Misc. February Pics

 

New Orleans and Mardi Gras!

 In preparation for our upcoming trip to New Orleans, Brad purchased a few books that we have been reading to get us in the spirit of Louisiana and Mardi Gras.  This one in particular about a crawfish who escapes a crawfish boil has been our favorite!  Bentley reads it in a southern accent and it has us all laughing so hard.  We have really been looking forward to this trip for months, and the time finally came for a whole new kind of experience!

Kristin and Bo Bogopane lived in New Orleans for 4 years while he was doing dental school.  They moved to NM about 5 years ago and as long as we have been friends, they have been telling us how much they love it there, and how much they look forward to going back to Mardi Gras each year.  They invited us along and so we took them up on the offer to go and experience this city and event with people who love it so much, and know how to do it with a family.

Bright and early, we were off to the airport for our 6am flight.  The kids loved having a fun playground while we waited out the layover in TX.  None of them slept on the plane, and they had plenty of energy to go around!

Upon arrival in New Orleans, we headed to a Walmart to get some snacks and chairs for the parade we would be attending that night.  We couldn't believe the stacks and stacks of King Cakes.  That was one thing we were excited to try.

After shopping, we went to our first traditional southern restaurant where we all tried fried alligator.  Karly was very hesitant, but she did it - everyone can now say they have eaten alligator!  I also had some gumbo and Brad ate a Lousiana Po'boy sandwhich. Yum!

Then we went to check into our hotel and drop off all our stuff before heading out to the parade route for our first Mardi Gras parade!  Eden and Bentley passed the time with a funny photo shoot in the hotel window corner.

On our way to the parade, Kristin and Bo drove us through their old neighborhood and we saw where they used to live.  Their neighbor from years ago was out front so they pulled off to visit.  I loved that after all these years, they still have a connection with so many people there.

We also stopped for some snow cones at one of their favorite places. Kristin had to eat hers in the car because her two youngest fell asleep during the neighborhood tour.

Then we went and settled in for the parade at the street near the church building.  It was so nice going with people who knew exactly where we should park, where to sit along the parade route, and where we could find a restroom.  All very important things when dealing with an event of huge crowds!

We had some time before the parade started so we walked up and down a bit, taking in all the sights.

Then we got to meet some other friends of the Bogopanes that we would spend more time with over the weekend.  These families are all ones who met while living there temporarily for school, but continue to meet back up for Mardi Gras each year.  It was fun getting to know new people, and Olive and Bentley in particular really loved it because the other families had kids that ended up being great buddies over the course of the trip.

Then the first parade began and we were so blown away by the costumes, dancers, bands, and floats.  The biggest surprise for us all though was the "throws".  Each float has several people on board that continuously throw goodies off to the crowds.  We all had a blast, and ended up with lots of toys back at the hotel that night.

It was a long day, but a great start to getting the feel of Mardi Gras and New Orleans!  We were ready to hit the beds that night for sure.

The next morning we slept in, had breakfast in the hotel, and then drove about an hour outside of town to tour Oak Alley Plantation.

But before getting to the house, we all had to play a bit with the "mouths" of the snap dragons.

We got to take a tour of the inside of the main plantation house.  They wouldn't allow any pictures or videos of the inside though.  It was gorgeous, and we learned all about the people who originally built the house, and about some of the specific slaves who worked there, and helped build the house itself.  It was all very impactful.  From the balcony upstairs, there was a beautiful view off the front of the house, and the reason why it had the name it did.  This was the beautiful long walkway, lined with 200 year old oat trees.

This picture of Kristin and I is the view off the back deck of the house, which is equally as beautiful.

We learned about the sugar cane harvesting process and why it was so profitable for this plantation.

Then we stopped for some refreshing and delicious mint julep as we continued our tour.

It was all just so beautiful we couldn't stop taking pictures!  I can't imagine how much more gorgeous it all must be in the summer when everything is really green, and all the flowers are blooming. The trees were so cool. We all wanted to go climb them really bad.

After thoroughly enjoying the beauty around the main house, we walked down the back path towards the slave homes.  Each house had different information set up inside about what life was like for slaves on this plantation.  It was all very humbling.

Then in the giftshop, before heading out, the kids got their smashed pennies!

On our drive back to town, we got some much needed rest.

Then Bo and Kristin took us to their favorite southern fried chicken place, Willie Mae's.  This was a very small, hole in the wall place we would have never known about if not for our local tour guides!  Our order got a little confused, and we ended up with some things we didn't order, and plenty of things we did, so it was quite a feast.  It really was delicious fried chicken!

After our meal we went over to City Park, which had the most amazing, mossy trees.  This time the kids could climb them and they loved it!

There was also tons of turtles out in the pond, which the kids got really excited about.  They were all stacked on top of each other, trying to balance on whatever logs were out of the water.

There was a live band playing jazz music and Karly and Brielle were really entertained by it.  They sat and listened for a bit, and then got up and danced through several songs inside this beautiful gazebo.  It was fun for me to watch them truly enjoy this magical experience together.

After enjoying the park, we headed back to our same parade spot by the church for a new parade.  This time we enjoyed a huge bag of crawfish while we waited for the parade to start.  The kids also loved being able to play catch, and keep-away out in the street.

This parade was different than the night before, with different throws, and we had so much fun!  The drums of the marching bands were my favorite.  That loud, live music was incredible.  Karly and Olive really love all the dancers and fancy costumes.  For Bentley, it was a successful night of catching hats from the floats.

The girls all got a shoe, which was the more rare and coveted "throw".

The next morning we drove along the levees of Bucktown to a yummy breakfast place.

Then we were off to the French Quarter to meet up with the remainder of the group, and see what there was to see in this historic area of New Orleans.

Then Jeremy was on a mission for the supposed best Praline treats around so we walked through the French Quarter and into a mall to find the specific shop with his favorite treat. They were pretty yummy, but the long walk turned out to be unnecessary when we came upon a shop full of them right in the French Quarter where we started.

After the mall we took the street car back to the main area of the French Quarter.  Despite Karly's face, the street car was very fun and felt very authentic.

As we were walking through there were some street performers getting ready for a breakdancing show.  We thought it would be so fun for the kids to see some awesome dancing, but instead it turned into an interesting experience for Brad in which he was being coerced to give them a lot of money - not his favorite!   But we did get to see a little bit of cool dancing.  ha ha

Then we made it to Bourbon street which is a place we've heard about, and had to experience, but also somewhere we never need to go again!  It was early afternoon, but there was already a very large party going on. 

The kids got to hold a huge snake, and collected a lot more beads and random things that were being thrown from the balconies on each block.  The music was fun, the people were all very happy, but it was very over stimulating, so just about two blocks was enough for our tour.

Then we finished at the French Quarter with the famous beignets at Cafe Du Monde.  Yummy!!

After the French Quarter, we went and toured an old cemetery with the most beautiful and intricate monuments and headstones.  It was also much more quiet and peaceful, which was nice after our visit to Bourbon Street.

By the time we got to our dinner spot, the kids were low energy and in need of some food!   We were really wearing them out, so it was a good thing that this was our night off from parades.   We ate a yummy dinner, had some ice cream, and then went to bed early that night.

Saturday was our final day in New Orleans, and it was the big parade Endymion.   This one was on a different street, with bigger crowds so we needed to get our spot early in the day.   We slept in a bit, and went to the park again for a couple hours, and then we went and hung out on the parade route for the afternoon.  The spot we ended up in was absolutely perfect because we were right in front of a church that had all kinds of free things for the kids - food, cotton candy, and bathrooms!   It made for such a fun afternoon.

Kristin had mardi gras colored face glitter.  That was fun!

Eden enjoyed some baby snuggle time, and was glad she brought her book to read while we hung out.

We finally had some King Cake!  It was delicious, and so fun to experience all the traditions.  Quinton found the baby in his piece.  

The church also had some face painters which the girls all loved!

And who could say no to free cotton candy?!

So we spent several hours just eating, chatting, and hanging out which was so much fun. There was a ton of music, and just overall very happy energy. The kids loved playing in the street, and all the free goodies from the church. 

Bentley was in heaven with all the boys around to play ball games with.  He was happy for hours.

Now it was Olive's turn for a dance party with Brielle.

Karly got to learn some sweet cheerleading moves.

Then it was time for the parade to begin!  These horses and the live bands were my favorite parts.

We could not believe the amount of stuff being thrown from these floats.  This parade made the other two combined seem small.  It was so crazy, and so fun to sit back and watch how much fun Brad and the kids were having collecting all kinds of stuff.  The music was awesome, the energy was high, and the people everywhere were happy and having a great time.

Olive and Brielle started collecting cups about halfway through the parade.  Their stack got bigger than we could manage.

The aftermath of the parade was a disaster, and the kids had collected so much stuff I wasn't sure how to carry it all back to the car.  It was insane.

That night they were sorting through trying to decide what we could fit to take home, and what would need to stay behind.

Sunday morning we were able to sleep in a bit, recoup from the crazy parade, and then headed out to a gator tour for our final adventure in New Orleans.

Along the way we ate these delicious buttermilk donuts.

On our tour, the kids held more snakes and lizard creatures, we fed some animals, and saw lots of gators (and even held one!).

Mini the alligator was very content to be passed around through the crowd.

We also got a good look at this snapping turtle that weighed around 120 lbs.  Strange looking creature for sure.

The kids loved this parrot that was full of personality.  It would sing and dance along with whatever movements they made.

And we finished off with the huge tub full of adorable baby turtles.  The kids all wanted to take one home.

Then from the gator tour we said goodbye to all our friends.  It was fun meeting new people, and enjoying this crazy experience together!

On our way to the airport we made one last stop to see the levees.

The kids loved the social distancing signs in the airport - jazz band players, keeping their distance! 

We were grateful for the play ground at our layover.  This is our first travel where these types of things have been reopened since COVID.

The next morning, Kristin send us a picture of her kids with all the treasures they brought home.  For some reason, we didn't think to do that with our stuff, but we also had a pretty huge pile too.  The kids were excited to take beads to everyone in their classes at school.  And Bentley is very happy with his new large supply of soft dodge balls, perfect for the trampolines.

Justice family at Mardi Gras?!  Check!!  What a crazy experience.  Parades will never be the same. :)   We are grateful for our good friends the Bogopanes for helping us have a great experience doing something they absolutely love!