Thanksgiving in New Orleans

We typically enjoy Thanksgiving in New Orleans every other year. This was our year. We flew in for a long weekend with the family and what a time to visit. The city was in a party mood and the kids got to spend lots of time with their cousins. Of course its New Orleans so we enjoyed sitting out in the yard in the new swing.

It didn't take too long for the kids to warm up to their cousins. We enjoyed several outings including a visit to the Aquarium of the Americas. Riley loves aquariums and this was a great one. All the kids got to feed the rays although Riley and Cameron were really into the ray taking the fish so they mostly just dropped the sardines in the water.

The Saints are having a great year so of course there was lots of football to talk about, learn about, watch, listen to, play,..... did I mention talk about, learn about, hear about, etc etc etc. Cameron did enjoy playing the game with her cousin. She was better than I expected. He older cousin Sean who just turned 21 was there and he made sure the kids knew what to do and played fair.

Did we mention we watched a lot of football too? Aunt Heather made Cameron a Saints dress and she wore it all over town. There were lots of comments and cheers for her dress, she loved it.

We also made it out to the French Quarter for a day. We started at Cafe Du Monde where we met up with our Aunt Yvette, Uncle Troy, and cousin Sean as they were headed out of town. We walked around Jackson square enjoying the shops and St Louis cathedral. We saw the Archibishop and then we enjoyed lunch at Muriels (the best lunch I've had in a long time). We then took a French Quarter tour in one of the horse drawn buggies. Although I've lived there my entire life (prior to CA) this was the first time I'd taken a formal tour. It was cool.

This was the best trip I can remember, and there are so many stories there is no way to capture it all here. Enjoy the photos here.

Cameron, What's new at school?

Harvest Mouse is Cameron's new class. The teachers have been introducing games. They started playing lots of different games including sports. Cameron is a pretty good soccer player, even in her dress. They learned about rules, taking turns, following directions, and the various different equipment for games (pieces, dice, spinners, etc). Once they learned the concept of games, the kids started creating their own games. Cameron's game has a princess...... oh and a castle.

Game design has not taken the place of the more traditional activities in the class. Cameron still makes sure the babies are well cared for and they continue to decorate the new room with their art work. The class did start an unusual garden. They are growing mushrooms. Another students family shared with the class the tradition of growing their own mushrooms. The entire classroom planted several boxes and over the next few weeks will water and monitor the mushrooms. The plan at the end is to have a mushroom celebrations where we will harvest them and serve them at a party. Its going to be great!

Our grandma is a docent at Pt Lobos!

Today Daddy took Cameron and Riley south to visit Grandma Cindy. She is a volunteer docent at Pt Lobos and the kids got a treat when Grandma Cindy gave them a tour. She let them climb on the whale bones, get into the blubber pots, and talked about all the displays.

They then enjoyed a long hike all around thee park (well Cameron hiked and Daddy carried Riley). Grandma Cindy pointed out all the flowers and the kids saw lots of birds, a sea lion, and Cameron found a great view. You can see the pictures here.