Vacation Part 4

Our Five Day Cruise

The Boat: The Carnival Triumph
We loved the ship. It was fancy and elegant.
Aaron and I had a cabin with a balcony.
View from the Balcony.
Hayden and I saw this rainbow one day
while sitting on the balcony.
He was sure it was Grandma Kathy telling us to
"have fun and that Jesus was taking good care of her."
So Sweet!
The kids were across the hall.
It had a water slide that the boys LOVED!!
And an Arcade to keep them busy.
even Aaron...
The Shows weren't great, but entertained Kenzie and I -
not even girls in G-strings could keep my boys attention.
The Ports:Progresso & Cozumel Mexico
Progresso had Cheap Shopping,
Lots of Begging, and was HUMID AND HOT!!!
Jelly Fish in the Water
Hayden is trying to hear the Ocean in the seashell...
Cozumel had More Expensive Shopping,
Not as much Begging,
but was still HUMID AND HOT!!!
The Best Parts:
The Kids Camps-
Hayden is the ONLY child that went.
But he LOVED it!!
The Towel Animals: The kids favorite!
And, of course, the FOOD!!
We ate Chocolate Melting Cake every night
and had soft ice cream cones every hour.
YUMMMMM!!!!
Jose was our waiter each night.
He called Mackay - "Mickey",
Hayden - "Kaden"
Kenzie was "Kenzie"
I was "Dawn"
and Aaron was "Sir Aaron".
Hayden and his escargot (snails)
He ate ALL of them.
Mackay didn't like the snails.
We had a lot of fun and still relaxed on this trip.
The kids had their fair share of fights
- with battle wounds to prove it,
but when they needed someone to hang out with,
they became friends again.
Aaron needed some time away from work,
he enjoyed reading his books and staring into the ocean (he LOVES water).
I love to vacation so I was happy.
New Orleans was my favorite part.
All in all - we had a great time.
We were together as a family,
making memories
and enjoying every bit of it.
THE END!!

Vacation Part 3

Monday morning, August 16th, we went to watch
the New Orleans Saints practice.
Although they play their games INSIDE
at the Super dome,
they practice OUTSIDE.
Mackay was in heaven!!
Hayden was... not.
The HEAT... about 15 minutes in,
Hayden, Kenzie, & I were bee-lining it for the car.
Air conditioning is a beautiful thing!!

Head Coach: Sean Payton

Drew Brees #9 Quarterback

Other Quarterbacks #10 Chase Daniel & #4 Sean Canfield

Reggie Bush #25

Kenzie and Aaron(my history lovers) wanted to tour a WWII Museum.

I kept the boys in the hotel with the AC cranked!! :)
1:00 pm, we returned the car
and headed to the Convention Center.
To wait in line...........
Outside... in the H-E-A-T!!!!!
Finally, we boarded The Carnival Triumph!!
Off to Pregreso Mexico and Cozumel.

Vacation Part 2

After our Swamp Tour, we drove through the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.
This is where Hurricane Katrina hit the hardest.
My kids were shocked at what they saw.
I was heart broken as we drove through the streets and saw the destruction.

We learned what the X on each home meant.
In the top of the X is the DATE they searched the home.
To the left is the UNIT that searched the home.
To the right are the DANGERS ie: Downed Wires, Gas Line, Infection, etc.
In the bottom, the number of deceased bodies found in the home.

(Last night on Dateline, they talked about Katrina and the first five days after it hit.... My kids and I were mesmerized. We had just walked and driven the streets and stood in line at the Conference Center, where many people went for hope of help. We had JUST visited the places we were watching on TV. What you can't see on the TV is the HEAT. It was good for my kids - and me - to see.)

Of course, we had to see Bourbon Street -
DURING the day, because we have small children.

We stopped at the Flea Market and listened to the fun, loud, music playing.
We walked the Riverwalk and ate dinner.
We were exhausted and ready to head back to our hotel.
A dip in the pool and Day 2 was complete!!

We were all very excited for Day 3's events!!

Vacation Part 1

Sat. Aug, 14th, we arrived in New Orleans

or as Hayden would call it "The Hottest Place on Earth".
We found our hotel - the Marriott Residence Inn,
it was in a great location - walking distance to everything,
but didn't feel like the "safest" part of town.
We unpacked and set out to find dinner - on foot.
I have NEVER been so hot or more sweaty in my entire life.
view from our hotel room
We found a fun Cajun restaurant called Mulates.
There we feasted on Fried Alligator.
Everyone devoured it - Weird!
We walked home and allowed both boys to develop
large red blisters.
We jumped into a bug infested pool
and Day 1 was complete.

Sunday morning we walked to pick up our rented Camry.

We found a Walmart and purchased
new shoes for Mackay and a supply of Band aids.
Then headed to the Swamp for a tour.
It was a little unnerving as we sat on picnic tables
(approx. 10 feet from the water)
waiting to board our steel boat
- watching many alligators watch US!
Not to mention - we were sweating profusely!!!

Our Captain explained
the swamp, the trees, the birds, the bugs, and the alligators.

He gave the kids marshmallows to throw into the water.
Out of NOWHERE ... ALLIGATORS were everywhere.
Our Captain then pulled out chicken necks
and tossed them into the mouths of awaiting hungry alligators.

As our tour was coming to an end,
ELVIS entered the building!!

(or got pulled out of a box in the boat)

Each willing passenger was allowed to hold Elvis.

Aaron held Elvis.

Kenzie held Elvis.

Mackay held Elvis.

This is as close Hayden got to holding Elvis.

As for me.... no thanks.
I like the "Look but Don't Touch" rule.
2 pm, We got off the boat,
still dripping with sweat and headed back into town.

That is nothing but sweat all over
this red-faced, drenched little boy - he is just like his mother.

Part 2 of Day 2 to come...