Daddy meet in NOLA

This time last week we were just getting home from New Orleans, with fond memories of having our tummies full of beignets from Cafe du Monde, our favorite place to go when we visit NOLA.  Ah, beignets .... mmmmm!

We were there for 3 nights while Roy attended a conference (or "Daddy meet" as Riley called it!).  I had accompanied Roy to this same conference in San Diego in 2002, in Portugal in 2004 (this was the European version, but close enough!), and Leighton & I went with him to Chicago in 2009.  This conference is huge.  Like 30-40 000 people huge.  Crazy, right?!?!  They completely take over the city and everywhere you go there are more science nerds science geeks scientists with conference badges around their necks.  To Leighton's great amusement, they were everywhere we went and every few moments you'd hear him say, "There's another one!  And another one.  They are coming from every direction!"

We left relatively early on Sunday morning for our road trip and arrived in the mid afternoon after a mostly ok drive.  Leighton was a super passenger.  His little sister, on the other hand, didn't nap as long as we hoped and requested to go home and/or get out on more than one occasion!  On road trips I pack a ridiculously large amount of new books and coloring activities and toys and snacks, and usually most of them aren't needed.  I went through almost everything I brought before the halfway mark this time around!

We stayed at The Residence Inn, our favorite chain of hotels to stay at as a family.  It is so convenient to have the breakfast buffet and weeknight light dinners provided, and to have a suite with separate bedrooms and a little kitchen makes longer stays so much easier on us.  The layout of our 2 bedroom suite here was more like a little apartment than a hotel room, and it included lots of space (and a loop through the bedrooms and bathrooms) for the kids to run and play.

After the kids watched Daddy unload the car through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living space, we went for dinner at Mulate's, a low-key, family-friendly restaurant Roy and I had stumbled upon when we visited in 2006 and ate at again with the kids last summer.  Roy ordered the alligator again this time due to the overwhelming interest in it from Leighton on our last visit, but this time he didn't bite (haha - no pun intended!).  At first Riley declined, saying "Baby no gator.  Daddy gator!" but eventually she did try some.  (I wasn't offered anyway because Roy knew it wouldn't be the first thing I'd choose to eat!  That said, I did eat crocodile in Zambia!).

After dinner, we walked along the river down to the French Quarter for beignets at Cafe du Monde.  We had all been eagerly anticipating this part of the vacation!

*As an aside, have you ever seen the Good Night Our World Series board books?  We love them and get them for every city/state we visit that they make one for.  It gives a great overview of the best things to do with kids and helps retain the memories of the trip.  I highly recommend them for any kids in your lives.*

While Roy was at the conference on Monday, I took the kids on the Canal Street Ferry across to Algiers (we didn't actually get off the ferry, although a visit to Mardi Gras World over there would be pretty fun!).  I had considered taking them on the Natchez steamboat, but it is 2 hours long and $25, so the 30 minute free ferry was a better option for me with them on my own.

Afterward, we were planning a ride on the streetcar, but they were closed for line maintenance all week starting that morning.  The kids were disappointed because we had seen them the night before and promised them a trip.  They were quick to recover, however, when we decided to head into the Riverwalk instead to shop and eat.  They immediately found a very high-tech, touch screen soda vending machine that kept them entertained and occupied for a good 15 minutes!  We also tried on all sorts of beads and sequined hats, watched a lady making pralines, and made souvenir pressed pennies.  The shopping area was relatively quiet, but when we made it to the food court area, there were people from 'Daddy meet' lined up all over the place.  We waited in line for food, snagged a table after a lengthy wait, and had a nice lunch.

And on the way back to the hotel, I got them ice cream!  Am I a good Mommy or what?!?!

While Riley napped, Roy came back for a visit and I went out to get him a po' boy from Mother's, a restaurant we had gone to for breakfast in '06 but hadn't had the chance yet to sample their famed sandwiches.  We spent the late afternoon playing together in the room before Roy had to get back to work, and then I took the kids downstairs for chips from the complimentary light dinner before I cooked them a 5 star meal of corn and noodles in the room.  Again, am I a good Mommy or what?!?! We then went out for a walk before I got them bathed and into bed.

Because all of the kid-friendly attractions (zoo, aquarium, insectarium and butterfly garden, and children's museum) are closed on Mondays, we had a big decision to make of what one to visit on Tuesday.  We had done the zoo, aquarium, and children's museum last summer, and I decided the children's museum was the closest and easiest for me to do with the kids on my own.  And when we walked by the day before, Leighton had asked to go.  And it was free with the reciprocal agreement from our membership to the children's museum here in Houston.  Decision made!  We played in most of the different areas but could have easily spent a couple more hours there if Riley didn't need a nap and they both didn't need some lunch.  We did hit up the gift shop on the way out for a small little souvenir, and both kids fell in love with the 5 cent erasers and 50 cent Halloween knock knacks.  Nice!  Mommy, however, stumbled upon some cute, mini packs of clay that were perfect for the goodie bags for Leighton's birthday party!

In the afternoon, we went for a brief swim.  The pool was heated, but it still felt chilly at first.  We alternated between the pool and (not-so-hot) hot tub and then the kids decided it was time to get out to get ready for more snacks from the downstairs light dinner.

When we got back to the room, the three of us attempted to use the timer on my camera to get some photos of us together.  Ready for a good laugh?

First, we were too far away and not centered.

Then, still not centered and my head is cut off.

And again, my head is cut off.

Oh ... and Riley had no clothes on!  So we got her a shirt.  And now we are getting something a bit better with the photos.

But it's time for funny faces for Leighton.  He held off a long time, shockingly!  And poor Riley didn't get the memo and was still sitting nicely saying, "cheeeeeeese!"

Mommy is a dinosaur and is going to eat you!

And, just for Leighton, one more round of funny faces.

I mistakenly got us downstairs a half-hour early, so we killed some time by wandering around the neighborhood (and saw some very colorful hydrant fydrants!) past Cochon, the restaurant Roy and I went to in '06 and absolutely LOVED.  They have also opened a casual sandwich shop and wine bar next door called Butcher that looks yummy, too.  Back at the hotel, we met up with Daddy, dropped and broke my phone (grrrrrrrrrrrr ... so, if any of you have tried to call me, you now know why I am not answering or replying to your messages!), had some dinner in the room, and got the kids bathed (in the giant bath tub!) and into bed before watching the Presidential debate (exciting night life in New Orleans for us!).

Wednesday we decided to tire the kids out a bit before hitting the road, so after breakfast we walked along the Riverwalk back to Cafe du Monde for another round of beignets and to the French Market for some alligator-oni for Roy and some beads for the kids.  (Wait a minute, I'm the only one that didn't get anything!  I knew I should have just bought that bracelet I tried on even though I thought it was overpriced.  It really was pretty!)

On the walk back to the hotel, Leighton saw the art installation outside the aquarium and insisted I take photos for Grandma and send them to her.  We were rushing so I was barely stopping while taking the pictures, but here they are, Mom, just for you!  Leighton has decided what each of the 'animals' were, so he can tell you tomorrow!

We were ready to check out when Roy was loading the car and realized we had left Leighton's door ajar (and thus the interior light on) and the battery died.  The hotel maintenance staff happily came to jump start the car with some portable battery pack charger that Roy has now decided we need to get for our cars so we can remedy this situation should it ever arise again.  And then we were on our way.  Both kids fell asleep pretty quickly.  Perfect!  Both kids woke up after a not-so-long nap.  Not so perfect.  Again, Leighton handled the long drive well, but Riley would oscillate between annoyed with being in the car and playing and giggling with Leighton.

It was a really fun trip.  We love NOLA.  And beignets.  And hopefully we will head back again soon!  Until then, I just found Crescent City Beignets here in Houston that apparently is a pretty good replacement for Cafe du Monde!