Our Busy Holiday Vacation

We're back in Virginia now after a 10-day-trip to Louisiana for Christmas. When I look back at all we did in that time, I still can't believe we made it. Here's a summary of our itinerary:

12/24- flew out of Virginia in the afternoon to arrive in New Orleans for around 7 PM-- but plane was delayed, United customer service was terrible as always, L&D missed their afternoon nap and did not respond to Benadryl-- it was a disastrous flight, to say the least. We finally arrived around 9 PM, had to wait for rental car and finally got to Pops' (my dad) and Maw Maw Deb's (his wife) house around 10:30 PM. Cousin William was excited to see us and even picked out cute stuffed Santa and Snowman dolls for L&D. Babies took a little while to adjust, but went to sleep fairly easily.

12/25- We woke up and found that Santa left lots of goodies-- mostly Elmo toys and other goodies; modified cute Christmas clothing I packed since it was 76 degrees and humid-- no tights, but still cute-- got dressed and picked up Nana (my mom) to head over to New Orleans to Darrell's Aunt Maureen's for Christmas dinner with the Tardiffs-- had lots of fun and got to see everyone, except for Paw Paw, who was in the hospital for pneumonia- boo hoo; got back to the northshore late that evening and crashed

12/26- The Hileys (my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephews) arrived late Christmas night and were at Nana's. We went over there and had po-boys for lunch. YUMMM. Got to meet Tim's girlfriend, Christie, who we fell in love with instantly. Back to Pops (my dad) and Maw Maw Deb's (where we were staying) late that evening and crashed again.

12/27- Went to visit Chickie (my dad's aunt) at her home with her daughter Elizabeth. Hileys met us there with Tim and Christie. All the kids just about tore her house apart, but they enjoyed our company (we think)! Left from there to go to my aunt Janey's house for dinner with all the family including my uncle Bobby and Aunt Nita. Had another delicious dinner and babies actually napped there for quite some time (they are really tired from all the excitement). Got back to Pops' later that night, visited with him and Maw Maw Deb and cousin William for a while, then crash.

12/28- Woke up and brought L&D over to Nana's house while Darrell and I enjoyed an afternoon out at the Saints game. Too bad we lost, though. But we went with Darrell's brother (Todd), his wife (Krista), and their son (Clay). Got stuck in the parking garage for quite a while, drove through Wendy's for dinner, and drove across the causeway (24 miles) back to the Northshore in the rain. Got to Nana's and visited, but somehow my stomach was really really hurting, so I even passed up king cake. Must have been the turkey dog and nachos at the Superdome-- ughhhh. Rounded up L&D and went back to Pops' to visit and crash again.

12/29- Woke up and visited with Pops since he was off work. Babies were out-of-sorts a bit (wonder why), so they slept late and napped shortly after. Went to lunch with Pops in downtown Covington. Looked for a parking spot forever, finally found one, wrestled with the stroller since United broke it on the flight down there, got it open, loaded everyone up, walked a few blocks in the gorgeous 70+ degree weather, but there was a 25 minute wait. No way. Walked another block, but that restaurant was closed. Went back to the car, loaded back up and drove to Acme Oyster House. L&D had fried shrimp and gobbled it all up. Discovered that Libby loves fries, too. Went back to Pops' for a nap, then had brisket for dinner with Maw Maw Deb, Pops, Cristy, and Cousin William. Delish. Tried to fix Pops' computer-- ended up on phone with Charter for a while, discovered we needed a part, so Darrell and Pops headed to Office Depot and back. Installed it easily, but no dice. Can't get on to Google's site for some reason, but able to get on most others. Email is inconsistent. I'm puzzled.

12/30- Paw Paw is STILL in the hospital (long story there) and is due to get out today. Supposed to go to Todd and Krista's house for presents with them at noon, but pushed it back to wait for him to get home. He's been feeling better for days, but doctors are out on vacation and don't find it urgent to discharge him. Go to Nana's to visit Hileys before they leave town. See Uncle Jeff (my brother) for 1st time! Decide we're hungry, so go to Vazquez's Restaurant for more po-boys with everyone. On the way there, get a call from my mom's ex-husband, Paul, who wants to join us for a visit. A little awkward, but nice to see him. Eat lunch and head over to Bogue Falaya Park to play. Had fun on the swings and walking along the river. I forget just how beautiful the moss and cypress trees are in Louisiana. What a sight. Try to take a family photo, but no dice. Leave there and head to Todd and Krista's for presents. Visit with everyone, play with mountains of toys, and L&D get really overstimulated (probably b/c missed PM nap, too). Major meltdowns ensue at around 7 PM and we have to leave before dinner. Head to Nana's for a little while to see Uncle Jeff since he is working the rest of our trip. Babies get 2nd wind after a little Elmo DVD in the car. Visit a while, meet Jeff's girlfriend, Debby, spend time with Tim and Christie and the Hileys. Nana is out to dinner with friends. Go to Pops' around 9'ish and visit a little while, then crash.




12/31- Pops, Maw Maw Deb, Cristy, and William head to Disney World, so we are left alone at his house. Nice to wake up whenever we want and do whatever we want. Babies take a really long AM nap, which is lovely. I try to fix Dad's computer again and after 2 1/2 hours on the phone, no dice. But at least we get his email up again. We pack up all of our things and head over to Nana's for the rest of our trip. We go to my best friend Darnell's house and let the babies play with her daughgter, Josie. A fun time! Darrell leaves with the babies and meets Todd and his dad at Nana's to watch the LSU game. I get to enjoy dinner with Darnell and her husband Mike and we decide to have sushi-- a wonderful treat since Darrell doesn't eat sushi. YUM. Darrell comes back after the game and we shoot and watch fireworks with an Abita beer in their driveway. I forget how the people there put on major displays since most fireworks are illegal in Virginia. Amazing! Head to Nana's at 1:00 AM to crash.


1/1- Wake up and we decide to have everyone over to Nana's for a New Year's meal. Nana and I head to the store for groceries, but have to head to another store since this one is out of cabbage. Run over there and get the cabbage, head to Nana's and she does her magic by preparing a huge meal in just a few short hours. Babies take a bath in Nana's whirpool tub. Libby loves the jets, but Drew isn't too sure. Darnell, Mike, Josie, Todd, Katelyn, Clay, Maw Maw, Paw Paw all come over to visit. Aunt Maura (my dad's cousin) calls and she and her daughter Mary come over as everyone is leaving at around 6'ish. We clean up a little, then get in the car to go see Tim and Christie's new apartment. It is really nice and I am on constant watch as L&D do their best to take apart their tree and fool with their breakables! We head home, clean up some more, get packed, pack up a giant box of our presents to be shipped back to Virginia, and crash again.

1/2- wake up, get packed completely, get the babies bathed, us showered, and load up the car. Say goodbyes to Nana and head to the airport. Much better flight this time as both fall asleep shortly after take-off (and more Benadryl and tons of animal crackers). Darrell and I get to listen to the in-flight TV-- it's great! Much better customer service this time except for the flight attendant who joked that "Mommy doesn't have a handle on that yet" when I was trying to operate the stroller they broke on the way down there. I have restraint from wanting to punch her in the face. But we head to baggage claim and Thor (our lovely next-door-neighbor) is there to pick us up in the van. I've never been so happy to walk into my own house. But it's really cold in Virginia and we left the heat off the entire 10 days. It is 50 degrees in our house! We blast on the heat, but it takes a while to warm up. We put on a onesie and thick fleece PJ's on L&D and they crash and sleep alll night long. They are so happy to be home, too. They sleep til 8:00, talk a little while, then fall back to sleep (as do we) until ELEVEN o'clock this morning. WOW. It really is good to be back home!

Happy New Year!