Nola

We just got back from an exciting trip to New Orleans. Jarrod had a conference there so Z and I tagged along. We had so much fun but also realized the older Z gets the harder it is to travel. Now that she's 10 months she's more aware of her surroundings and that she's not getting her nap. My girl likes her sleeps but now she wont just sleep anywhere. Like the stroller for example. She used to always fall asleep in her stroller and now she won't. Sad. However, Zeda has to get used to traveling with Jarrod and I so we scooped her up and took her along. She did amazing even though she was completely wore out. Her and I walked the riverwalk and the shops during the day and when Jarrod was done we hit the town...ha well a little of the town. The negative thing about Nola is everything...I mean EVERYTHING closes by 7pm except for bars. I'm not going to be that girl who takes their baby to a bar so we were in our hotel room by 8 or 8:30 every night. We even tried to get Starbucks after dinner one night and it closed at 6! What!?!?!?! However, that didn't stop us from having fun! We ate. a lot! We had Oysters: raw, fried and charbroiled. We ate crawfish, shrimp and alligator. We had beignets at cafe du monde and 'real' frozen yogurt at Blue Penguin. We went to the french market, Bourbon street and to the aquarium. Ok so we only stayed on Bourbon street for a block...I felt like I was getting judged for having a baby on Bourbon street. Thursday was our last day there. We were heading out around 8pm (Z's bed time) so Zeda would sleep the 11 hours home(and she did). We had dinner reservations @ 6:30 in the garden district so we headed that way and went to the park by the zoo where the tree of life was. This tree was amazing. We hung out under the tree for awhile so Z could get some play time in and then went to Pascal's Manale (my mom's favorite restaurant) It's a nice one and I was so afraid that Zeda's was going to be fussy. Side note: every time we go out to eat I always tell Jarrod that I'm afraid Zeda is going to be fussy because of some reason or another and every time she does great. She's never made a scene in a restaurant (yes, I know she will eventually) and she is ALWAYS happy. So why do I worry EVERY TIME? I have no idea. Anyways...yes Zeda did great. She talked to every waiter/waitress there and our waitress told us she's probably the best baby they've had. I'm crazy, I know. After that we headed home and made it back to Springfield around 7am! Zeda slept the whole way home but the way there was a different story. She never really cried but she was totally done with being in her carseat! We didn't drive through the night...we stopped in Mississippi to stay the night-Thanks to my mother's awesome hotel points. So we could be well rested to see Megan and Nik on Sunday in Biloxi. It was such a nice and relaxing visit. We ate lunch and then hung out on the beach. Here are some pictures from our day with Megan. What a great start to our trip!