San Antonio & Louisiana Plantations

We decided to take the kids to New Orleans over Spring Break this year. We drove all day from Snowflake to San Antonio. The kids did great. They really are great travelers. Here we are at the Alamo. They all loved the story of Davy Crockett and the Alamo.

Lynn and I in front of the Alamo.

Jonah and Granger wanted to jump into the river. San Antonio has the coolest "Riverwalk". It ran through the street, with shops and restaurants lining the sides. It was cool and green and beautiful. It had the feel of a European city. We all really enjoyed it. The kids wanted to stay. I'm sure we'll be back soon for a vacation there and will stay longer.. Great place!

We had to stop at Lulu's. It was featured on Man vs. Food. We sure love the Food Network! Cora had watched the episode and HAD to get the giant cinnamon roll. You can't tell from the picture, but it's enormous. The black spot in the middle is a steak knife. It's that huge!

I think her eyes were bigger than her stomach.

We also had amazing chicken fried steak and fried okra. Ezra LOVED the okra. Good ol' southern cookin'.... Mmmmm...

We stopped all along the Mississippi River in Louisiana to check out the different plantations. We ate lunch at this one. They were a lot of fun. This is Oak Valley Plantation. Pretty amazing, huh?

This was the kids first experience of the Mississippi. They had to "touch" it.

Lynn, Grae and Jonah in front of the Mississippi.

I just liked this picture.

The kids and I in front of Laura Plantation.

Jonah in the slave quarters at Laura Plantation. We stopped and visited some old sugarcane plantations along the Mississippi River on our way to New Orleans. This plantation was where the story of Briar Rabbit was told over many generations of African slaves and then finally recorded into the story we all know.

Aren't my boys adorable? Jonah, Grae and Easy...

Laura Plantation. It was a Creole plantation that was run for four generations by women (a very rare feat, especially in the 18th and 19th Centuries.)

My boys on Bourbon Street.

Granger and Ezra walking up Bourbon Street.

Here we are standing outside the Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter. This restaurant was featured on Man vs. Food and my family LOVES raw oysters. Lynn wanted to go here for his birthday. By the long line, we knew it had to be good!

Cora and her oyster.

Ezra stuck to the jambalaya because everyone else was fighting over the oysters and he didn't even know what was going on.

Jonah and his oyster.

Happy 35th Lynn!

Ezra became fascinated with alligators while we were there.

Ezra and Lynn window shopping on famous Canal Street in downtown New Orleans. This street was super fun and the weather was perfect!

Granger and Jonah trying to figure out how to cross the Mighty Mississippi just to say that we had done it. And it sounded like fun. We found the free pedestrian ferry (not really for tourists) about 1/2 mile upstream from the expensive tourist crossings. Saved us over $100!!

The fam in downtown New Orleans, across from the mighty Mississippi.

Our future home... if we had a couple million dollars to spare...

The French Quarter

Jonah "window shopping"

Crossing the free pedestrian ferry across the Mississippi. (It wasn't really meant for tourists but anytime there is something for free, I will hunt it down and find it. This little gem of a crossing was about half a mile from the expensive tourist crossing by the French Quarter and saved us over $100.)

On the ferry.







If you've been to New Orleans, you know that you have to eat at Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter. They serve beignet's which are little square french doughuts covered in mounds of powdered sugar. I'd say I have some happy boys, wouldn't you?

Ezra had to check out his belly to see if there was room for some more beignets.

The kids and Lynn in one of the many famous above ground cemeteries. They were really cool looking. I even found the name of a French ancestor in this cemetery!

Ezra enjoying the boat ride in the swampland... Lookin' for gators!

The Lousiana Bayou was gorgeous though much less animated than Princess and the Frog.

Found one! This gator jumped out of the water for us. He was hungry because he'd just come out of hibernation.

The guides put marshmallows on the end of sticks to feed the gators.

So pretty!

New Orleans continued...

On our boat trip in the Louisiana Bayou... We were going pretty fast here that's why the kids are so excited!

Cora took this pictures of our tour guide. She had a bit of a "crush" on him...





The Garden District in downtown New Orleans. Some amazingly beautiful old homes... Ah... Dream...

Lynn and the boys in the French Quarter, downtown New Orleans.

While we were walking up and down the streets, we saw some person's random garden on the side of the street. So we thought we'd stop and take a few pictures.

Cora, our little Tomboy. She's quite the climber, just like her little brothers. She was really high up in this tree. These swamp looking trees were all over the place. This is at a public park in New Orleans.

Jonah and Granger climbing this awesome tree. They tried to help the other kids up but most of them couldn't make it.

This park was just gorgeous. I love big trees!