Oh What a Trip!

We made it back safe and sound yesterday from our trip to New Orleans. We had a wonderful time with all of Jeff's family and we survived the 12-hour road trip back and fourth. Allison and Daniel enjoyed the trip as well but probably won't want to get in a car again anytime soon. I did learn a bit on this trip, here' s a summary of what I learned:

1) When four people sleep in the same room, nobody gets much sleep.

2) Daniel is an easy target for a little dog who loves to lick.

3) Gumbo, shrimp etoufee, shrimp po boys, and beignets are some of the best foods on the planet.

4) I need to experience cold weather to appreciate the warm weather. It was 52 degrees one night and I thought I was going to get frostbite, my how my body temperature has changed since I moved south!

5) True Religion Jeans - ever heard of them? Neither had I until Jeff's cousin, Helen, kept begging her mom for them. They are $110. Allison will never own a pair.

6) Daniel will let anyone hold him. This is a big deal since Allison went through a phase for about 10 months where she wouldn't let anyone hold her.

7) A ten year old makes a great babysitter.

8) A New Orleans Thanksgiving consists of turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and all the other typical things you'd find at Thanksgiving. (my sister though we would be having all sorts of cajun food, but what kind of Thanksgiving would that be?).

9) Stop after two children (we discovered this after visiting Jeff's friend Scott who had two wonderful older children and one little monster!)

10) Uncle Brad is loud, oh wait, I already knew that one...

Anyway, we had a wonderful time. I'm putting together a book with all of our pictures but here are a few I'd like to share:

ON the way to New Orleans, we stopped at Downtown Disney for lunch. Allison went on the little train all by herself. This is a big deal because about a year ago she went on a train by herself and they had to stop it in the middle because she started crying. This time she told us she wanted to do it all by herself and she wasn't going to cry. I was surprised she had remembered the last time. She smiled the entire ride.

We also stopped on the way in Pensacola to visit Jeff's Aunt Judy and cousin Suzanne. Allison had a blast playing with Suzanne. It was a nice break on a long car ride.

Once in New Orleans, Allison tasted her first fried shrimp, courtesy of Uncle Brad. She loved it!

Papou (Jeff's dad John) loved spending time with he's newest grandchild:

Allison enjoyed eating the beignets at Cafe Du Monde but he more fun playing with the powdered sugar. She sang the itsy bitsy spider and the powdered sugar played the part of the rain. She clapped her hands and got it all over Uncle Brad:

Jeff is helping Allison climb a tree at City park. It's the same tree he used to climb as a kid:

Allison had a blast playing with Jeff's 10-year old cousin Helen. We stayed with Helen, Aunt Leslie and Uncle Leo for three nights:

Daniel and Aunt Louise on Thanksgiving:

On our last day of the trip, we went to the aquarium. Allison enjoyed watching the penguins with Nana (Jeff's mom):

The trip home was long, this is what we had to look at the whole ride home:

These are just a few of the highlights of our trip. I will post the link to the photo book when it is complete.