New Orleans - 11.11.12 to 11.15.12

This was our second big trip of the year and one that I was looking forward to since I was anxious to travel now that I wasn't pregnant. Though I was a bit nervous about traveling with three kids, the trip was pretty flawless. The girls were great on the plane rides, either watching movies or coloring and Teefy literally slept like 90% of the time and never cried. The best part was being able to bring his car seat onto the plane because the flights weren't full! WhooHoo!

 The girls at the Reno airport.

 Teefy on the plane.

Look at those CHEEKS!

I love my girls.

Daddy does too.
Oh and an annoying sidenote. When you click on "older posts" on the main page, the blog seems to be skipping two posts about Beignets and our downtime in NOLA. To remedy this, just look on the right side and manually click on those links for those posts. This is a message for you Sof, so that you don't miss out on anything. That would be shameful!

Dr. Fos' Investiture - 11.12.11

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The whole reason for this trip to NOLA was for this man above. Dr. Fos has been one of Lateef's mentors since Lateef was a wee lad working as a student worker at the Dental School in Vegas (or almost 10 years now). And in that time, Dr. Fos has steadily moved up in his career and is now the President at the University of New Orleans. He's had the job for about a year and we came to celebrate his Investiture (The term is used to describe the installation of individuals in institutions that usually involves ceremonial transfer of the symbols of the particular office). 

The day was pretty hectic and we spent most of it at the University going to a picture unveiling, eating lunch at the cafeteria (which had a buffet that could hang with Vegas-style buffets), and then finally the actual ceremony. The girls and Teefy were champs through it all but I'm definitely glad we had Lateef's parents there to help us along the way.

 Teefy doing what he does best.

 So I should have planned my outfit better. Though I loved the dress, it had a zipper in the back making breast feeding interesting. Lateef had to stand outside the women's bathroom a few times to unzip and rezip me. Thankfully, Amyra eventually became my helper in the ladies room and even shielded me from other women walking by. She was so cute.

 The girl on the left is Dr. Fos' grand-daughter who was about 9 months younger than Amyra. They had a lot of fun playing with each other. 

 The big reveal of Dr. Fos' painted portrait.

 Lateef and Lori Fos at the wedding. I'm telling you this woman does not age! It's crazy. 

That night, Lateef and his folks went to the gala at some fancy hotel while I stayed home with the kids and watched Brave. A great end to a busy day.

Audubon Zoo - 11.13.12

So I know I've said I don't really like zoos and what they stand for but I still can't resist a zoo trip with the family. That was our first outing as a family in NOLA. The girls had a blast at the expense of animals being ripped from their true homes. Sounds about right. 

 I can't resist taking a picture with a goat.

 The girls climbing on the goat playground.

 It's funny actually how NOT into the goats they were. I was surprised considering they loved the goats last summer when we boarded the horses at that farm. I guess growing older makes us wiser?

 Teefy was awake for some of the outing.

 I can't resist a "jump" shot.

 This was a picture Amyra took of me. I think she captured my "essence" perfectly.

 So peaceful.

 That was a jaguar. Later, Amyra asked "mommy, why is that Daddy Jaguar bothering that Mommy Jaguar?" as they were humping. Amyra, that's a four-letter word that starts with an R and ends with an E. 

 This was the first time I had ever seen two giraffes fight. They kept butting each other in the neck. It was kind of weird and sad and amazing all at the same time.

Climbing trees. My favorite is that it was completely okay for them to be doing this. It kind of makes me wish we had better climbing trees near our house.

The Louisiana Children's Museum - 11.14.12

Lateef had to travel to New York for a day during the middle of our trip. So he left Tuesday night after our outing to the Zoo and dinner and came back late on Wednesday night. Therefore, it was just me, the kids, and Grandma and Grandpa. 

I decided the Children's Museum would be the most manageable and it definitely did not disappoint. I was actually able to spend a good three hours there with the kids with no issues. I sometimes don't understand how Lateef can stay with the girls so long at the Discovery Museum in Reno but I guess when it's new, time flies. 

Anyway, the museum had one of my favorites, a grocery store, so the girls easily spent just an hour in that room alone. Teefy again, just slept the whole time and woke up just as we were about to leave. After Grandma and Grandpa picked us up, we were headed to Denny's for dinner and unfortunately the poor boy ended up crying himself back to sleep on the car ride there. Teefy does NOT like to be in his car seat at times when he was awake and I felt so bad for him. It was really hard for Grandpa too. He wanted me to just hold him but I just can't take the risk no matter how hard it is. Anyway, it was a really fun day and we actually bought the Fos family a one-year membership there to thank them for their hospitality. I hope they enjoy it as much as we did!

 Group Shot!

There was also a bubble room. Like seriously, if the Discovery Museum added a grocery store and bubble room, it would be PERFECT!

Being Tourists in New Orleans - 11.15.12

While we were site seeing on our last day in New Orleans, Mya ended up hurting her forearm really badly while hanging off Lateef somehow. Poor girl couldn't get her arm through her shirt and would cry hysterically whenever we tried to touch it. I was worried that she had sprained a muscle or had nursemaids elbow or something.  It was never swollen though so we decided to ride it out and take her to the doctor when we got to Reno the next morning. The funny thing is that after we arrived in Reno, and had called the doctor (they told us to take her to urgent care), she took a nap and then was completely fine and playing like nothing had ever happened. I'm glad we never went to urgent care or else I would have charged the copay to her savings! Just kidding. 

 Is it really any surprise that Mya was hurt? Like really?

This was right outside the Aquarium.

Some statue on our walk towards the French Market

Some church on the way back to the car. Can you tell we are awesome informed tourists?

 These pictures are of Mya at the NOLA airport on the way home. Notice her arm is in a bandage under her sleeve. My poor boo was so miserable. 

Audubon Aquarium - 11.15.12

I was really excited about this aquarium because: A. It was free (thanks for the hook up Dr. Fos and Lori) and B. They had Stingray feeding and a Parakeet room where you could interact with the birds. How freaking awesome!

The fish above was one of Amyra's favorites because of his "nose". I always enjoy the creepy eels and so this picture was me trying to capture both in the frame. 

Amyra enjoyed tying her hair under chin to look like a beard. Mya enjoyed pulling her sisters hair from behind. Such a little sister.

Here is the guy telling the girls how to feed the stingrays. They ended up being too afraid to actually feed them. I was no help as I was creeped out by it too. So what do we do? Make daddy feed them so we don't lose our money. Yeay for Daddy!

Daddy hesitantly feeding the stingray. You really can't help but think about the Crocodile Hunter.

They are so cute sometimes. Who am I kidding? All the time!

Teefy was there! He slept the whole time. He's such a great sleeper by the way. He sleeps basically the whole night and just stirs maybe twice a night to be fed but never fully wakes up. The longest stretch is usually 5 to 6 hours between feedings. Not bad right? Therefore, right now I usually feel well rested. 

It wouldn't be my girls if they weren't climbing on things and freaking me out. 

I love me some Lion fishes.

So Amyra, Teefy and I were the only ones who would brave the Parakeet Sanctuary. Mya and Lateef were NOT having it. It was pretty creepy though. The birds just land on you (nothing is off limits) and it's kind of overwhelming. Needless to say we only stayed in there for like 3 minutes.

What would an aquarium be without a shark? Amyra recently said however that she doesn't want to swim in the Oceans because of sharks. I don't blame you Amyra. I don't blame you one bit.