Cruising to Mexico!

We were all excited for our cruise this week, but these girls were super excited.

We opted to take our luggage with us to our room instead of waiting for it to be delivered later that evening.  After figuring out how we would all manage to live for the next 5 days in that tiny room we headed up to the top deck. I'm so glad we took these hats, but they only wore them this one time on the trip.  It's all about the photo-ops anyway. ;)

Miniature golf on one of the top decks of the ship was one of many fun things they found this week.

I'd have to say that the 24hr pizza was probably at the top of their favorites list.  This was thin crust, wood-fired pizza, so it was at the top of my list too.

The girls loved this slide and playing in the pools, and it wasn't too crowded either. Marc and I got smart and finally found either a shaded spot or a spot right next to fan to relax and read while the girls played.

All three girls love watching Guy's Grocery Games on the Food Network. When they found out that he had a burger joint on the ship these two were so excited to give it a try. The burgers were really good, and the fries were pretty awesome too. We manage to grab a couple of these during the week.

We taught the girls all things proper for the formal dinner. They did such a good job each night, and after the first night they started ordering regular menu items rather than something off of the kids menu. It was fun to dress up with the whole family.  We even had the table to ourselves every night except one. The girls loved that the waiters knew their name from the beginning.

We enjoyed our first day and a half at sea, and we were excited for our first port of call in the morning - Cozumel, Mexico.

Fall Break - New Orleans

By the time Fall Break rolled around this year we were all ready for a vacation. In the midst of a busy fall it is always nice to unplug and get away for a few days.  We started off our week in New Orleans.  We only had a day and a half there, but we hit the highlights. We also made sure to be back to our hotel by dark. I wasn't going to take my chances there at night with the girls. ha!

On the way down we grabbed some Shrimp Basket to go.  This is one of our favorite seafood places at the beach. We've enjoyed it since there were only 2 locations, and now there are enough that we can usually find one when we head south.

This one managed to meet the pavement on the way to check into the hotel. She sported this lovely scab all week. I'm just thankful it wasn't worse and that no teeth were damaged. 

The next morning we headed down to the Honey Island Swamp Tours.  We really enjoyed our ride through the bayous. Our guide was great and we all had a wonderful time.

Who knew alligators like marshmallows.

And raccoons do to. Surprisingly we saw 6-7 of these guys on our tour.  I didn't realize raccoons lived in the swamps.  Wild pigs do too, but they weren't out this morning.

We finally made it to the city to spend the afternoon walking around. The girls found some beautiful masks in many stores. 

 

We walked Jackson Square and made a stop in the St. Louis Cathedral

A trip in the French Quarter wouldn't be complete without a stop here.  The girls (and their parents too) were excited to give these a try. 

 

The to-go line wasn't long at all, but to these three it was more than they would have liked. :)

The beignets were totally worth it. 

After an early dinner we took a walk down the Mississippi River before calling it a night.

We had to make a quick stop at a drug store before heading back to the hotel.  We decided to be the crazy parents that walked across the street for another sweet treat of the day.  And if you get chocolate cake you have to have milk to go with it.  Brooke and I found this little jug, and she thought it was just the cutest thing.  She giggled all the way to check out with it.

We had Monday morning free before boarding the ship so we took the girls to Mardi Gras World.  This is the largest maker of Mardi Gras floats as well as other creations - like the big Chick-fil-A cows that are on billboards. The girls tried on some costumes before the short video about Mardi Gras.

We then were given a tour of their warehouse that is an active design and creation center. There were a lot of cool floats, and we learned so much.  I was surprised to learn about how they reuse so many of them over the years.  It's amazing how they can start with one things and change it into something very different.

We enjoyed our time in New Orleans, but the real fun was about to begin.  I just love spending time with my people!