Last week with family from Down Under

After 3 all-over-the-place weeks, Susan & Gerry - as well as Dylan & I! - hoped for a more chilled last week for their visit. We stayed around here, mostly, and sightsaw. Sight-saw? Is is sight-see-ed? Did some sightseeing. There.

They got to see the Causeway, the longest bridge in the world at 24miles.

 They got to take Paul on the train in City Park.

They got to visit the sculpture garden & museum in City Park.

The trip to City Park included, of course, some play on the playground and beignets at Morning Call.

They treated us to a swamp boat tour, and Paul (and everyone...) got to hold a baby alligator.

And, finally, they got to celebrate the 4th of July in the USA, complete with hot dogs, mac-n-cheese, fried chicken & watermelon ... and a fireworks display with the best view!

Our last half-day together was spent having breakfast at the corner café, Tout de Suite, before heading out to the airport ... & more beignets. (Which were surprisingly delicious! West Café near the Delta check-in counter. Seriously.) And so ends another wonderful few weeks spent together, each visit more special than the last now that Paul is so aware of people, his people, and things happening around him.

Since good-bye-ing at the airport, we've kind of stared vacantly around, wondering where to begin / what to do now? And I've, wait, what was it? - COOKED! I've got to get into cooking 7+ square meals a week again. It feels like it's been since before Adeline was born since I've done so, really, what with 10 weeks of meal help after her birth, freezer meals previously cooked, then the move, and now 4 weeks of vacationing. I took a cue from Carrots for Michaelmas and celebrated the feast day of St. Maria Goretti, and I plan to catch up on all of the saints' feast days we missed during our whirlwind. I knew there was a reason I bought the book.

Tourists in NOLA

Susan & Gerry's being here gives us a great opportunity to play tourist, too! 

After the day of travel back down South and a day of taking it easy, Wednesday brought us a ferry ride into the French Quarter. We had beignets, naturally, a little walking tour of the Quarter as set out by Lonely Planet, and a muffuletta lunch. 

Friday was a lovely day driving a little upstream to tour Oak Alley Plantation - and getting to see a few others from the road, too. The tour of the Big House was excellent, as was a self-guided tour through the slavery years on the plantation. Lunch was excellent, as well, at the restaurant on the grounds. It marked Susan & Gerry's first real cajun meal, and they didn't skimp: the "cajun medley" included seafood gumbo, red beans & rice, crawfish etouffée, and andouille. All around thumbs up.

Saturday was another full, fun day in town - we bussed, steetcarred, bussed again, and then ferried. Paul was in Heaven. There's a precious little snippet of video of his very first streetcar arriving at our stop; he sees, he points and grins, it screeches, he's a little hesitant, we get in. And he wanted "streetcar again" for the next 2 hrs. 

And now let's talk about Ada. Because she's been doing great! I think she reacts quite negatively to caffeine ... of which I had lots and lots while in Philly ... because I've been going easy (read: drinking little to none) except for a small-ish morning coffee, and she's been much easier to calm and put to sleep. She also hit her 5-month mark on the 25th, and she's (*finally* yay!) decided that nursing while sitting up isn't so bad! I may or may not have mentioned previously that I've had to side-lie, as they call it, to nurse her. Every time. At home? On the floor or bed. Out and about? On a blanket in the grass. About and around other people? Err. Massage tables of fancy hotels. A couple of days in a row now have seen the two of us doing just fine and looking normal on a bench! On a streetcar! In a bus! Way to go, girl! Oh yes - and we've teased her with food, too. She had a (teensy-weensy) bit of avocado, a (barely mentionable) bit of watermelon, and she's licked a cucumber. All of which have given us this face --->

And now it's Dylan's 31st birthday. It's Mass, coffee at the café down the street, and dinner on the Lakefront. Plus a birthday cake Susan got to make for her son. 

And on to Philly

I kind of want to skip writing about our 5 days in Philadelphia because my whole, nearly-finished draft with tons of detail vanished. Even though that's exactly what google-save is supposed to avoid. But I won't skip it entirely because that wouldn't be fair to everyone we shared time with ... and we had a great time. But still - lame blogspot. Lame. Suffice it to say that the original post was hilariously witty and edge-of-your-seat interesting. Promise. And included much more gracious thank-yous than just "Thank you!" Now here's the rundown:

1. We left Galveston on Wednesday the 18th at 3am to catch a flight from New Orleans -- Philadelphia and arrived at 7:30pm. Book grandparents whenever possible for travel with small children.
2. Three Fawn Farm, aka Resort Young; Barb & Terry's farm an hour outside of the city is comfortable, beautiful and has countless amenities for your enjoyment: animals, a pool, a bonfire, poison ivy, real.good.food, sidewalk chalk, a broom, animal leashes, and a mist attachment for the hose. The latter 4 may have been added by a certain toddler we all hold dear.
   
   
3. Seriously, the food. Mrs Barb in all her Italian-mama glory. Thank you, thank you! She went out of her way to get special things for Paul, saying, "I know he won't starve, but I want him to like it here." And, boy, did we all! Something fancy every morning for breakfast as well as delicious dinner when we weren't involved in wedding events. 
4. Little random outings:

   

   See-saw with Paul

   
   

   

   Pa Gerry & Gran Susan entertain Ada en route

5. Rehearsal dinner: Friday night saw Dylan and me train into town with Adeline, leaving Paul with his team of babysitters: Susan, Gerry, Barb, Terry, & Whitney. We arrived at the Four Seasons for drinks about 7, I enjoyed reconnecting with my high school buddies, and Dylan caught my attention at 9:30, asking if I knew what time it was. We only had 20 minutes before the last train, and the salads were just being served! I said g'byes, coveted their food, and we headed for the train ... and leftover Brats from the bonfire. We looked nice, though.
   5b. I got to nurse on a massage table of the Four Seasons. After asking where I could nurse that's not a bathroom, the concierge hemmed and hawed before his "aha" and sent me to the spa. Very nice. Adeline would book that table again. (Have I mentioned that she must lie down to eat? Weird, baby, weird.)
6. Wedding Day! I started the day thinking about how I started my own wedding day and what others must have done on my wedding day before the wedding. Because while Heather was all aflutter (I'm assuming...) and getting ready, I was playing with a pig. Aaanyway. The wedding was for 5:30 at the Tyler Arboretum, we found our seats in the little white folding chairs you see in movie weddings, everyone entered, Heather looked sensational, Amanda, Jennifer, and I did our readings (from Winnie the Pooh, the Velveteen Rabbit, and The Little Prince), Heather & Connell said their vows and walked away under bubbles as husband and wife. It was lovely.
   
7. Cocktail hour before dinner. Then Susan & Gerry intercepted Paul for us, so that he could have a normal-ish bedtime. We kept little Ada with us to party on. BUT! Before we ate and partied, and during said interception, an older man and I had the strangest conversation. Dylan was maybe 10 yards away changing Paul's diaper, I held Ada on the way to find a place to (lie down on the grass and) feed her, and he says, "Whadya havta do to make him change a diaper?" Without giving the script of the next 5 or 6 exchanges, he insulted my husband, criticized how I feed my children solid food, and judged me for taking my nursing infant around with me instead of leaving formula for a babysitter. Wait, what?? What just happened? It was so weird. The oddest is that I didn't expect it and wasn't rude or defensive in response, quite honestly. Ah well. We cleaned up nicely, so that was fun.
   
8. Late night. I KNOW! Let's wake up early and wake the children up to visit downtown Philly. I wasn't the happiest camper at 7am on Sunday, but once we got on the train and got to see Paul so excited, things became easier. Little coffee helped, too. It was really great to walk the city again and show Susan & Gerry the parts that we know & like. I love Philadelphia.
   

   

   In Elfrath's Alley

9. Sunday seemed to last a while because we fit so many different things in. After playing tourists, we napped, went to Mass, and then came back to ride Annie the horse! It was wonderful - for me, for Paul & Ada, and Dylan and Susan enjoyed it, too. Thank you so much, Barb & Whitney. Annie's so great, she wouldn't even trot with me at first because she knew I was all - wrong. Barb gave me a quick tip, and then we got going on a trot. I have a long way to go.

10. 

    Paul & I on Annie with Mrs. Barb

    
    
    
    
    

    

    Ada on Annie

    

    Ada on Pearl

    
    
    
    

    

    Susan on Annie

    

    Dylan on Annie

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    And Monday was travel day. Again. Kids did just fine, but seriously - book grandparents.

Braud Beach Vacation 2014!

We left our New Orleans address at 3am on the 13th because the kiddos travel long distances best while still in their night sleep cycle. Usually. They didn't fall back asleep until about 5am, however, and then we stopped for breakfast when they woke at 8. We travelled to Galveston via the Bolivar ferry and arrived around 10 or so ... but couldn't get into the beach house until 4pm. We took Susan & Gerry to the Strand, had lunch on the Seawall, and then the kids finally fell asleep, so we sat in the grocery store parking lot for a while. Once they woke, we spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for the Brauds to trickle in in all of the beautiful outdoor space the house had.

First off, I have to give Galveston tons of credit. My mom and I both were completely & pleasantly surprised! We'd expected to see Seawall-esque beaches, but everything about the west end felt exactly like the other places we've stayed further down - Matagorda & Corpus Christi - and the house was *so* nice.

Now, how do I sum up a week of beach lounging, big eating, and family time without giving hour-by-hour detail? Suffice it to say that we all really had a great time reconnecting with each other, eating together, reading together, and playing with the bébés. Paul was precious with his little beach toys - particularly the rake and dump truck. And he danced - boy did he dance! - with his Uncle Pete & Tante Ginny. He got to stay up way later than his normal bedtime but sacked out every night because he was so, so busy. If he weren't in the sand or in the waves with his Papa, he had someone's attention on the deck playing with bubbles. It was also Adeline's first beach trip! I dunked her teeny toes into the water twice, and she reacted to the cold. She had all of us making fools of ourselves to keep her laughing - such a sweetie! She is making it very clear that she loves people. She loves to be engaged and have someone right there with her. Since Paul and Ada have the same birthdays, it's also very easy for me to compare their growing, but we vacationed much earlier this year than usual. We're usually on the beach the last week of July, and this year was the 3rd week in June; that's an extra 7 weeks difference in baby-growing world! Consequently, Ada was very much in our arms - not sitting up or pulling herself up yet like baby Pauly was 2 years ago. Also - the tiniest little Crocs that exist that fit Paul great? Too big for our little peanut's feet. She's so cute (if I may say so...)

In and amongst all of those regular things that we love to do together, there was some World Cup watching, as well as celebrating Father's Day, Ryan's 35th birthday, and also his parents' 40th wedding anniversary! There were a ton of people around on the Sunday for those events, so there was definitely a more party-like feel to vacay than the usual chill-out of previous years with just the 5 Brauds. We're all getting older and bringing the people we call family other than just us, and that's special, too, albeit in a different way.

Dylan and I escaped once or twice for a surf stroll, and it was nice to reconnect, given the general tone of craziness we've had in our lives lately! Road trips are normally good for that, right? But we've been traveling distances either separately (like from MN-->LA) or very early with sleeping children; both situations of which lend themselves to not talking.

And then we had to leave. I couldn't believe that I had to leave vacation early! I don't have a job! I'm used to going to TX early and staying the whole time if not a little more on the tail end. But we had to leave to get to Philadelphia. We left early, early (again) Wednesday morning and therefore missed Wednesday and Thursday (+ Friday morning before checking out). Sad ... except that we didn't have to deal with insane seaweed! Since I wasn't there, I'll include others' photos capturing it all:

Hopefully we'll see you sooner than next year, dear Gulf! I love our beach week.

Aaaand, I'm back!

Again. But this time for a while. I think.

Since the last post, we blitz-organized/unpacked the house for Susan & Gerry's arrival the following Tuesday (they've been with us 2 weeks now), we packed up for 5 days in Galveston, Texas for the Braud Beach Vacay 2014 starting (at 3am) on Friday the 13th, drove back to NOLA on Wednesday morning (again at 3am) to catch a flight to Philadelphia, PA later that day for Heather & Connell Carruthers' wedding on the 21st, flew back to NOLA on Monday the 23rd, and here I sit in my living room on Tuesday while both kiddos nap. Exhale.

Which bit do you want to hear about first? Let's go in chronological order, then, and I'll add photos as I upload them; that part might take a couple of days, though, since I didn't use my own camera. Forgot the charger, silly me. I'd like to get this info down, though, before I forget too much of it!

First Days in New Orleans

It's been a full week in our new home down in New Orleans, and I think we'd all give it an A+. House? Good. Weather? Good. Food? Goooood.

Shortly after we arrived last Saturday, Nana & Pappy Braud came on by to help unload the truck; Nana unloaded my arms so that I could help with boxes, but Dad & Dylan did all of the grunt work - big, huge, massive hats-off to them! We ate pizza that night on boxes in the kitchen.

Sunday brought us to Mass at our hopefully regular church of The Most Holy Name of Mary. It's 2 blocks away, so I reeeally hope we like it. (Cute sidenote since then - every time we walk past it, Paul wants to go in! I don't want to deny the boy time with God, but it's always locked. How to change this...) After Mass, we walked across the street to a darlin café for an awesome brunch and real coffee. Real, Italian coffee. Mom ordered a macchiato and did not receive a(n albeit yummy) Starbucks macchiato but a tiny cup of thick brew with a careful little spoonful of froth. I traded her my café au lait, and we both were happy. That night, Mom made the first meal in the house, and we even got to eat it at the table - after a champagne cheers on the porch, of course.

Monday was a quick visit with Aunt Cyndi (Dad's sister) to say "Hi! We're here! Let's play soon!" before beignets in City Park ... next to the ultimate playground. Paul went nuts. And then crashed. (Between being really busy helping us and the heat, he's beat every single naptime and bedtime. It's great.)

Tuesday was our first family trip to the Quarter. We walked the 15 minutes to the ferry that hopped us across that big ol' bayou (PS, Paul now loves boats), and we met family on Mom's side for more beignets. Oh, darn. It was good to catch up with them and meet a new little addition to the family! And then it was a rainy walk through the French Quarter to shop for dinner fixins before taking the ferry back home. Home, funny.

Wednesday was our first grocery shop at Rouse's. Sounds uneventful, I'm sure, but we are very happy to soon get back to normal, healthy, home-cooked food. Eating out is always fun for a while, and then I'm done. Oh, and local grass-fed beef for the same price as our budget store in MN? Rouse's ftw!

Thursday was a little different and altogether familiar, too. Dylan went to a Louisiana Bar Association presentation in the morning, so I was alone with these two little humans in our new place until naptime. What do I do by myself with two kiddos in a small house with tons of "don't touch" things everywhere? I head to the park. The 3-blocks-away fenced-in park. And we run into cousin Rena and baby Francesca. That's what I do, and it was great. Ada's beyond content facing outward in the Björn, and Paul both rode in and pushed his stroller. That evening after nap, we headed to Lowe's because we need more things. We filled the truck, yes, but we didn't quite fill the add-on trailer, so we wanted to make sure that next time it'd be stuffed ... with organization/space-saving things to make use of small square footage but 14' ceilings.

Friday was our morning at the Office of Motor Vehicles getting Vince the VW Jetta registered in Louisiana and ourselves Louisiana drivers' licenses. We're official, y'all. And today has been a low-keyed Saturday. Dylan even made his signature blueberry pancakes for us, and we've lounged, unpacked, and cuddled kiddos since. 

Generally, there's some sort of day's event either in the morning or in the afternoon, filling the rest of the day and evening with unpacking, and we've kept meals & naps at their usual times. Paul, however, has been beat, like I said, so we've even upped nap to 12:30, and he's out til 3! Lil Miss Ada-potada takes it one further and sleeps til 5. Wowza. I don't mind since their night sleep is keeping strong - mostly; they've been waking a little earlier than usual - necessitating daily coffee - but there's a little wiggle-room to work with, so I'll live.

I think life here will be good.

OH! In all this chaos, I forgot to mention that Paul and Ada have both shifted beds! Paul's in his Uncle Pete's childhood loft bed, and Ada's in the big crib (next to our bed still). Paul was a giddy little person when Nana dressed the bed Pappy put together with Thomas sheets, and Ada can have the space she needs to do her nighttime somersaults. I've yet to snap a photo of her in it, though, because I don't want to wake her, but there's this guy:

A Jetta, a truck+trailer, 2 kids, and a cat hit the road...

... sound like a joke? Yeah, let's talk about that.

Friday May 30, 2014, 2:30am, the alarm goes off. Dylan and I pop up, clump together the sheets we’d used as a pallet on the floor, ready ourselves and pack away all of the last-minutes. We ready the car and Penske truck + U-haul trailer, prep the kids’ carseat straps for a quick getaway and turn back to the house for the precious cargo. But first we stopped on the driveway in the backyard and looked at the house, deck, big tree, and hugged one last time in Minnesota.

3:04am, kids are in, and 705 11th St is behind us. Shoot – we forgot the two blankets hanging on Paul’s windows.

sunrise in Iowa

After a quiet ride with a few sips of coffee and a beautiful sunrise, we stopped at a Hy-Vee in Randomville, Iowa for breakfast at 7am. Adeline had been swaddled up and so kept sleeping, and Paul slept the whole way, too, after the initial excitement of getting in the car and watching Papa drive a truck wore off. Mega Road Trip to NOLA with Two Kids: Part I was a huge success! We took a nice long break here, and right before getting back in the car, Paul started asking for Molly & Heidi – with whom we’d eaten at Hy-Vee. Aw, sad, little man.

8:30 got us back on the road, and until 11:30, Paul entertained himself with a rock, and Ada was happy looking around and sleeping … with a 30-min crying fit before giving in to said sleep. St. Louis! And Chick-fil-a! With a playground! (Hindsight observation: we heeded others’ advice about travelling early, early with little ones, but we still couldn’t really have a picture of what it’d look like, of course. Now that we know how well this worked for Paul & Ada, we should’ve called it quits here and done two days of equal length rather than a long Day One to Memphis and a shorter Day Two to NOLA. Also a big thanks to the moms who advised me to give Paul snacks, all of the snacks. We'll mark those $40 under travel expenses well spent.)

After St. Louis, I had Memphis on the brain. We stopped again around 2:30 or so (Ada’s made good, long stretches for nursing so far!) and then again at 5. Both times just at gas stations to fill up the tanks … and Ada. After the 5:30 mark, though, she decided she no longer wanted to go on a road trip and made sure Paul and I knew it. We arrived at the (very nice but unfortunately not-stayed-in-long-enough) hotel around 7. We hodge-podged an odd dinner of veggie purée, meat sticks, and a vegemite sandwich for Paul and got them both ready for bed. 

Considering the unfamiliar surroundings, they both went down great! In fact, I think Paul kinda liked his big ol’ bed to himself. I, too, liked those beds and could’ve slept and slept after such a long day, but just before bed, Dylan and I decided that we’d wake early again. So, the alarm was set for 3:30am.

4:30 saw us pull out of the parking lot and make a very tired journey up and down rolling hills with nothing but beautiful magnolia trees to look at until Jackson. I pulled up next to Dylan a couple of times to make faces through the windows just for something to do on such an empty highway at dawn. After Jackson, no more stops until New Orleans.

Ada fought sleep again (read: cried for a while long enough before caving in, poor dear), and we pulled up to 437 Belleville around noon on Saturday. It looked just like the pictures. Except that our tiny little 900 sq ft shotgun feels more spacious than expected due to the crazy high ceilings! And porch! And backyard! We started to get a little excited about being here … not to mention having 23 hrs on the road behind us, I with two littles and D with a cat. Thank the Lord for a safe and uneventful arrival! We had a little rain, a little construction, a little crying, and only a very little toddler-fussing. Grateful, grateful! Thank you for your prayers.