New Orleans

We had such a great week in New Orleans!  It was so nice to feel the sun and humidity again. It only rained one day that we were there. We went to so many places on our list, and walked a ton (but probably not enough to burn off all the yummy food we ate). I think my favorite meal was from the Commander’s Palace restaurant, and my favorite day was exploring the Oak Alley Plantation. If you are planning a trip I recommend taking a plantation tour, walking around Frenchman St., grabbing some wine at Bacchanal, grabbing a hurricane from Pat O’Brien’s, and of course getting a beignet from Cafe Du Monde.

Here is a list of the places we were able to get to on our trip:

• Prince Conti Hotel
• Pat O’Brien’s
• Acme Oyster House
• Cafe Du monde
• Lafayette Square
• Pul and Grind
• Buckner Mansion
• Lafayette Cemetery
• NOLA Brewing Tap Room
• Commander’s Palace
• The Bulldog, Uptown
• The Rum House
• Impeccable Pig
• Restaurant R’evolution
• Jackson Square
• Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits
• Jackson Brewery Bistro Bar
• Napoleon House
• Sylvain
• Brennan’s
• Oak Alley Plantation
• Three Muses
• The Spotted Cat Music Club
• Bamboula’s
• Addiction Coffeehouse
• Sucré French Quarter
• Cochon
• Carousel Bar

Yes, we ate, walked, drank, and explored a lot during this trip, and it was a blast!

Toddler Eating Habits

You never know what you are going to get Owen to eat on any given day. One day he likes oranges and the next day he won’t touch them. Some days he loves to eat green beans, and then the next day he chews them up and spits them out. I think the only thing that Owen will always eat are veggie fruit squeezies.

The funniest thing to me right now is watching Owen eat sandwiches. We’re not talking about anything fancy just the normal PB&J or grilled cheese. He always feels the need to deconstruct the sandwich in some way. Maybe he thinks that the filling will disappear if he doesn’t open up the sandwich and eat it that way.

Some days Owen asks for more cucumbers and other days he is begging for candy right out of bed. Oh toddlers are so much fun:).

If you need a book to get you through some of these dreary winter days here are a few that I just finished:

The Swans of Fifth Avenue

I’ll Drink to That

Currently reading, She Poured Out Her Heart.

New Orleans Bound

As much as I tried to avoid it, my husband gave me and Owen his cold. At least he gave me an awesome Christmas present! On Christmas morning I opened up a homemade certificate for a trip away for just the 2 of us. He had thought it would be fun to go skiing and spend some time at a spa. He go the spa part right :). I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy skiing so we decided to check to see where we could fly directly to. It was between Austin and New Orleans, and we picked New Orleans.

We are the type of travelers that like to have an itinerary when we travel – especially to places we’ve never been before. So far we’ve booked a flight, hotel, and a plantation tour. Now we just need to narrow down the 25 places we have on our list that we would like to eat and have a drink at. Of course we have to have some beignets, hurricanes, and oysters.

Our trip is coming up soon, and I just realized that I’ve never had a vacation in the winter and I don’t really know what to pack. It seems that the weather will be highs in the 70s and lows in the mid 50s. I know we’ll be doing a lot of walking so other than my Sperry’s I’m not sure what to pack. I’m thinking layers will be key.

If anyone has any tips for traveling to New Orleans I would love to hear them.

 

Happy 2017

Maybe it was a bad idea to let Owen stay up to see the ball drop this year. He was a trooper  at the party we were attending and the only kid that lasted until the ball dropped, but it has taken a while to get him back on schedule. The Sunday after New Year’s Eve he slept until almost 11, and of course did not want to go to bed until after 10. I think last night was the first night that he went to bed his normal time. At least he had a good time cheering everyone with his water sippy cup at midnight.

Owen is still loving his bounce house he got from Santa. The only problem is that he likes having mommy or daddy jump with him. At least it is a workout jumping around. Every time Owen and daddy go in I think someone is going to get hurt from the screams I hear from the room.

There haven’t been many play dates recently, and I keep trying to keep Owen busy while the weather is cold outside so I decided to make “snow” yesterday. I found the simple how to video here.  He was so excited to play with the indoor snow. He grabbed some trucks and dinosaurs and made a good mess, but he was upset when we made him stop playing for dinner. I wasn’t sure if it would be ok to keep overnight so I threw it away and ordered him some kinetic sand that came with a tray and dinosaurs. Anyone else have fun winter toddler activities?