Happenings in the Stacer Household: Florida Part 3

So here's the last part of our post from Florida... although really it's more about New Orleans and the drive home.

We enjoyed the beach one more time before we left. The 2nd time was great because it was much calmer so he could stand in the waves all by himself. Unfortunately, he has not learned the lesson of don't touch your eyes/mouth with your sandy hands.

On Friday, we drove to New Orleans with my mom and Annie to spend the day/night and cut out some of the drive for me. It was a torrential downpour when we got there. We had planned to walk around the French Quarter all afternoon so we had to improvise. We took a cab to the Quarter and Jackson Square. We went into St. Louis cathedral to light some candles for my dad and grandma (and got drenched in the process of getting there). Don't worry, Caitlin was dry in the Ergo and under the umbrella. Evan, now he got a little wet but he actually enjoyed it. He kept wanting to touch the little waterfalls coming off the roofs! After the church, we went to Cafe Pantawbla (spelling?) for a crab cake and drink. By then, it really had stopped raining so we walked around the Quarter as we meandered back to the hotel.

Once we'd dried off, we headed to Jacques-Imo's for dinner. This is a great restaurant that my Cousin Jessie took my mom/Annie to when they'd visited her in New Orleans (she used to live there). It was packed but we got in and had fantastic food. After dinner, we drove through the Garden District (b/c I've never seen it). Gorgeous houses. We drove by Archie Manning's house of course (we googled it). After that, it was back to the hotel and off to bed!

Saturday, we got up, dressed, packed, and went to Cafe Du Monde for breakfast. Yummy! Those beignets are so good. Finally, we parted ways and the kids and I headed for Austin. Both kids slept from New Orleans until almost Beaumont, TX (about 4 hours). It was great. We stopped there for some McDonald's because they had a huge indoor playscape. We ate, I fed Caitlin, changed 2 diapers, and Evan got to run around for about an hour. After that, we loaded up and drove on. Caitlin slept some more... Evan was not into sleeping. But, I put a video on our portable dvd and that occupied him some. He doesn't really watch tv so he wasn't totally into it, but it kept him somewhat occupied when he would get really bored. We made it all the way to Giddings when Caitlin needed to eat. So, we stopped real quick so I could feed her and get Evan a bite. We didn't get out of the car though (stopped at Sonic). Then, we finished the last bit to Austin! Evan was so happy to be home, see Dada, and get out of that car. I think we'd reached the limit of the two kids. But overall, they did great which was a blessing since I was by myself.

Here's the last batch of pics. I still need to blog about Caitlin's 3 months, but figured I needed to finish Florida first. Enjoy!