NOLA

We concluded our vacation in New Orleans on Monday. Our first order of business was visiting the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. And wouldn't you know it... it was pouring Monday morning. We can't get a drop of rain to save our lives at home, and it decides to rain on our vacation. Well, we made the most of it and ran to the Aquarium entrance covered in umbrella bags.

The aquarium is really nice and really suited for children. Our pictures from the aquarium are a little peculiar because Jackson was the photographer. Here are a few that were less blurry.



They also had a cute play area for the kids. Jack and Jordan had a lot of fun here.


Once we were done playing, we attempted to pet a stingray. Jack and I were able to touch a couple, but Jordan couldn't quite reach. Of course I have no pictures of this. The sharks were definitely our favorite. They had a nice display of what an oil platform will look like under the surface and all the sea life that would live around it. It was really neat to see since oil is so much of our life.

After the aquarium, we ran thru the rain to the River Walk area and had lunch and did a little shopping. The rain let up a little bit and we made our way to the ferry and rode across the river.


After the fairy ride, we walked down the rode and took a trolley ride down Canal Street. Kenny and I were more excited for this than the kids I think. After being on the go all day, Jordan even took a little nap.


After the trolley car ride, I would say the kids were wiped out. So while they unwound in the backseat, Kenny and I drove thru the French Quarter just to check things out. We got as close as we could to St. Louis Cathedral without getting out of the car. I just love this old Church. My friend was married there. Too bad I didn't know her back then.



We made our way back to the hotel and called it a day. Hopefully a day full of happy memories. Tuesday morning we woke up with the daunting task of driving back home. But not without satisfying my craving for beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Luckily there was one not far from where we were staying. This was a great way to begin our trip home.
This was definitely a great family vacation. Can't wait for many more to come.

The Long Drive Home

The drive home from PCB was long, but we had a plan. We broke up the ride home over the course of three days. We left the beach house and did a little shopping in Panama City before leaving town. We pulled out of PCB about lunch time and made our way to visit the USS Alabama in Mobile. The Alabama was a warship during World War II. The park is really nice. They have a few memorials set up for the Korean and Vietnam veterans. And there are several planes and tanks set up around the premises. All I can say is that Jackson LOVED it!




We started on the battleship and toured the living quarters, etc. All he wanted to see were the guns. We finally made it to the deck of the ship where all the guns were. Here are Jackson and Kenny pretending to shoot the guns.



This is the chain that holds the anchor. Can you believe how big it is???

Jackson also had to tell us whether the ammunition was a missile or a torpedo. I don't know where he learns this stuff, but he taught me a few things.

After the battleship, we toured the airplane hangar. There were several refurbished warplanes in here. It's so interesting to think of the places the airplanes have been and the people who flew them. Jackson's favorite plane was this big black one. This one is actually like JetFire, one of the Transformers. He used to be a bad guy, but then became a good guy. Ask Jackson, he'll tell you all about it. :)




After the airplanes, we went through the submarine, the USS DRUM. The DRUM sailed during WWII, and is the oldest submarine on display. I can't imagine how the sailors survived in such tight quarters. If you're claustrophobic, this is not the place for you.


We then looked around at all of the rest of the tanks and planes that were on the grounds.





After that, we headed west to New Orleans. As we were leaving, I looked back and noticed a rainbow over the battleship. Look in the right corner. You can barely see it.


Here's the tunnel that goes under the river in Mobile. The kids thought this was really cool.


We stayed the night in New Orleans to rest up for our next adventure.

PCB 2011

Last week we ventured east and went on a nice family vacation to Panama City Beach, Florida. Our friends Heather and Bob and Keith and Cathy invited us to join them at Heather's brother's beach house for a nice, long weekend. We ventured out Wednesday night in hopes to get there bright and early the Thursday morning. I never thought I'd be the one to enjoy driving thru the night, but it really worked for us. First, we did it on the way to Omaha, and now to PCB. We left our house around 7-ish, stopped for dinner in Winnie and seemed to make it to Baton Rouge in no time.

The kids fell asleep around 10 and we didn't hear a peep until Jackson woke up just in time to go thru the tunnel in Mobile, AL. He quickly fell back asleep and didn't wake up until we stopped for a quick pitstop in Destin. We arrived in PCB around 5:30 in the morning and the kids and I made our way to our bedroom for a quick nap before we started the day. The kids were too excited to sleep, so I sent them out of the room with their Daddy while I slept an hour or so.

The house we stayed at had its own pool, so we started our day there. After Keith and Cathy showed up, the girls headed to the grocery store for breakfast stuff, snacks, etc. The boys took the kids to the beach. The beach is just beautiful there. White sand, clear water... a far cry than what we see in Galveston. There was seaweed in the water, though, so the kids weren't too crazy about that. After the beach, we headed to a nice restaurant and then turned in. Kenny and I (me mostly) were still tired from the drive.

Friday the boys went and played golf in the morning. The mommies and kids swam. This was the first time my kids met the LB and G. For just meeting, all 4 hit it off great. Jordan loved having little girls to play with. And Jackson would play with the girls, and then get tired of the "girly" stuff and go off and do something by himself. Friday afternoon, the big girls went and had some mommy time. We shopped for a while and then met up with the others at a restaurant for dinner. After dinner we played mini-golf. We had been promising Jackson all day that we would take him to play. He loved it! And if you ask him, he'll insist that he beat Mr. Keith.




Saturday we headed out early and went on a boat ride out to Shell Island. Here are the kids on the boatride there.


The boys fed the seagulls Chee-tos on the way.

It's called Shell Island because, well, people find lots of shells there. You won't find them just walking down the beach, though. We sat in the water and dug a little under the sand and found a ton of really nice shells and sand dollars. We were hoping to find some starfish, but no such luck. There are two alligators that have taken residence there by the boat dock. This guy was our welcoming committee.

Here we are enjoying the beautiful beach.

On the boat ride back from Shell Island, we spotted a few dolphins. One was by himself. Here he is splashing his tail at us.


And here's and mommy and baby dolphin. They're hard to see. I couldn't get a good picture, but it was super cute.

On the drive back, the kids were given a chance to drive the boat. It took some coaxing, but Jackson finnaly did it.

That afternoon we swam for a while and then we headed to Pier Park. We ate an early dinner, and then the kids rode some carnival rides. All of the rides were refurbished from an old amusement park in Panama City. The kids had a ball. Mr. Keith rode the airplanes with Jackson, but we could never get their attention to look at the camera.




Sunday morning everyone packed up to head home. I'll admit that I wish we could've stayed at least one more day. We don't get to see our friends very often at all and we had so much fun spending time with them.