Our little trip

We delayed our trip to New Orleans by a day because Andrew caught the same virus the girls had less than a week prior. I was VERY surprised how much damage from Hurricane Katrina still remains. In the tourists areas you wouldn’t know Katrina ever hit. However, in other places, it looks like NOTHING has been done.
We went to the National WWII Museum the first day and right after we bought our tickets we get a call that Josh’s mother was in the hospital with heart issues and they were going in with a catheter to check things out. At that point no one knew we were in New Orleans.
We toured the museum in about 2 hours and decided to check in to the hotel and head to Baton Rouge to see Josh’s mother. Because some family met me in the lobby to watch the kids, we were able to both visit her for about an hour. Josh was able to give her a blessing and I brought some flowers from Andrew since he was upset that he was too young to visit her. The first surgery didn’t show any problems and she insisted we go on with our trip. We met some family for dinner and headed back down to the hotel.
I managed to forget my camera which is, in my opinion, worse than forgetting my phone!  I picked up a cheap, simple digital camera that I knew Andrew would enjoy having after the trip. I’ve really taken for granted how well my regular camera works! If anyone moved in a picture, it would blur. Do you know how hard it is to keep a toddler still for a picture? The flash had to take a few extra seconds to reset, etc. It was an annoying camera and I’m happy to let Andrew have it now.
The second day we went to the infamous Café Du Monde and let the children experience beneigts for the first time. Fried dough covered in powdered sugar was a hit with them (big surprise there!) We then headed on to the Audubon Aquarium and the girls especially loved the fish. Andrew enjoyed petting the shark and the ray and finding unique things about certain sea creatures. The white alligator, otters and the penguins are always my favorite.
The third day we went to the New Orleans Children’s museum and the kids played and played and played some more. They have an under 3 section that the girls loved and Josh and I took turns taking Andrew through the rest of the museum. I liked the life sized Neighborhood of Make Believe and seeing Mr. Roger’s shoes and sweater.
The last day we met my best friend and her family at the Audubon Zoo. Andrew got to pet an elephant and see a white tiger. At the petting zoo, he and Leila got to touch a snake, a tortoise as well as sheep and goats. Leah clung to me as hard as she could. She liked the animals from afar but was NOT willing to touch one! I think Leah and Leila enjoyed the playground the most, though.
All in all, it was a good trip. We enjoyed the rest and the family time. It was good to be back home in our own bed, though!