New Orleans (Part 1)

February 9-14, 2014

As soon as Kailyn's Birthday party was over, we were in packing mode. Daddy was headed to New Orleans for work and we decided to tag along with him! I was so excited to get away with all of the cold weather, we definitely had a bit of cabin fever at our house. I had been to NO before, but this was our first time to take the kids. I admit- I was a bit nervous, especially of being alone with the kids during the day, but it was great! The kids and I got out each day and explored then went back to our hotel for naps then once Daddy got back, we all went out on the town for dinner. What a fun week! Let's review...

First of all, the night before we left, Caleb and Daddy were chasing each other in the hallway at home, Caleb tripped and fell, landing right on his nose. I just knew from the sound of his cry that is was broke...but he finally settled down and let us ice it. So enjoy the color transformations of Caleb's nose throughout this week of pictures!

February 9, 2014:

We left home on Sunday morning as early as we could with 2 little ones in tow! Daddy's work provided a rental car, so we had to deal with picking it up, moving car seats, etc. which really slowed us down too. Once we were finally on the road, the kids did great. We stopped at Arby's for lunch to save time then they crashed for a little bit. One thing about road trips that they love is to stop at the gas station and pick out a special snack...Caleb usually picks a ring pop then sees everyone else eating actual food and then asks for bites of ours! We finally arrived in New Orleans that afternoon, quickly unpacked and got a little settled in, then we hit the town for dinner. Since we got there a little later than we wished, we didn't explore too much and went to Bubba Gump's for dinner and headed back to the hotel to finish setting up beds, etc. for the night. The kids were excited to be on vacation!

February 10, 2014:

There are sooo many things to do in New Orleans with kids! I was pleasantly surprised. BUT there is nothing to do with kids on a Monday. All of the museums are closed. So, thankfully, this day ended up being our best weather day, warm and sunny to we took off exploring. First we headed to a small park off St. Charles street then walked into the French Quarter along the river walk. The kids just enjoyed wandering around, soaking up all of the new scenery. Of course, Caleb loved watching the barges along the river! After a lot of walking, we were starving. I wanted to go out for lunch, but Caleb knew that I packed pizza lunchables from home, so he insisted that we go back to our hotel to eat lunch. I wasn't excited but it did save $$$! After lunch, the kids took a great nap then we waited on Daddy to return so we could go exploring some more.

For our 2nd night out, we decided to try Huck Finn's, the menu looked good and we had walked by it the night before and it seemed cute and kid friendly, which was a major deciding factor most nights! This was my favorite meal of the trip, the fish was just sooo good. I ate and ate until I couldn't eat anymore and still had leftovers. Wow! The kids spotted the turtle tank so we asked if we could have the empty table beside it...let's just say the kids were very entertained by the turtles most of the meal. Another plus! After dinner, Caleb wanted to show Daddy the River so we walked out there for a little bit before stopping for ice cream then back to the hotel.

February 11, 2014:

We woke up on Tuesday morning to a cold, rainy, gloomy day. A cold front moved in on our nice vacation! It was a little hard to complain since everyone at home was preparing to get snowed in though. After I got ready for the day, we went downstairs for our complimentary breakfast, which the kids thought was so fun. A little hectic for me, but we pushed through each morning! All of our mornings on this trip were relaxed and laid back since all of the museums don't open until 10am...the kids were usually up between 6-6:30am so we had a lot of time to kill!! I wasn't sure what the weather was going to do as far as rain, so I decided to call a cab to take us to the Aquarium- the thought of getting rained on with 2 kids and a stroller did not sound good at all. We had a fun day at the aquarium! They had a lot of fun stuff to see other than just fish like alligators, penguins, frogs, and the kids even got to pet a baby owl. By the time we ate lunch there and picked out a surprise at the gift shop, the kids agreed it was time to go back to the room and nap. I even fell asleep once I got cozy under my blanket and started checking emails! We were looking forward to Daddy getting back to take us to dinner but not so much getting back out into the cold weather...

That afternoon was a bit of a disaster!! Here we go... Caleb was begging to ride the train (streetcar) and it was so cold outside, we agreed it would be a good way to get to the French Quarter quicker than walking. Well, we waited. And waited. And waited for that stinking streetcar!! We probably waited 30 minutes out in the cold and wind- it was one of those, "Should we just give up and walk? Nahh..it will be here any minute!" So we finally make on there and get where we wanted to go. We were so tired and hungry and cold, we stopped to eat at the first place we saw- Margaritaville. Not the best service or food but it was a warm place to stop. We were all miserable at this point but at least our bellies were full. I was (easily) able to talk Daddy into getting a cab to take us back to the hotel. Sadly, we felt like we wasted an afternoon out on the town. The only pictures we took were with our dessert, which Daddy didn't even get in the picture...