America Part 5--New Orleans!

I have to admit that I really wasn't a very good sport about driving before our ride from Birmingham to New Orleans. I did a lot of whining and crying and kicking my legs and throwing my toys around and, generally, being in my car seat put me in a bad mood.

BUT that all changed when my Dad rode in the back seat with me! Sticker Party!!!!

Another great thing about taking a road trip with my Dad is that even though my mom tries to make sure I'm eating things that are good for me (like orange pieces and raisins), my Dad always lets me have some of the bad stuff (like french fries..YUM!). And then my mom has to get all stern with him. Lucky for me, she was totally out numbered because my grandparents also let me eat whatever I want.
We stayed in a hotel in the French Quarter in New Orleans and had a great view of the city and the Mississippi River from our room:
Our room also had an antique baby walker in it, which I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have been playing in (it was actually a table, but my Dad took the glass top off of it because, for some reason, everyone thinks I'm kind of accident prone).

When everyone else arrived, our room became party central. Cheers!

I had my first taste of gumbo while we were in New Orleans and I liked it a lot. I also liked red beans and rice.

I also tried my first beignet and wasn't a fan. That just meant there was more deep fried deliciousness for everyone else to eat.

It was so hot in New Orleans that we couldn't really stay outside for very long, so we decided to go to the wonderful New Orleans aquarium, which was definitely a highlight of my young life.

Hello, fish!

I was a little wary of stepping on this glass floor over the shark tank...especially since my pregnant mom was also on it. It pays to be careful when you are sharing such a tenuous space with someone who is a little on the heavy side. We survived, fortunately.
Jellyfish:

And taking a closer look at the shark tank with my Dad:

I also got to pet a sting ray, much to my surprise. I sure didn't want to do THAT again.

After all that fish action, it was time to eat again. And we ate a lot of...well, fish, in the form of shrimp and catfish po'boys and seafood gumbo. My enthusiasm for New Orleans food was waning at that point, so I just had a PB&J. Peace!
On the way back to the hotel, I danced a little to a brass band in Jackson Square...

and was unable to deny the advances of the balloon man. He saw me coming a mile away.


What a fun time we had in New Orleans, but it was time to head back to Houston and be reunited with Nana and Papa, Jenna, Olivia, Aunt Mendy and my future Uncle Rick! But not before I finished relaxing by the pool.

America Part 4--BIrmingham!

From Atlanta, we headed on to Birmingham, where we visited with my Dad's Aunt Pat and Uncle Tom. They live in a really tall building with lots of space to run, really nice, big curtains, and a tall, tall balcony. Most excitingly, they gave me a beautiful tea set, which I play with on a daily basis. I have become quite the hostess at our house and everyone around gets a cup of my tea.

Here I am with my beautiful Aunt Pat and my handsome Daddy and Uncle Tom.
I really liked going out on the balcony and looking down at all the people below. At the end of the day, the sun sets and you can see it looking like a big, red ball from Pat and Tom's balcony. But my favorite thing was to look down at some kids playing below. They had an actual ball (not the sun) and I'm a huge fan of balls.
I was also a little bit obsessed with Pat and Tom's shower and tubs. Normally, I'm really scared of the shower, but I'm pretty sure that if I could have taken a shower in this one, I would have had fun.

As for the tub....well, it was awesome and much bigger and more exciting than the tub in my house. Tom let me play around in it for a while, but I didn't get to take a bath in it. Next time!
No family get together is complete unless you get some stickers stuck on your head.

We took a walk around Pat and Tom's neighborhood, too! Here, Pat and I sport our sun hats in one of the parks near their house. It was hot!

When we were in Birmingham, we stayed in an awesome hotel with a glass elevator and a pool. We went up and down the elevator as many times as we possibly could and every time we got off I ran to the door of the pool. FINALLY my parents took me swimming. It was ice cold on the outside of the pool, but really warm when we were in there. My favorite game was to splash my Dad while my mom was holding me. He couldn't splash back because my mom was using me as a human shield. Crafty, Mama is teaching me lots of good tricks.

It was great to see Pat and Tom and I can't wait to visit them again. But the next time we take a road trip, we have to get our luggage situation under control.