The road to Vegas

Last week we headed off to Las Vegas for Uncle Andy's 40th Birthday!

It was a long drive for the girls, but they did a great job.

AJ's Kids Crane

Last Wednesday evening we headed down to Ikea in Mission Valley for AJ's Kids Crane.

We go every year and this year Papa and Abuelita joined us.

This year we each picked out 2 toys to donate. Emma really put a lot of thought into her selections and she picked out a baby doll and a tractor. 

After dropping off our toys, we headed into Ikea for dinner.

I love NOLA

Last week Doug and I flew to New Orleans for Maria and Andrew's wedding.

We took the red eye Wednesday night and then met Melissa at the airport Thursday morning.

We ate breakfast on Bourbon St.

Then we headed to Cafe Du Monde for some delicious beignets.

After some sightseeing and naps we headed over to the Roosevelt Hotel.

 We had some tasty beverages in the lounge and then headed across the street to the church for the rehearsal.

 They were married at the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Baronne Street. It is beautiful!

 Then we headed to the Napoleon House in the French Quarter.

Here is a little history on the Napoleon House...

A 200 year old landmark that's as casual and unique as its French Quarter surroundings.

The building's first occupant, Nicholas Girod, was mayor of New Orleans from 1812 to 1815.  He offered his residence to Napoleon in 1821 as a refuge during his exile.

Napoleon never made it, but the name stuck, and since then, the Napoleon House has become one of the most famous bars in America

Their Pimms Cups are delicious!, and I should know, I enjoyed several!

Friday we met up with Katie.

She is my boss Peter's daughter that is in her third year of law school at Tulane.

She gave us a great tour of the Garden District, Uptown and one of the above ground cemeteries.

Because they are below sea level, they had to bury their loved ones above ground.

 I was a bit creeped out by the hole in the bricks.

I stayed far away. Doug said you couldn't really see anything.

 Then we had a great lunch at a local favorite and we each enjoyed New Orleans specialties.

Then we headed to see the "Mighty Mississippi."

 A big thanks to Katie, she was a great tour guide!

Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

 Maria looked AMAZING!

 The reception was super fancy and was at the Hotel Roosevelt.

It was an intimate and small wedding and it was beautiful.

After the reception we decided to head to the French Quarter with some of Maria's college friends.

We went to a fun bar named Carousel. 

 Since Cafe Du Monde is open 24 hours we all decided that beignets at 2:30 am were a fabulous idea.

Saturday we slept in and then walked around the French Quarter.

1st stop was Hurricanes at Pat O's!

 Then a little more sightseeing around the French Market

We had so much fun in New Orleans!

It is such a fun city and we are so lucky that we had the opportunity to explore it.

Thank you to Andrew for being from New Orleans and wanting to get married there.

Thank you to Maria and Andrew for hosting an amazing wedding weekend.

Thank you to Katie for the fun tour.

Thank you to Papa and Abuelita for watching the girls.

Thank you to Ebit and Omar for taking the girls for a night and giving Papa and Abuelita a break.

Thank you NOLA for being such a fun city! We can't wait to go back.

WHO DAT?!

Home sweet home!

 Doug and I just got back from a fun filled weekend in New Orleans for a friend's wedding.

We had a blast!

But one of my favorite parts of the weekend was coming home to see these two sleeping girls...

More to come from our New Orleans trip soon.

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween with family and friends.

We started by carving pumpkins.

Elle had lots of fun playing with the pumpkin seeds.

 Emma wanted her pumpkin to have a flower and a heart.

 E for Elle

 Jacob was very specific with what he wanted for his pumpkin's smile.

 Ebit carved a fancy ghost.

Then we had some pizza and pasta, and then outside for some pictures before heading out trick or treating.

 Emma was so excited to have Rachel and Grant over.

 Elle was the cutest darn Fairy Godmother I have ever seen.

 Emma was a beautiful Cinderella.

 Little Landon was so cozy and slept the entire time.

Not sure how we did it, but we managed to get all of the kids to stand still for some group shots.

 Ava was a precious Tinkerbell.

We hope that you all had a wonderful Halloween!