't open yet- Henry was showing us how to unlock the door.

Finally opened- got some yogurt.

Missed the correct street car. (unfortunately, we needed the one that doesn't run very often)

Tried to run down Canal Street to catch up with it.

Flip flops + rain + side walks = Rebekah and Henry falling in the street.

Didn't catch up with it.

Had to wait another 30 mins.

Finally got on the correct one- kids were a little delirious.

Walked back to our car with a few stops along the way at City Park.

It really was a crazy morning... a comedy of errors. That's how memories are made, right?

Before leaving town, we got to go to Tom's godson's basketball game.

Arden was quite the baller.

Sweet Isabelle
All the cousins were super helpful with our kids.

Arden's team won.

We left New Orleans around 8 that night and drove while the kids slept. Good decision. Stopped in Shreveport for the night, then headed back the next morning.

Overall, the trip was great. The kids were pretty flexible - a huge thing since we were on the go a lot.

We are very fortunate that Tom has this time off and that we have wonderful family who welcomed us with open arms even though they'll be having visitors for the next 2 weeks.

Next family vacation- Paris? Jack and Leigh- ready for us???