New Orleans, LA

I was soooo excited to get to New Orleans! I had only been there once before, as a 19 year old at Mardi Gras, but I knew I was totally in love with it. And I was. The first night we just drove around the city. All I kept saying was "Mark, I want to live here." Judah even started saying it.

The next day we went on foot to explore the French Quarter. I had a lot of eating destinations for us. The first was a vegetarian muffaletta from Central Grocery, which claims to be the originator of the sandwich. 

It was olive-y and delicious!

Judah and Mark hated the olive salad, which was awesome, because then I got extra on mine.

I love magnolia trees. I hold my breath in anticipation of their sweet blooms in early spring in Wisconsin. I was beyond thrilled to be able to see and smell their pink deliciousness in New Orleans in February.

And speaking of deliciousness, my amazing midwife, Jan Wolfenberg, had suggested beignets from Cafe Du Monde. Fried sweet dough? I was there.

Of course, everyone loved them.

Even the birds, which Sawyer was thrilled about. He just squatted there saying "bee, bee" (Sawyer speak for birdie).

Our snacking spot was beautiful. There was the river on one side.

And an this on the other.

After our snack, Mark and the boys played at a fountain while I walked through the French Market. Aren't they adorable?

Then we headed to Bourbon Street. I had really wanted to bring the stroller to the French Quarter. I knew we would be walking a lot, and I thought it would make life easier. Mark vetoed my idea, and we left it at home. So I carried Sawyer in the carrier while Mark switched off convincing Judah to walk, carrying him, and giving him piggy back rides. I missed the stroller, But Beans loved it. He spent most of the time on the verge of falling asleep.

When I went to Mardi Gras with Jen and Kathleen, we took several pictures of ourselves under this "huge Ass Beers" sign with various characters. It was pretty fun to see Mark and Judah underneath it, even if they refused to turn around and look at the camera.

Beans and I in front of a strip club. He would have been in heaven.

After awhile, after hours of carrying 30 pounds of baby on my front, my back felt like it was about to give out. And poor Judah had a blister between his toes from walking in flip flops all day. If only we had had some sort of carrying implement on wheels that we could transport the kids in...  I gave up, and Mark carried both babies the last few blocks to the car.

But despite our discomfort, we were all super excited for the french fry po boys we had gotten to eat at home. Amazing, right?

I am in love with the French Quarter. There are some places I have really enjoyed, and a handful of places I would buy a house if we had unlimited funds (a modern beach house on the Northern California ocean cliffs, a  ranch in south central Texas, a cottage in the Louisiana bayou, and a balcony flat in the French Quarter), but the French Quarter is the first place I actually looked up rentals and seriously considered settling. It turns out we couldn't afford the type of place I would want, but if we could, I would totally spend some time there.

I was kind of annoyed with our RV park. The internet was crap, we were parked right next to the bathroom/laundry room, it was crazy dusty, and a lot of stuff was broken. But the kids had fun. I guess they always do. They spent some time putting gravel down their shirts.  

And played with their stuff.

On Thursday, we went to a market. It was really small, but we got milk, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and...

strawberries!!!

When we got home, I used some of those ingredients to make a delicious dinner. I was making mac and cheese with veggies, and as I was making the roux I said, "look mark, how fitting, I'm making a roux in New Orleans, take a picture!' He took several. This is the one in which my boobs are the least prominent. Boys...

After the dinner, the boys got crazy, as usual.

On our final day, I worked, we are breakfast, Holden lounged in the sun on the kitchen table...

and the kids and I went for a walk to say goodbye to the bay and the pool.

It broke my heart a little bit to leave New Orleans, but the beautiful drive to Mississippi helped to ease the pain. So did the prospect of staying at a park with a lake, playground, paddle boats, and cable. Luxury, here we come...

Baton Rouge, LA

The weather was beautiful in Baton Rouge. Close to 80 during the day and 60s overnight. We celebrated by eating lunch outside. There was a lot of room for the kids to play, and an on site playground, so we spent the first day just enjoying the weather and the park.

The next evening, we went to explore the town. Baton Rouge was a tough one, because everything cost money. We don't have money to spend. It is expensive living on the road. It's not bad if you find a cheap park and stay there for a few months at a time. Our month at Hill Shade was only $300! But when we are traveling, the daily rates are a lot more expensive--we try to average about $20 a night--and you have to add the cost of gas to the equation. At 7 mpg, that adds up quickly. So we eat in most of the time. I like to go to markets to get fresh local food, and then cook at home. I try to save up our eating out fund for those times we are in a place where I really want to gorge. New Orleans is going to be one of those places. We also have to find things to do that don't cost money. Since we are tourists in a new place every couple of days, we want to find ways to explore. But we can't do museums, official tours, zoos, aquariums, etc. But we have had a lot of luck with parks, beaches, nature preserves, and just walking around the city. Baton Rouge didn't have a lot of that stuff. And even the historical landmarks charged admission. So we spent a lot of time playing at the RV park, and just went to explore the downtown one evening.

The downtown is right on the Mississippi River. That was cool. And they had a nice area where you could just sit and enjoy the river, which was also cool.    

As we walked back to the car, we come across a really big fountain that the kids had a great time with.

And an old train that I took a lot of pictures of everyone next to.

The next day, I woke up and left early to go into town. The internet at the park wasn't working, and I needed to get some work done. Plus, I had a haircut appointment! Alicia had suggested Aveda Institutes for an on the road haircut, and Baton Rouge just happened to have one. It ended up taking two hours, and I walked out of there with a blow out, curled under bangs, and a numb skull, but, all in all, it turned out fine. I didn't get done until 12:15, and Mark had to be out of the park by 12, so I just met him at a Dollar Store parking lot where we hooked up the car and headed to New Orleans! 

Lafayette, LA

We had about a four hour drive from the peninsula to our next stop in Lafayette, LA. I was determined to get Judah to sleep this time. We tried laying down in bed, but that didn't work, so I made him a cozy spot in his car seat. It took a couple of hours, but he eventually slept. He woke up just as we reached out new home.

We stayed at the RV park connected to the  Acadian Village. It is a recreation of a 19th century village. It was something we were interested in checking out, and if you stay at their RV park, you get into the village for free. It was pretty cheap to stay there, so we decided to give it a shot. We were the only ones. Literally. We were the only people in the park. It freaked me out for a second, then I realized it would be awesome. We could be loud, the kids could play wherever they wanted, we could leave all the shades open all the time, and I could let Sawyer whine and night if I wanted to. We hooked up and the kids got right to playing.

Judah picked me a flower for my Birthday. My sister, Loops, was turning 30 the next day, so Judah was in full Birthday mode. 

And we got to add a new state sticker to our map! 

Judah asked for some water to wash his toys, and that kept him and Bean busy for a loooong time. 

Mark got in on the action, got his own bucket of water, and washed the wheels. 

That night we did some grocery shopping, found some scores at Ross, and ate leftover lasagna for dinner.

The next morning, the kids woke up early, and thus, so did I. It was good, though, because I go A LOT done. I finally cut the dogs' nails. It hadn't been done since the first time we were in Austin (in October) and I think we were bordering on dog abuse.

After the dogs were taken care of, I moved on to the kids. Their hair was getting pretty long, and I decided they needed it cut. When we were at Hill Shade, Alicia had cut her oldest's hair with a shaver and it turned out really cute. I had intended to get a lesson from her, but we never got around to it. So I took a shot and tried it on my own. The kids were great about it. They sat still for a long time while I experimented.

Then they took baths to get all of the itchy hair off of their bodies. 

Then they wrestled.

 

And held hands. The haircuts turned out fine. They look a little dorky, but whateves, everyone'll live. 

After all of that, we waled over to the Acadian Village to check it out. It was really beautiful. I wanted to move into the houses. My new dream house is made out of driftwood boards and a rusted tin roof. I don't know how practical that will be in Wisconsin winters, but I can just add some insulation, right?

We saw an old doctor's office. 

And my future kitchen table.

The kids did some weaving. 

And contemplated the complexities of canoe construction. 

Then we walked home for lunch before we headed out on our next adventure. Doesn't the Bounder look sad out there all alone. Where is the Phaeton to keep her company?

After lunch we headed about 30 miles away to Avery Island to the Tabasco Sauce factory. We took a tour and learned all about the history of the island, the chilies, the sauce, etc. Any questions, feel free to ask. It was Saturday, though, so the factory wasn't actually making any sauce, which was a bummer. Judah had been really excited to see the workers and thee machines in action.

But we played some games in the lobby, and he felt a little better about things.

We have been going through a rough patch with Judah lately. It is hard. Sometimes he is the sweetest, kindest little boy ever and you just want to squeeze him. Other times he is throwing hard objects at me what screaming " You're not my mom, stupid," "You idiot," or "I hate you," which also makes me want to squeeze him, just in a different way. More often than not, I have that burning in the back of my throat that comes from trying not to cry. I am not sad that he is saying the words to me. I know he doesn't mean them. I am frustrated because I don't know why he has so much anger in him and I don't know how to handle the situation. I know it will pass, but it sucks being in it right now.

So, anyways, I am a stress eater. And being stressed, I wanted to eat. I called Cory for her brownie recipe and she emailed it to me stat. We picked up some chocolate and I went to work recreating the best brownies on the planet. Just having some time alone to bake helped me feel better, and tasting them helped even more. It made the kids feel good, too. You can always count on brownie batter to diffuse a stressful situation.   

So we ate (just for the record, we had baked potatoes with black beans and lots of sauteed veggies and steamed asparagus in addition to the brownies. I don't want anyone to worry about our health.) Then I gave the kids some melatonin (which has been saving my life lately) and they both crashed out on the couch by 7:30. I t was amazing. I read my book.

Now, today, I am at starbucks using their internet to work and keep you all updated, since there is no wifi at the park. When I leave here we will get locked and loaded and make our way to Baton Rouge for a couple of days. If I ever leave here...