My Life With Boys: March 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011

Trey and Robb Went Up the Hill

New Orleans City Park-just go, you will not regret it

I plan on spending more time there next time we go. Great playgrounds, Storyland, a fair-type rides area, a sculpture garden, the botanic gardens, a dog park, New Orleans Art Museum, and miles and miles of green space. I found our way there and I'm so glad I did. We spent most of our time at Storyland, which is a little gem of a playground taken from another time. Quoting from the website:

Climb aboard Captain Hook's pirate ship, journey with Pinocchio into the mouth of a whale or scamper up Jack 'n Jill's hill...Brimming with more than 25 larger-than-life storybook exhibits, this storybook fantasy play area is inhabited by sculpted characters created by New Orleans' finest Mardi Gras float makers.

I mean I could not describe it any better. In short, it was awesome. I hate to build it up too much; it is a surprisingly small area that they have fit all this fun into. Maybe it was just a really fun outing with my boys, maybe it was the background music-an Imagination Movers CD, or maybe it is really that spectacular. I'm not sure which one it was, but we sure did have a great time and we will be going when we are back in New Orleans.

We were welcomed by Humpty Dumpty sitting on the wall and an opened book.

Hello three little pigs.

Watch out!! Jack 'n Jill's hill is pretty steep (Trey was acting the rhyme out, Robb was really going that fast).

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty

It was steep also...and wet from the rain the night before as we found out the hard way.

And there are almost 20 more areas to become part of your favorite stories. I cannot say enough good things about Storyland. Like I said, just go!!!!

Children's Museum of Louisanna

It is such a strange feeling going back to somewhere you haven't been since you were a child. Everything is familiar, yet different. I have not been to the Children's Museum in New Orleans in probably over 20 years--yikes that makes me sound so ancient!!!! Some of the old familiar things are there like the bubble room which the boys loved. We were even able to make a bubble around us by standing together in a huge tire filled with bubble juice which I remember doing with my dad.

And there was lots of stuff that I did not remember or most likely has changed in the last 20 years!!!! The boys had so much fun playing and exploring together. I highly recommend putting it on your itinerary when you visit the city.

PS Momma and Farrell, I did not notice a news desk to film the evening news:(

We Went on Down to the Audubon Zoo...

and they all ask'd for you. the monkeys ask'd, the tigers ask'd and the elephants ask'd me too...

Will could be heard singing this song every time we visited or talked about the zoo in New Orleans. No it is not one of his off the top of his head, made up songs. If the lyrics do not look familiar, google They All Ask'd For You by the Meters. He had plenty of opportunities to sing it to because we had such a fun time at the zoo.

From the elephant fountain when you walked in

to the peacock that roamed freely and closely might I add to guests

to Monkey mountain that had you climbing up the highest hill in New Orleans and climbing down a spider web (do not be too impressed, you would not believe the little bit of elevation of the highest hill in New Orleans!!!!)

all the way to the petting alligators in the swamp,

...we saw it all. I was highly impressed by their zoo. Since we come from a city that has one of the best zoo's in the country, I was not expecting much...I was wrong.

Show Me Your Shark Teeth

Watch out for this cute, little shark swimming in the pool this summer.

Robb will proudly display his not so scary pearly whites if you ask him to show you his shark teeth. For all those who know me well, you know how infatuated I am with sharks, and apparently I have passed this gene onto my boys.

The New Orleans Aquarium is the place to go if you happen to have this type of obsession. We actually visited the aquarium a few times since it was just about a ten minute walk from our hotel. We spent a lot of time watching the huge tank with the sharks but we also loved seeing the turtles, jellyfish, and alligators.

PS-You know where we will be in July...watching Shark Week with the Stockburgers of course!!!!

Only in NOLA

There is a parade for everything in New Orleans. We missed Mardi Gras by about a week, but I guess they always find a reason to parade down the street, throwing beads, being silly, and having a good time. We spent a good part of our first day in Gretna (across the river but only about 5 minutes to downtown NOLA). One of Will's work associates has become our New Orleans friends, they have two children also so we are always able to find things to do with them. They live in Gretna so that's where we headed for Puppy Gras, that's right a parade to benefit rescue dogs rolled right in front of their house. It was definitely not the biggest parade I've been to but we had a great time. The boys got LOTS of beads, balls, and stuffed animals that actually became the toys for the week in the hotel room.

After the parade we jumped on the ferry that let us off right in front of the aquarium (more to come on the aquarium).

this is our very poor attempt a family shot in front of the New Orleans skyline...Trey was watching the river, Robb fell asleep about 5 minutes after this picture was taken

Tour Guide

If you have something against New Orleans, please excuse the next few posts. I am probably going to sound like a bit a tour guide. We spent Spring Break on one of Will's business trips to New Orleans. We had such a great week being tourists, and Will was able to spend lots of time with us too!!!!

Who Knew?

...apparently Grace and Micajah do. They suggested taking the boys to the Jackson Children's Museum a few weeks ago when we were stopping through on the way to New Orleans. I am so glad we took there advise; the new museum is fabulous. Someone there told me it opened around Christmas time, so obviously very new. We are lucky to have a good children's museum here, but being new they had all kinds of different things for kids our boys ages. It is a very bright and active museum with lots of activities to crawl over, under, around, and through. Some of the boys favorite exhibits were the cooking area, under Jackson, Strong Me, and the intestines (that's right it is a crawling maze that takes kids physically through the whole digestive system). We had such a fun time; we will definitely be making another trip to the museum.

The way my boys are such climbers, I feel like this should be framed above their beds:)

Jesus Loves Me

There is not much sweeter than a group of 3ish year olds singing Jesus Loves Me. Trey's choir had a recital a few weeks ago, and they sang their little hearts out glorifying God. What a great way to end a Sunday!!!!