A Weekend in New Orleans

 Here we are at last -- the mighty recap of our epic summer vacation of 2015.  Please note 2 things: 1.) There will be more pictures than you will care to see during these recaps, and 2.) I am fully aware that no one REALLY cares about anyone else's vacationing adventures.  With that out of the way, let's get started on leg 1 of Summer Vacay 2015 {our first real family vacation since Christmas of 2012 when we had a family reunion in Aspen Grove with Scott's family}.

It all began with a late start on Friday evening.  We were aiming to leave by 4, but our last minute packing and cleaning out of the car pushed it to around 4:40.  Then, an hour into the journey we were brought to a complete standstill on the interstate for a good 45 minutes due to an overturned semi sprawled across all lanes of traffic.  By the time we were able to detour around it, we were another hour and a half behind schedule.  Combine that with food breaks and bathroom breaks and gas stops, and you will quickly see that there was no way we were going to make it to our designated stopping point by midnight.  Instead, it took almost 8 1/2 hours of pure torture to make it roughly half way to our destination when we were hoping to get the bulk of the driving done that night {I will spare you the play by play of certain children who COULD NOT HANDLE LIFE being stuck in the car with everyone}.

After the best night's sleep of the entire vacation in our Comfort Inn somewhere in Alabama, we finished off the rest of our drive Saturday morning and arrived in New Orleans around 2 that afternoon.  We wanted to make the most of our time there and with family, so we set off to City Park amusement park almost right away, and let the kids amuse themselves for a couple of hours while I got to visit with my sista.  Emily was there with her two cute girlie bugs, and MY girls couldn't get enough of cute baby Kate.  And Jane and Pearce became best friends almost instantly!

 Jane seriously couldn't get enough of Kate.  Hopefully by the time Isaac is born, she will still love babies.  :)

 Watching Amy ride the Lady Bug Roller Coaster

 Riding the train around City Park!

 Cute little Kate

 And cute little Pearce, who was cracking me up with her facial expressions and commentary on how much she HATED that train ride.  Hahaha.

 Riding a carousel horse is always a big hit, right??

 Hahaha.  His faces.  I was actually quite proud of him for braving a lot of these kiddie rides.  ;)

 Yay!  The High School graduate finally made it to the park!

 {Possibly Alex's favorite amusement}

After we exhausted ourselves in the heat and humidity, we headed over for a quick bite to eat before heading to my mom's apartment to watch Jacob open his mission call {!!!} and then head back to our place to turn in for the night.  Unfortunately, the long car drive (I get really car sick), the lack of sleep (we didn't end up pulling over until about 2:30 AM the night before), the heat (and probably dehydration), plus the amount of junk consumed during the road trip combined with my run down pregnant self to make me feel SUPER sick and needing to lay down and get some rest ASAP.  :(  Boo!  Not the way I wanted to spend the first night back home with my family.

 Mom challenged Ethan to an impromptu arm wrestle while waiting for our food to arrive.

 Opening the long-awaited mission call!

 And he's going to... Anaheim California English speaking!

 These two were hilarious with their mock fighting moves.

We ended up using VRBO.com to find a place to stay while we were in New Orleans {so we could still be close to my mom's place -- where Emily (with Pearce and Kate) and Amy were staying with my mom and Jacob -- without overrunning the place completely} and the kids LOVED "The Blue House," as they named it.  Hahaha.  They probably loved it so much because they got to fall asleep each night while lounging on the pull-out bed in front of the giant TV watching movies.  But whatever the reason, it was a hit with kids, and it worked for us while we were there.

That first night, however, after getting the kids settled in, Scott left me to my sickbed while he ran to get some gas and shop for a few groceries to fill the house while we were there.  What he wasn't counting on happening, was the CRAZIEST vacation story you will probably ever hear from this family!  {And I really hope that's the case.}  I'll let Scott tell it in his own words...

 The gas station where it all started.

Well, after some directions from Amy and Jacob on where the grocery store was located, I headed out around 8:30 or so. I decided to get gas first and stopped at the gas station pictured above. It was big, well lit, and generally not too shabby. High praise, I know. I pulled up to the pump and got out of the car, but before I started to pay, I noticed a couple of kids sprinting through the side of the parking lot and onto a side street, running as fast as if they had stolen something. (Spoiler alert, they had).  About 5 seconds later, a guy in his 50's came running into the parking lot, clearly chasing the kids but losing ground. He stopped right in front of my car and asked me if I could please help him. 

So ... I did what most people would do and said, "no, I just need to get gas," then worked hard to avoid all eye contact with him. Heartless? A little. Street smart? Definitely.
But the man persisted, explaining quickly that the kids had stolen a cell phone from the bowling alley across the street. He asked again if I would please help him and drive after the kids. Obviously, since a) I'm an idiot and b) I'm telling this story, I clearly relented and the guy got in my car and we drove after the kids.  

Yes, I know. Stupid, stupid, stupid.  

So my new "friend" John quickly introduced himself and we left the gas station. I already knew this was a bad idea. But as soon as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the side street, I realized the bad idea had turned into a TERRIBLE idea because this was a sketchy neighborhood. And now here I was in the car with a complete stranger like an idiot chasing after some kids.  

About a block into the drive, I noticed a couple kids walking on the side of the street and asked John if it looked like it was them. Forgive my observation skills, but I didn't get a good look earlier. In my defense, I just wanted to get gas, it's not like I was watching an episode of America's Most Wanted. John thought it looked like it could be them, so I pulled up next to the kids and rolled down my window since they were on my side of the car. I don't remember if it was John or I, but one of us asked, "did either of you take a cell phone from the bowling alley?" 

Like they were going to just say, "Good evening, gentlemen. As a matter of fact we did take a cell phone. Here, please take it back with our deepest apologies. Have a pleasant evening."  

Umm, not so much.  

Instead the kids (who I'm guessing were around 13 and 9) just turned and full on sprinted down the street. If it wasn't a completely bizarre situation, I would have been captivated by their speed. I mean, these kids were FAST. So John hopped out of the car and ran after them, you know, since the whole chasing them on foot thing went so swimmingly for him earlier. I followed tentatively in the car and then saw the kids dart into a house that didn't have any lights on and looked to be the shadiest house of a shady neighborhood. John followed to the house, thought better of going into the house after them (intelligent move number one of the whole experience), and then got back in the car. He said he got the house number and he could go back to the bowling alley and review security camera footage. If it was the same kids, he would call the cops and have them go to the house. All reasonable sounding to me.  

The only problem was we didn't know what street we were on, so I drove to the end of the street to look for a sign. No luck on that end, so I turned around and drove back down the street, hoping to get back to the other end of the street and see a sign there. This meant driving past the house again and as we approached it, the kids came back out of the house ... but this time, they weren't alone. They were led out of the house by what looked to be their dad and mom, then joined by a few other siblings. 

And dad had a gun. 

So as Ron Burgundy would say, "That escalated quickly." Thankfully, the gun was still in his pocket, but he had his hand right next to it as he approached the car. I was half tempted to hit the accelerator and get the heck out of there, but instead I slowed down and stopped the car. I rolled the windows down and then put my hands in the air, all while John and I were saying something along the lines of not wanting to cause any trouble. John tried to quickly explain the situation as the kids in question enthusiastically proclaimed their innocence. The dad kept his hand at the ready with his gun throughout while the mom said her kids don't steal. John mentioned that the bowling alley has security cameras and he could go back and check. The dad calmly said that we had to look at it from his perspective and his kids just came running into the house scared out of their minds, so he was a little protective. Then, to his credit, the dad told John to go back and review the footage and if it was his kids, come right back and knock on the door and he would take care of it. His kids claimed innocence again, but if I'm being honest, the older one looked less convinced in his own innocence at that point. 

I rolled up the window and drove off. I asked John where he wanted to be dropped off and he thankfully just said the gas station. He tried to offer me $20 and I declined repeatedly. I wanted no tangible memory of this experience and again, I JUST WANTED TO GET GAS. So I pulled up to the pump, John got out of the car and walked across the street to the bowling alley. I texted Jessica (more cryptically than I intended, which I'm sure caused her a panic attack) something about a scary situation and I'll call her as soon as I got gas and got back in the car. Jessica, along with the rest of her immediate and extended family once they heard the story, all responded with some version of, "Scott, Scott, Scott ... what were you thinking?" Fair question. I was a little shook up by the experience. In hindsight, the whole thing lasted maybe 5 minutes, tops, but sheesh. It was crazy. It was not fun. You could even say it was crazy not fun. 

Back to my better half ... which based on my intelligence displayed in that story, is even more painfully obvious and evident. 

And that, folks, was Day 1!  Hahahaha.  Never a dull moment for this family.  Especially since I neglected to mention that Jane's asthma was out of control the entire time we were on vacation, and she was needing the nebulizer or inhaler almost around the clock.

Day 2 in New Orleans was a much more relaxing affair, which was a nice little respite for our Sunday enjoyment.  After attending sacrament meeting in my hometown "Uptown Branch"  {now the New Orleans Ward}, we headed off to Thibodaux to visit with my mom's family, since it had been almost 3 years since we were down there last.  My grandparents are both 90 and it was really important to me that we see them, and that the kids could meet them (again), since I know they won't be around forever.  Once the visiting with grandparents was over, we made one more stop before heading back to New Orleans.  THIS stop was possibly the highlight of the day for the kids.  Because nothing is funner than playing in the country with a bunch of cousins.  :)  I know that's how I always felt growing up.  While my kids played to their hearts' content, I got to spend time visiting with my cousin's wife, Miranda, who I haven't seen in person since Christmas of 2008.  It was easily the most enjoyable part of my day.  :)

 Family Picture Time!

 My sweet grandma holding baby Kate.

 Paw Paw giving Jane a spanking for good measure.  :)

 And a picture my Paw Paw dug out for us from during the war.  I think he said he was 19 years old, and he's holding a pet monkey he tamed while stationed in India during WWII.

Me and Miranda

 Chickens!

 And some monkeys!  Hahaha.  :)

I was sad we didn't have time to go around visiting with anyone else, but at that point, all the kids were tired and hungry {and HANGRY}, and we needed to get going.   We ended our lovely Sunday back at my mom's where we all ate dinner together and played some more before turning in for the night.

And THERE you have it.  A weekend in New Orleans.  I was tempted to recap the ENTIRE stay in one post, but that would have been WAY too much of an overload.  Just in pictures alone!  Hahaha.  So, you'll just have to wait with bated breath for the REST of our adventures in the Big Easy...