New Orleans, LA-Week #2

We started out this week at City Park and what a great start it was!

Spanish moss draped from the branches of the trees making them sooo beautiful. This park is about 50% bigger than central park and filled with activities for everyone. There is no way to see it all in one day.

It was a GORGEOUS day! The playscapes were very nice and they were near the water (but not too close) where the kids can feed the ducks and geese. A nice gentleman stopped by and gave his leftover bread to the kids.

There was a little coffee shop, called Morning Call, near the play area so we thought “Why not have some more beignets?!” And so we did. Again, delicious. I keep thinking they probably sell them in bakeries all around but I have never had one and I probably won't have anymore after we leave New Orleans so what the heck, I should enjoy them now.

Across the street, were the sculpture gardens which contained some very interesting and peculiar sculptures. The kids enjoyed running through the area from sculpture to sculpture.

Near to that was Storyland Park. It was a cute little area of storybook characters where the kids could venture, climb and play for hours and it only cost $3 per person.

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I think the best feature was the dragon slide.  It was soooo fast!  Yes, that is fear on Jordan's face.  If only you could hear the scream!  But she went back for more.  Of course, I had to try it out.  I went down so fast that I flew off the end.  Fortunately, I didn't fall and break anything.

The kids were having so much fun they forgot about lunch!!

When MOM finally demanded food, we walked to this field area to have a picnic lunch. Did I mention it was a GORGEOUS day?! It was perfect! Everyone was out enjoying the day!

I really liked these bench swings where you could sit, swing and just take it all in.  There was another swing on the backside of this one so you could face either way.

We did not make it to the botanical gardens or the amusement park area (which was not open this time of year anyway).

Unfortunately, the days were not so perfect after that. The next day started out beautiful, then by early afternoon the rain began. And it continued the next day and night. We were definitely in the swamps! Water, water everywhere! We were lucky though that it was not as cold as Austin!

Midweek was very special. Our little girl turned 5! So hard to believe and bittersweet. Jordan wanted bacon and donuts for breakfast so we went to a local bakery/cafe, called Coffee & (Yep, that's the name) and had breakfast.

Then after lunch, we went back to the Children's Museum since the kids enjoyed it so much the first time and it was still yuck outside.

Our afternoon snack was King Cake (another New Orleans treat). It tastes a lot like a cinnamon roll but they do have other flavors. There is a little plastic baby baked inside and Jordan found it in her piece (No, I did not plan it that way)! Perfect for the birthday girl! Although, I am not sonsure that it is a prize since tradition says that the person who finds the baby is supposed to buy the next cake!

For dinner, she wanted macaroni and cheese and salad. And then we had birthday cake and skyped with Grandma and Grandpa so they could watch her open the present they sent.

One of Jordan's gifts was this dollhouse.She loves playing in it with her ponies. Fortunately, it is collapsible and slides under our sofa. She says she likes it better than the Loving Family dollhouse she has back home.

Another exciting moment was when Jordan got on her bike (without training wheels) and rode it around the loop by herself AND without whining!!! Yeah!!!! She says she can do that because “I am 5 now.”

The next day, Mommy took of on a walk but about 8 minutes into it, I got a call from Greg saying to come back immediately. Jordan had busted her nose again! This time it was on Jacob's head. The bleeding subsided much quicker but, without going into too much detail, it was a bit more sickening. Ick!

And another momentous occasion happened this week! Jacob learned to tie his shoes! Yes, it may seem a little late since he is 7, but nowadays one doesn’t need to know as long as the shoes come with velcro ;)

The kids had the opportunity to go fishing a couple of times.  It wasn't anything like fishing at Grandma and Grandpa's :(  Jordan caught a coffee can or jug and that was the one and only catch.

Greg had another day off on Friday. It was time for a swamp tour! Jean Lafitte Swamp Tours was close by and we got a good Groupon deal. They took us and about 10 other people out in a pontoon boat in the swamps next to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. It was still a little cold so the chances of seeing alligators was pretty low.

Our boat captain was friendly, but extremely corny. For example, we saw two turtles sunning themselves on a log and he said that they were the internet turtles because they were “logged on”! Ha Ha! Not really funny especially when you have to listen to such jokes for an hour and a half!! I was feeling a little sea sick but I think it was just the jokes!

Otherwise, the trip was enjoyable. We saw otters and nutria,

various water birds and what we all were longing to see.....

an alligator! Did you know that you can estimate the length of an alligator by adding one foot for every inch in length between its eyes and the tip of its snout?  

At the end of the tour, the guide pulled an alligator out of his ice chest and passed him around for all to hold. I'm not sure that I have ever held a reptile before (not even a lizard) and I know I haven't during the winter. It was COLD! This makes sense because it is cold-blooded but it was “cool” to actually feel it! Ooooh that was as bad as the boat captain!

Jordan wanted to try out the alligator jaws and Daddy tested out the turtle shell.

After the tour, the kids did a little alligator wrestling.

For our last day, we went back to the Barataria Preserve. We had a picnic lunch in the Pecan Grove then enjoyed a talk given by the Park Ranger on the history of New Orleans by La Salle and his discovery of the delta. He explained why New Orleans was not built at the mouth of the river. Ships could not easily sail up the river through the English turn and there was easier access through the bayou from Lake Pontchartrain.

Sadly, we were reminded that a football field of land along the coast of Louisiana disappears every 40 minutes because the levees built to control the Mississippi river's path do not allow for deposition of the sediment along the coast to build it up. Instead, it flows into the gulf.

We finished off our trip with a hike through the the swamp and marsh.

Jacob and Daddy found this guy!

We really enjoyed our stay in New Orleans! There were so many things to do and we met some wonderful people, including Loy, Mike & Louisa (who had their own special language since she was Spanish and he was Cajun), the family from Canada who were full-timing for four months in the US in their RV they named Paul, and all the other people whose company we enjoyed in the laundry room ;)

Next stop: Destin, FL

New Orleans, LA (State #2)-Bayou Segnette State Park

We headed out of Texas on Saturday. Getting through the Houston area traffic was the worst! After that, it was much smoother sailing.

We had decided to break our trip to New Orleans into two days since one day would mean a long travel day and would have us arriving into the park after dark. So we stopped over at Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles, LA. It was a nice park but because we did not have reservations and it was pretty busy, I think we were parked in the not-so-desirable section. Fortunately, we got there early enough to explore the nicer areas.

The swamp areas had been drained due to excessive vegetation but to me they were still amazing and I could see how beautiful they would be when the water was there.

This little guy was hanging outside the trailer the next morning.

We left early and headed to New Orleans forcing our children to listen to Jambalaya, Battle of NewOrleans, and any other Cajun or New Orleans song we could think of along the way. Ha ha!

We arrived at our campsite around 1pm with lots of daylight left to take a look around. It is a nice spot. We are right next to the playscape! AND in the building right behind us is the nice, clean showers and the FREE laundry!

Greg was off on Monday so we headed straight into the French Quarter. About 15-20 minutes from here is the Algiers Ferry that takes you across the river and drops you off at Canal St. The ferry is free but we did pay $5 to park our truck in a lot. (We will later learn that this is an awesome deal as compared to the $25 it costs to park in the French Quarter for a day).

While we waited for the ferry, we saw this ship pass through.  What is it??

The kids loved the ferry ride but did complain that it was too short (~15 minutes).

Once in the French Quarter, Jordan was ready to try on some Mardi Gras masks...

There was the pink one.

And the blue one.

But ultimately she decided on the purple one. She thinks it's a “mean” mask, which is why she is making that face. It has something to do with My Little Pony and a mean pony that the elements of harmony could not defeat and well, we haven't really seen that episode.....

On down the street we had to get our picture taken with the goofy guy in costume who scared poor little Jordan as we walked by.

Next, was Cafe' Du Monde to try the famous beignets. This is the before picture.

And here are the after pictures. You cannot possibly eat one without powdered sugar exploding everywhere! Just breathing, while bringing it near your face, sends up a cloud of white! BUT it was well worth it. They were delicious!

 So after we dusted off the powder from our face and pounded it out of our clothes, we headed through Jackson Square to the St. Louis Cathedral.

It was very beautiful inside. I enjoyed just sitting there in the quiet and staring up at the ceiling to see the gorgeous paintings.

We roamed the streets admiring the French and Spanish architecture. And though we will not be here for Mardi Gras, we did get to see some of the decorations since they have already begun to decorate.

We enjoyed some jazz music and Jordan danced along.

It was strange that on Monday we ran into several little groups like this on the streets, but on Saturday when we came back, we didn't see any. We were disappointed!

Towards the end of the day, we rode the trolley, which the kids had been looking forward to ALL day.

Later in the week, the kids and I headed to the Barataria Preserve at the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park.

There we went on a walk with the Park Ranger through the swamps and marshes and the kids earned their first Junior Ranger Badge! Jacob is especially excited about this and wears his badge daily.

The visitor center had a nice little hands on learning area. The kids enjoyed that for awhile and then, unbelievably, they sat through a 25 MINUTE video about New Orleans culture! Jordan really like the old black and white parts and Jacob enjoyed the music.

New Orleans has a nice little children's museum as well. Perfect for a rainy day! Since we have a museum pass from The Thinkery in Austin, we get into other children's museums for half-price.

The grocery store was adorable. It looked so realistic and even had working cash registers that printed a receipt! I love the little number lights above the register that they could turn off and on to indicate whether or not they were open.

There was also a nice little restaurant where Mommy got to sit and rest a bit while the kids served her “lunch”.

And here the kids learned how they could lift 500 lbs by using a lever. That was nice since we had just recently discussed simple machines in our homeschooling.

On Saturday, we headed back to the French Quarter since Greg was off. It was a busy place! Like I said earlier, we decided to skip the ferry and parked in one of the nearby pay lots. Big mistake! It wasn't really any more convenient and it cost A LOT! We will take the ferry the next time!

We started the day with a Riverfront History Tour led by a Park Ranger from the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. It was interesting and described much of the different cultural influences on the city.

Right where our tour ended were the Calypso Tumbler street performers. They were entertaining and funny as they did flip after flip. 

In the background you can see the St. Louis Cathedral again. Our tour guide informed us that many of the buildings, including the cathedral, were brick on the outside. But as time and elements began to wear away the soft brick that was used, they covered them with stucco to preserve them. So it was a little surprising to learn that this was not how it looked many years ago but nice that they could save it.

We passed by Cafe' Du Monde again and on the back side of the building is a window where you can watch them make the beignets.

Then we stopped by the Jazz National Historical Park which is located in the old US Mint. Here, the kids earned their 2nd Junior Ranger badge.

Upstairs we walked into a room and found we were in for a treat! Jazz drummer, Herlin Riley, was being interviewed and they were making some recordings to be used with other jazz musicians as part of a youth program. We enjoyed listening to him play and hearing his story.

At the end of the interview, one of the youth asked him to play a particular song. He told the teen to grab his horn and join him and then asked the others in the audience who brought their horns to join in too! I must say I was quite surprised that so many people carried their instruments around. But I am glad they did because it was so much fun! Towards the end of the song, a man from Canada grabbed his trumpet and went up on the stage to join in. I could not see his face but everything about him reminded me of Hudson (this part is for those who know him). While I have never seen or heard him play, I imagined that it was him for the rest of the song. That made it even more exciting!!! Afterwards, I began to tell Greg about this and before I could finish he told me he thought the same thing!

We made it back to our trailer after a very fun day and sat down for dinner. And just when we thought the excitement for the day had come to an end, Jordan landed nose first into a picnic bench. I won't show you the bloody, messy pictures from the day of but here is an after picture...

Our poor baby! But it could have been so much worse and we thank God there was no fracture!

To be continued...

Tomball, TX-Spring Creek Park

This was our final week in Texas to visit with friends and family.  It was another fun week although a bit cold!

We stayed at a wonderful Park (the picture really does not do it justice).  There was a lot of space for the kids to run around with great playscapes, tennis and basketball courts and trails.  And the best part was that it was FREE!

We had one "ice" day and we even got some snow!  Look REAAAALLLYYYY close for the snow flurries and you still will not see them!!  Ha Ha

Of course, the icy roads turned out to be not as bad as expected, so we spent the afternoon at Bouncin Bears with the cousins since they did not have school.  We needed all of them to use some of that energy somewhere!

On another day we visited the Tomball Museum Center and Aunt Kristen treated us to a tour!  It is a grouping of buildings dating back to the mid 1800s including a doctor's office, farm house, school house, log cabin, church and more.

The school house was just like the one on Little House on the Prairie!  There was even a spot in the corner for the naughty child, complete with a tall cone-shaped "Dunce" hat.

The log cabin was so cute too!  Inside there was only one room with a loft built overhead.  I found myself wondering how families lived in such small places!!  Then I remembered, "Hey! That's what we are doing! AND we have a lot more stuff to pack inside!"

It seems that lately we hardly go to Tomball without a trip to Chuck E Cheese.  And so the kids had a wonderful evening with their cousin Thomas trying to earn tickets to trade in for prizes.

And of course, we could not miss ice skating with Savannah and Hayley.  They regularly take lessons and were SO helpful in taking care of Jordan for me!  It was great that they had the little walkers available to help the kids that are learning.

Our last night was spent with the family saying our good-byes.  The kids adore Savannah and Hayley and will miss them while we are away.  Hopefully they will get to visit us some place on our journey! ;)

Next stop:  New Orleans!