our trip down south

This was on Friday morning. There was so much sand covering the road. There were flood warnings on TV. We still decided to drive into New Orleans.

It was super busy at Cafe Du MOnde, Joey was not gonna sit to enjoy coffee and a bengeit, so we enjoyed the cafe from the outside! And bought some coffee to bring home.

The fog had rolled in on the Mississippi river, you can barely see the steam boat in the background.

Listening to music in the French Quarter

A FEMA trailer. These were still present, in people's yards, on the way to Lindsey and Brian's house.

(See end of blog)

Joey was super excited to fly on an airplane. He lasted an hour, then lost it (out of tiredness) for about 15 minutes with kicking, screaming, and slapping.. but then fell asleep (Thank God!!). I just kept thinking in my head what Erin said "how long can they really cry?"

The weather wasn't the greatest (high winds, tornado watches, thunderstorms, and flooding) but we still braved the weather and went out on the beach. The weather didn't deter Joey's excitement at all!

Even Papa helped build a castle.

Joey loved hanging out on the balcony or "sidewalk" every day, especially to watch the people paving the front driveway.. lots of dump trucks, graders, and loaders.. a boys dream come true to watch it live!

Smiling in the rain!

We went to Tulane University to Lindsey's campus. What a beautiful spot to go to school! We ran through the rain a couple of times...

I enjoyed seeing all the beads from Mardi Gras still in the trees. Probably shouldn't have been driving and taking pictures...

We went to this little hole in the wall place and ordered 3-5 pounds of shrimp, and crawfish too. Yummy. I think i would move down south just for the fresh sea food.

Brian ate 25 of these huge shrimp, but Derek surpassed him on Saturday with a whopping 32!

We also got to experience a "snowball" which is kind of like a snow cone.. but way better. Derek had Blue Hawaiian, I had wedding cake and joey had chocolate.

Joey was having a good time dishing up shrimp for everyone as well as playing with the crawfish. He didn't really eat any though.

My dad and I thought this was pretty interesting, the picture was taken from the car, but it is a fire station with the fire trucks inside, but no walls. It was amazing to see all the damage from hurricane Katrina still present in both Mississipi and New Orleans.

My mom pointed this church out to us, notice the steeple on the ground next to the church. I met a lady on the plane today who said she would never live in Mississippi again, she was visiting her grandkids and children that still live there. She now lives in New York.

Finally we had one nice morning, where we were able to go outside on the beach.

Joey fell asleep on the last plane ride home. It took almost 12 hours to get home.. and it does feel good. can't wait to sleep in my own bed. But i have a feeling Joey is going to wake up and say "Auntie, Uncle, Grandma, Papa, beach, shovel, eagle, sidewalk!!" OH, and Robin Roberts was on our flight from Gulfport to Mississipi (see top picture) i didn't want to be totally obnoxious and take a picture from the front!