NEW ORLEANS

We went to New Orleans with Daddy because he had a work convention.  We went a day early so that we could take you to the zoo.  You were so excited when you got to ride the trolley to the zoo from our hotel. 

Where we got off the trolley, it was still a LONG walk to the zoo.  And it was HOT!  You got to ride in the stroller though so you were fine!  Finally, we are here!!!

First stop.... the flamingo's!

Then, a little photo opportunity!!!

 And of course, we couldn't go to the zoo without riding the carousel!

We persuaded you to get off the carousel with the splash pad.  The New Orleans zoo has a great splash pad with water slides.  So once you saw that, you were more than happy to leave the carousel.  We decided Daddy would get wet with you because I didn't bring a swimsuit and he could just slide in his shorts.  Y'all had so much fun sliding and I had so much fun watching you and taking lots of pictures!!!

 I think the zoo and splash pad tired you out because you fell fast asleep on the trolley ride back to the hotel!

We went back to the hotel and changed for dinner.  We walked to the House of Blues!

We sat outside and you had the best time dancing!!!  After dinner, we walked to the French Quarter and took a horse and buggy tour of the city!  You and Mommy really enjoyed this!  You loved riding behind the horse and I loved seeing all the beautiful buildings!  Daddy just enjoyed being entertained by our driver!

After our horse and buggy ride, we walked back to the hotel.  We walked down Bourbon Street when it was almost dark!  Hope you didn't get too much of an education on our walk back! :)

One thing you did get was your very first peach daiquiri.  You wanted a big grenade cup to put it in and the nice little man at the door gave you one!  You thought you were something with your big drink and long straw!!!

The next morning, you and Mommy slept late while Daddy went to work at his convention.  When Daddy got done, we went for a late breakfast to Cafe Du Monde!  By the way, while we were on our trip, we let you get off your casein free diet so you could enjoy some beignets.  I couldn't deprive you of beignets while we were in New Orleans!

 First time at Cafe Du Monde!!!

I think you enjoyed them!!!

After we got finished with breakfast, we walked to the aquarium. It wasn't quite time for the aquarium to open so we had a little photo shoot by the river!

 You kept trying to pull your dress off because you wanted to get in!  You were saying "awa" and signing please! 

Then the aquarium opened and I think you were excited as soon as we got in there!  I love the excitement on your face in this picture!!!

Your favorite thing about the aquarium was feeding the birds!  We bought feeding sticks and you got to hold them and feed the birds!  They would land on your hands and you would get so tickled!  I LOVED watching you!  And I think Daddy liked doing this about as much as you!!!

 Can you tell how excited you were?!?!

Another thing you kept wanting to go back to were these white alligators!  You kept crawling up to the glass and giving them kisses!

When we left the aquarium, we went to eat lunch.  As we were walking to the restaurant, you fell asleep on your daddy's shoulder.  He loved it because you will never fall asleep on him.  But for some reason on this trip, you fell asleep on your daddy a lot!

After lunch, Daddy had to go work at the convention so you and I went shopping!!!  We took the trolley because that is all you wanted to do since we rode it the day before to the zoo!

We shopped at the Riverwalk and had the best time (when you weren't throwing a fit because you couldn't have everything you saw!)  You got a pair of Crocs with an Ariel, Strawberry Shortcake and Dora Jibbitz on them thanks to your Julz and Pops!  You also got a t-shirt at Gap with a kitty cat on it that you carried around with you most of the rest of the day saying "MEOW."  And last but not least, this lovely mask!

And since we were at the Riverwalk, I had to take advantage of the excellent photo opportunities!

 We got caught in the rain on the way back and you loved it!  You danced in the rain all the way down Canal Street!!!
When we got back, we went to Daddy's convention to eat!  You kept yourself quite busy while we were there trying to stay balanced!!!

 

You love beads and there was definitely not a shortage in New Orleans!!!

 

The next morning we went to breakfast with Daddy and then you and Mommy headed to City Park!  Oh if I had only known what I was getting myself into!!!  We took the trolley that I thought would take us right to the park.  And it did, but I did not realize that Story Land was quite a hike from where the trolley dropped us off!  Not to mention it was 109 degrees in the New Orleans humidity!!!  Thankfully, there were lots of things to entertain you along the way like this dog structure in the Sculpture Garden that we walked all the way through!

Finally, we made it to Story Land and you were so excited when you saw Humpty Dumpty!!!

This was the neatest little park and was definitely worth the walk there!  I wasn't sure it was going to be worth the walk back, but I refused to think about that and just enjoy your excitement in the park!

And then it was time to start our long walk back to the trolley stop!  It was really close to lunch and there wasn't anything to eat anywhere around there.  The walk back was horrible.  You wanted me to carry you.  You were so hot!  I kept pouring water over your head from our water bottle.  But we finally made it, and the trolley did not come for 30 minutes!  I thought I was going to cry and you were already crying!  Look at your red face in this picture!  This was after you stopped crying and decided to go play under a tree while we waited!

We made it back to the hotel and met Daddy for lunch!  Then you and Mommy went back to the room and took a long nap!  And now all I have to do is look back at the smiles on your face in all these pictures and that is all I remember about that day - the excitement on your little face everytime you saw something new at StoryLand!

We walked to the French Quarter late that afternoon and went to the French Market.  Then we had dinner and headed back!  I think our adventure that morning wore us out!  We needed to go to bed early!!!  But I did manage to get a few pictures!!!

The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast one last time at Cafe Du Monde before we had to leave!  I wanted so bad to get a caricature drawn of you in the French Quarter, but we were never there when the vendors were there.  Maybe next time!

We had such a great time in New Orleans!  Thank you Daddy for taking us to work with you!!!! :)