A Day in the Big Easy

We had a very busy day today. The Rodgers family came out to meet us at the state park. They wanted to see the RV. It was all intact at that time- more on that later. We split up into boy and girl cars and headed into New Orleans to take the kids to the aquarium. To get there we had to cross the lake. That was pretty cool. It was really interesting to see so many of the places that we had heard about on the news during hurricane Katrina. The aquarium was fun, and I think all of the kids enjoyed it. After that we did lunch at the food court, then walked to Cafe duMonde for coffee and beignets-Yummy! We walked around Jackson square the the french quarter for awhile before we had to say goodbye to Kitty, Mel and Cecilia. They left us with good directions, so we managed to not get lost! We drove through the Garden district and saw some absolutely beautiful houses, then we ended up over in the area that had sustained damage in the hurricane. It was sobering to see the more affluent neighborhood full of newly redone houses, then to drive through a more low income area and still see absolute devastation.

We were very busy today, and managed to see a good deal in the city. This is a spot that we might have to put on our revisit list- we had such a good time with Kitty and Mel, and the kids got along well.

When we got back to our side of the lake, we ate a great dinner at a local place. We arrived back at the state park to see that they had gotten a great deal of rain while we had been gone. We also found the awning on the trailer destroyed. Neither one of us had thought about putting it up this morning when we left, and apparently a combination of high wind and water did it in. Coley had to completely take it off of the trailer, and I called the insurance company. Guess we will do without shade for the rest of the trip.

We ended the evening with a nature walk by flashlight on the boardwalk in the state park. I was pretty happy to NoT find anything "cool" lurking around. We are off to Florida tomorrow, and we plan on stopping off at Lambert's to eat on the way. We have eaten well so far!

The kids

Keeg thought the rays were cool

Do you think these little girls could possibly be spoiled?

Saying goodbye for now.

Not what you want to see after a fun day out and about.

Louisiana

I can't believe I actually made the comment last night that it was not as humid as it was the last time we came through Louisiana. I take that back. We left Natchitoches this morning by 9, and made a detour along the Cane River. We saw some really pretty country before we hit the interstate again. It was really interesting hitting the "swampy" area in Southern Louisiana. We are in a really nice state park campground on the north side of the Ponchatrain. We are going to go into New Orleans tomorrow to take the kids to the aquarium. We ate dinner with Kitty, Mel, and Ceci Rodgers, who went to China with us. The kids had a fantastic time together, and it was a really nice evening.

I think he had been in the car too long at this point!

Recognize this from the movie Steel Magnolias?

Two divas

Kitty and two little monkeys. You can see the top of Keeg's head. He tried to get into the picture!

On The Road Again

I am too lazy to go out to the truck to get the camera, so no pictures from today- besides that, we spent most of the day in the truck. We did a great job getting off just before 7 this morning. We had been on the road about 2 hours, and we stopped for a rest break. After taking care of business, we loaded back into the truck and congratulated ourselves on how well we were doing. Then, the truck would not start. After almost 45 minutes of talking to the local dealer, and onstar, it was determined to be something in the fuel filter. He said we had probably gotten some bad diesel. After my handy husband adjusted the filter, off we went. We did not have any other problems with it today except when we pulled off for diesel and lunch. We got off of the highway, and ended up coasting into the parking lot of the truck stop because the truck died. Coley got out and did his thing, and it started back up. Coley did all 500+ miles today because I was afraid to drive if the truck was doing something funny. The kids did pretty good considering they are 3 and 6. After arriving at the campground and setting the ac on COLD, we went off exploring Natchitoches, LA. I did not know that Steel Magnolias was filmed here. I got a picture of the house. It is a beautiful town. Keegan even commented on the cool houses. We ate dinner at a local place and tried the local specialty- meat pies. We also even had yummy Blue Bell ice cream even though we aren't in TX anymore. The kids have been eating like bottomless pits! We are settled in, and I hope we have worked out any kinks in the trailer tonight. I have declared that I won't cook, etc... after we make camp until the trailer cools off. We might be eating off in all new locations. We are heading towards New Orleans tomorrow, and we hope to meet the Rodgers family for dinner. I will post pictures the next time I get an internet connection. Keegan is ready to see an alligator- me, not so much!

Still Around

I have no excuse for not posting - I have been lazy, busy, and both! The spring semester seems to have just flow by, and now we are settling into summer vacation. Coley did baseball this spring, and even though I complained ( a lot!) it did pay for Disney tickets! He was busy, but the kids and I managed just fine. Keegan "played" ball for the first time this year, and it was interesting. He showed lots of improvement. He is reading anything he wants, and he is too smart for his own good. Serena actually sang at her spring program, and she loves school. She is done now until August. We are getting ready for the Rodeo this weekend, then we are going to leave for vacation on Monday. This years trip will take us to Florida, so stay tuned for lots of beach pictures. Hopefully we can avoid sunburns! The kids are excited, and Coley and I always look forward to exploring new places.

With cousins at Spring Break.





Playing in the sprinkler in the front yard.


Ham and pickles???? She loves it!