Our Trip to Louisiana

Traveling with 2 small children is going to be difficult; they have to be strapped in for safety and little kids love to wiggle. This is not a good combination for a pleasant drive. We pulled out of our driveway at 10:30 AM and pulled into my grandma's driveway at 7 PM. The GPS in our van says that this drive should take 5 1/2 hours. Though, to be fair, we did hit traffic and construction in Baton Rouge and that added an extra hour and 15 minutes. So, what should have taken 6 hours and 45 minutes ended up being an 8 1/2 hour drive. The additional hour and 45 minutes was due to the fact that Zachary hates being in the car and to expresses his displeasure by shrieking. Loudly. I'm not talking about crying or yelling -- this was a high pierced shriek. We stopped frequently to let him stretch his legs and run around, though we had difficulty finding McDonalds with playgrounds on the drive. I thought most McDonalds had playgrounds, but apparently not on the drive between Houston and Mandeville. We did stop at a dirty Burger King in Crowley where we had to wipe down the table, throw away a lot of trash and where they were out of several things on the menu. But, at least they had a playground. We also stopped at The Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, LA where the boys got to see Tony the tiger. The boys liked it, but Paul and I just felt sorry for the tiger. If you are interested in reading more about the tiger, they have a website http://www.tigertruckstop.com/

OK, it was a LONG drive, but we survived! I was thrilled to see my Grandma, whom I haven't seen since August 2008. She is a true southern belle, she goes out of her way to ensure everyone's comfort and convenience and even in her 80's, she still wears beautiful clothes and full make-up every day. The woman puts me to shame, on my Grandma's worst day she looks classier than me. She is the queen of hospitality, she finds out what all your favorite foods are before you visit, turns down your sheets before you go to bed, makes sure there are magazines for you to look at in your room -- she is so good I'm surprised there aren't mints on our pillows! She is amazing! She has mastered the art of southern small talk, if you feel like chatting she is happy to listen but she can carry the conversation all on her own too. She makes everyone who visits her home feel welcome, everyone is part of the family when they are there. If she spent all day preparing a huge meal and later found out you didn't like it, she would joyfully get up and make you something else. She wants you to eat and she wants you to be happy. She gracefully dealt with Zachary's attempts to destroy her home and even commented on how inquisitive and adorable he was while he was trying to pull her grandfather clock in pieces, trying to pull the pumpkin out of her fall display, jumping on her couch, climbing on her table, banging her decorative butter churn, etc. So many people would be annoyed at Zachary's antics and it would have been an awkward situation while I tried to keep Zachary from ruining her things, but she turned a potentially bad situation into a happy one. She just loved on little Zachary and found the positive side to his destructive tendencies! She bought the boys toys and even went back to the store to buy a second of one particularly popular toy so the boys wouldn't argue over it. What a lady!

My beautiful Grandma with the boys

Zachary trying to pull the pumpkins out of the fall arrangement and Caleb running across the room while my Grandma just chats about how adorable they are.

The boys standing right on top of my grandmother's tv. Zachary kept trying to hit her tv because he could reach it and thought it was fun.

Paul with the boys. Zachary was being held against his will, he had too much stuff to break to sit still for a picture!

We took the boys into New Orleans on Saturday and we went to the Audobon Aquarium and Central Grocery. The boys LOVED the Aquarium! When you first walk in there is a fountain that goes from the floor to the ceiling with what looks like silver fish scales. The boys thought that was really neat.
After the fountain, you walk through a tunnel where the fish swim right over your head! The boys were impressed with that. There was even a diver in there cleaning the tank and feeding the fish.

We also got to see a man feed the penguins, which was pretty cool. Aren't they cute?

There was also a kids area where we let Zachary out of the stroller and he and Caleb had a lot of fun running around.

We all got to see sharks in another huge aquarium.
The Aquarium is right on the Mississippi Rive and there were steam boats. Of course we had to get a picture!
We ate lunch at Central Grocery, the original mufalleta store! It was pretty good, but the sandwiches are already made and they have only have one kind. Don't ask for anything different. We also got some pralines at a candy store on Decatur Street which were very good.
Then we drove back to my Grandma's house where the boys had a ball playing in her massive backyard. She bought them some balls to play with and they enjoyed chasing them for a long time. Zachary decided he needed to move all the dirt from one of her pots to the leaves of her palm plant. He also decided he needed some dirt his hair. He got a bath as soon as we went inside.
Overall, we had a nice trip. I am so happy I got to see my grandma and that she enjoyed seeing the boys. Thankfully, our car trip home went much faster. We left at 8 AM and got home at 3 PM. There wasn't as much traffic and Zachary was getting a little more used to the car, so we only made 3 stops on the way back.