Why are you doin' this to me!?

Yes. My 4 year old nephew asked me this while plodding down Canal St in New Orleans while we were on vacation.
First thought about the entire trip is we must do more things like this. Possibly involving other family members.
The entire trip I thought about how Zack and Alex should be with us. How Eric could have come too and we could have all enjoyed ourselves.. together. But that isn't the case is it? If you're a sister reading this.. you may just want to stop here.

I admit. I overplanned life for three days for my Buster. I didn't think about the "walking" part being unfun. The weather didn't cooperate. We were overtired and overdone.
I, however, had a freakin blast.

It started on Thurday nite when my clothes horse of a nephew decided we were bringing all his clothes. He might need it. At one point he put on his tie (clip on) with his spiderman sleep shirt.
We went from using the smaller new suitcase to using the larger one because my stuff and his stuff took up more room and there was no way I was going without makeup.
I should have left my laptop(s) behind. We never had a down moment that we could have really made use of any internet connection out there.

Friday had a later start because Buster needed to "rest my eyes" a lil longer and actually got back under the covers to snore (fake) for me.
I finally got to Granny's got Kailey and we all kissed Snowball and hit the road.. and made it all of 3 miles to the gas station where we filled up and got snacks.. (and saw Kevin LaSalle whom I'd not seen in years and wow how odd)
If momma had ever taken Buster to visit me he'd have been used to the drive.. She didn't. He wasn't. We were questioned (often) about how long was it gonna take and how come we were going so far. I ended up answering him "it's worth it" from then on.. and yes.. this question came up often with him.

I was wowed.. yes I said wowed by the New Orleans zoo. I had an awesome time.. I was hot and dressed for 60 degree weather and it was roughly 84 but it was so worth it and so much better than I remember it.. and we didnt even see everything. We spent about 3 hours.. and then jumped back in the car to go to the hotel.
Buster was taken by the great KK down to the pool while I showered and got myself together.. After that we went to eat sushi like good Catholics... and had ice cream on the sidewalk of my favorite restaurant while visiting with my boys Bassam and Jeremy. Finally. after two years of hunting for something even close I FINALLY got to have good Ashta. It was heaven. Pure, Pure, Pure heaven. Somethings are as good as our memory.. somethings are well worth the wait.. and returning home is one of them.
I looked forward to Bassam and Jeremy (that's fool to the rest of you) coming visit us at the hotel.. we were runnin on fumes though and ended up with a sleeping baby and a pj'd KK before the gents got downtown.
J, B, and I went walk Bourbon since KK was so gracious about staying with Buster.. It was good to see people back on the streets. It was good to smell (ok not so much) the life returning to my city. I could almost squint my eyes and believe the storm hadn't happened.. til I remembered I'm not that girl any more.
Saturday brought a trek down to Cafe Du Monde.. only to find we were hours late and the lines were stupid long. Then we were insulted by a waitress and stuck in the rain.. then we took off walkin to meet Germy (as Buster took to calling him after "fool" didn't stick) and I realized we were at Central Grocery.. so a muff and a half were stuffed into the backpack and we hailed a taxi.
Yes. I caved. I took a taxi. And dont you know.. since it was St Patty's day all of 4 days later they charged us extra for "special event" charges.. .that's my NOLA.. Always lookin for somethin out of nothin.

Even with me paying this extra charge we were dropped off well beyond what was a quick walk to the aquarium... Luckily however, we had our tickets so we were able to go find a window ledge out of the crowd and have our breakfast of lunch. And Ships. which you and I would call chips.. but my baby is missin his two front teeth.
Jeremy didn't listen to Tantie Nikki at all when she told him where to park so he was soaked to the bone and we were quite the foursome. We had a blast touching sting rays and nurse sharks and alligators.. and taking pictures and takin pictures and takin pictures.

After that we did the Insectatorium or something. We ate bugs. We being Kailey and I.. since Buster had a melt down saying he doesnt eat bugs. ever. ever. ever. ever. The evers got louder and I was close to being "that woman with the screaming child".

We walked back to the hotel with a minor detour for me to visit with two old coworkers who were in the FQ for the Irish Italian marching parade.. but we needed naps.. so we slept til 7 and then had a proper feast at Phoenicia.. the best place on the face of the planet. Followed by Morning Call.. it was the perfect ending to the perfect day (of disaster).

Sunday brought accidents and delays and almost getting rained on again. But we found (eventually) treats for everyone but KK and Tantie and a toy for Buster.. but we always can go back, huh?

So. Tha's it. I'm sure theres a blog or seventeen about spending time in my city. with Jeremy. With my Buster. but.. that's what happened.. and I'm stickin to my story.

Pics to follow if Blogger isnt being a butthead.