Best of NOLA 2011

Our first stop in New Orleans was the Aquarium of the Americas.  We wanted to go to the zoo, but it was raining :(  Honestly, this bird exhibit they had was hilarious.  As you can see, I got a kick out of seeing 6 of them land on Anthony!

The most precious photos that I had were of Vi attending her école maternelle, or preschool in French.  She attended a bilingual school during the week, and I took photos but they were somehow deleted from my phone - arghhhhh!

While she was having fun at school, we did some touristy things and lots of eating.  We extremely enjoyed our visit to Oak Alley Plantation.  We got a picture of the two of us on the porch with the oaks; they really are gorgeous. The ones on this side of the house looking out to the river are around 300 years old with a life span of about 600 years.

The mint julep deserved it's own photo.  I think the syrup they use there is the key ingredient.  It was soooo warm that day it was nice to stroll around with a cool drink.  I bought some of the syrup.  They mix with Early Times... haven't had that since college :)

The average French-Acadian female during plantation times was around 4'10."  I would've been considered tall!  Here, I am imagining myself as the matron of the house.  The first owners allowed their sons to ride horses all the way down the alley, through the front doors and then out the back, ruining the marble floors on the bottom level of the house.

She is killing us looking like such a big girl in this picture!  We could even swim outside!  The weather was so nice, and our hotel had a lovely little courtyard pool just the right size for Vi.

Another favorite activity was our horse and carriage ride.  We got to see all of the Christmas decorations and lights, and our driver was kind enough to take a different route so that Vi could enjoy the best of the best.  Check out this house in the quarter.  They own bulldogs, can you tell?

As usual, we had a superb Christmas vacation in New Orleans.  Thanks Aunt Cindy and Uncle Jerry for gifting us our accommodations so that we could enjoy the city so fabulously!  I can't wait until we can go back again.

YOU MUST EAT:

Mr. B's for lunch

El Gato Negro, get the tableside guacamole and the margaritas

Blue Plate Cafe (breakfast)

Jacque Imo's (dinner)

and a daiquiri, to go!

Vi's Christmas 2011 Rewind

Vi left Santa some tasty treats: a slim jim, orange juice, cheese, coconut bonbon, and a lemon cookie

"Santa" gets lovin' from his girls!

Christmas breakfast.  Vi's favorite is homemade pancakes with sprinkles.  She asked Santa for this Baby Rudolph and he delivered.  Aren't they cute together?

Christmas 2011 was one of the best Christmases I can remember.  It was really fun to have a bubbly 3 year old to help sing Christmas carols and decorate.  She was more excited that we were about the holidays.  It was really like having our own Buddy the Elf around the house.  I can't wait until next year!

On Christmas morning, we opened gifts.  One thing that happened (but not pictured) is that Santa left Vi a treasure map in her stocking.  Drawing treasure maps is a daily pastime of Vi's, so of course she followed all of the clues and found her big present, a LeapFrog Leapster game (kinda like a game boy but for toddler learning games).  She really has enjoyed learning letters and numbers with it.

After all of the normal Christmas morning activity, we loaded up the car and drove to Meridian, Mississippi.  Why, you ask?  This was our bump in the road before making it to New Orleans.  We had a lovely Christmas Dinner of Waffle House - barf, but Vi kept us laughing by taking care of "Precious" her dog that Santa gave her.

It's looking a lot like Christmas!

 Pajama Christmas Party Day at school

Vi's inability to sit still and energy level never cease to amaze me, even when surrounded by other 3 and 4 year olds.  The little boy beside her kept talking about how much he loved napping and that it's good to rest.  Kids are hilarious!

Santa came to town!

 Vi was very happy with her treat from Santa.  She had a "Buddy the Elf" breakfast of chocolate donuts and candy canes at the Breakfast with Santa.

 Vi is ready for her preschool Christmas program.  I love this little outfit on her.  Her favorite songs this year are "Little Drummer Boy" and "Feliz Navidad."

My goofballs.

 Vi's amazing teacher, Ms. Melissa!

 Waiting to see Santa Claus

 So, Vi was enthusiastic this year to see Santa but got a case of stage fright right before we went to talk to him.  She later drew him a picture and sat on his lap to have a chat, but we didn't get a picture.... there's always next year!

Excited to share her Christmas list with Santa: a Rudolph reindeer, a baby doll, play-doh and hopscotch.

TN Vols Homecoming - the game!

Vi's first visit to Neyland Stadium was a hit, she even made it onto the field with no problem.

The Pride of the Southland band gets two thumbs up!

 

 Vi took this picture, not bad.

 

 We made memories, and ate lots of popcorn.

Go Vols!

Vi got her face painted at the alumni dinner, thanks Daddy for giving in.  The face paint is like air-brushed make-up, so no mess.  She cried the next morning after the game when she realized we had wiped it off when she slept.

TN Vols Homecoming

 The Smokey sighting we had after the parade was awesome, he is soooo soft!

 Vi and Caroline gear up for the Little Vol Walk in the homecoming parade.  Caroline said, "Go Vols!" while Vi said "War Eagle!" WRONG TEAM, VI!

 The KD girls in the crowd loved our sign and asked for pictures, they were a big hit!

They had so much fun together, ahhhh memories at Neyland Stadium

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween!  I don't recognize these kids in my garage.

Ready to trick-or-treat

We saw a few Minnies out, but Vi really was the cutest one :)