Spring Break 2025: New Orleans

Our next stop on our epic road trip was New Orleans, LA. We hit some lovely weather on the drive, but otherwise the drive went great!

Said weather.

Trees growing straight out of the water. Nothing I've seen before!

The hotel was not as lovely as the last one, but I told myself it was only for one night, so we did fine. We found a fast-food restaurant called Sliders really close by and decided to try it out. The weather was super nice for eating outside!

Kids did great on the drive!

Time for some food!

We decided to go to City Park and check it out. It definitely exceeded my expectations! We drove up and saw all these beautiful trees with Spanish moss hanging, creating an ethereal effect. This park had many things to do, like an amusement park, a botanical garden, a storyland sculpture garden, mini golf, regular golf, and much more. We ended up doing none of those things, as there was still a lot to explore. 

Group shot on the swing!

We've put Eli to work to take pictures of Mom and Dad too.

In front of the mini golf area. 

I followed Noah around to get his birthday pictures.

After taking some photos we came across this super cute farmers market! They had mostly food. but the only place I purchased from was from a lady who made tons of homemade jams and jellies. There were so many flavors, but I bought a small jar of blood orange jelly and strawberry mango jelly. I didn't try them until I got home, but they were delicious! I used the strawberry mango one as a glaze for a tart I made too. Sad I only got two!

 

We then found the closest playground, and the kids played for a long time! It also happened to be by the cafe I wanted to go to, Cafe Mondu. Cafe Mondu sold beignets, donut-like pastries, special to New Orleans. They were even featured in Princess and the Frog. They tasted tike sopapillas to me, minus the honey and with tons of powdered sugar. 

The playground we spent a good chunk of time playing on.

Cafe Mondu.

This picture cracks me up. The kids faces made it seem like the beignets were nasty.

All our clothes were covered by the end with powdered sugar.

We found structures like these around the park.

One of the many cool trees we came across.

Music was around this park. One man set up his guitar and keyboard near the cafe. This group was really cool though, it was just for kids! They had a man each on guitar, saxophone, and tuba. It really gave a New Orleans vibe to the songs they played for the kids. They also brought scarfs and other things for the kids to use.

Wheels on the Bus time.

Spinning with the other kids!

The kids having a blast with scarves. 

After playing and exploring, we ended our time at the park by going for a walk. Like I said, there was so much to explore!

The white ibis. They were all over this park.

Going over this cool bridge.

Live Oaks with Spanish Moss.

Saying hello to the people on the train.

One of the biggest tree trunks we've seen in the park!

This tree had metal poles holding all the heavy, drooping branches.

Other moss and ferns were growing on these trees.

Look how much moss is on this tree!

These trees really are massive!

Another picture we solicited from Eli.

This park just had the coolest secret garden vibes.

Cool mushrooms growing on dead trees.

Another cool structure.

Our sweet Joseph.

I very recently started a state magnet collection and wanted to grab one for Louisiana. We headed to the French Quarter, which is probably the area most people think of when they picture New Orleans. The buildings were colorful, the streets were packed, and we saw shops for art, jazz, Mardi Gras, and voodoo. There was no place to park, so I jumped out at the gift shop and Sam drove around while I quickly picked out a magnet. 

A balcony with Mardi Gras decor.

VooDoo shop.

One-man band street performer. 

A VooDoo daddy. 

I found my magnet, and we got out of there. There were interesting things, but I can see why I got mixed opinions on New Orleans. City Park was a 10 out of 10 for me, but French Quarters was too busy to really appreciate it. Sam got stuck behind a horse and buggy while coming back for me. We drove to Mississippi shortly after that, so that concludes our blog post. 

Spring Break 2025: Houston

I wanted to catch up on the blog, but we recently went on a big trip that I didn't want to forget the details of! I will go out of order and write about our recent spring break and all our adventures. We took a road trip on I-10 eastbound until we reached the end at Jacksonville, FL. Then we went south to Orlando to go to a couple amusement parks. We never did a road trip like this because we made daily stops to do something in each state. I'll break it up into a few blog posts so I don't make one giant one.

First stop, Houston! We took the kids out of school a couple hours early after getting everything ready and hit the road. I wanted to stop at Buc-Ee's for dinner, and they had so many choices! Sam and I both got brisket. Joseph got random items like fruit, boiled eggs, and olives. It's so big inside, too! We ended up stopping at Buc-Ee's for gas and bathroom breaks a few more times this trip. It's a pretty cool place!

With the Beaver himself!

Our hotel was great! The kids immediately got in their swimsuits (even though the pool was cold) and went for a swim. Our room had three beds AND a pull-out bed, the most beds we had this trip. It even had a kitchenette! And the breakfast was nice. I can't say the same for a few of the hotels we stayed at on this trip...

Couldn't wait any longer!

I didn't dare go in...too cold!

Look at this cutie-patootie!

One room had two beds.

And another room just for mom and dad!

Joseph took the couch.

Eden reading to her little brother...too precious!

We debated between the NASA space museum and Meow Wolf. They recently opened up a location in Houston and the kids wanted to see it. I did too, to be honest, so that's what we ended up doing!

I guess each Meow Wolf has a story to follow, and this Meow Wolf followed a Radio Station that found itself in an alternate dimension. I wanted to solve the mystery of how that happened, but with kids, it was better just to enjoy the art and mysteries in each room. The art was really weird and really cool.

These guys sang in weird voices when you touched them.

 

Felix became one of the radio hosts...we don't know what he is. He was snoring the whole time.

We found Batsy, another radio host, in a file cabinet. It was kind of a jump scare!

Space drinks.

A weird bakery display window.

A fun claw machine to play with.

Cowboix Hevvven, a space tavern we came across.

Eden singing into the microphone.

We bought cool 3-D glasses to view some of the art. Joseph wore them the whole time.

Getting a group photo!

I think one of the radio hosts...died? He was crusted over with these glow things.

Fun glowing drinks.

Last photo!

I would definitely go back (although it was somewhat pricey) to explore the rooms more in-depth. It is really hard to explain Meow Wolf other than it just needs to be experienced. The artists are so talented! Weird, but talented! After Meow Wolf, we hit the road to New Orleans.

Dear Noah,

 

Happy 4th Birthday, buggy boy! I wanted to write this sooner, sorry! We found this cute park in New Orleans on our spring break trip and knew it would be the perfect place to take your photos. You definitely hammed it up for us! Now onto the letter.

Looking back on your last letter, I see your favorite foods haven't changed! Chocolate milk, go-gurts, and fruit snacks are still your go-to asks every day. Cereal is added to the list, and you are Mister Independent making sure you are the one who gets the spoon and chooses where to sit. You are a tall boy, and I think I need to move you up a size even though I swear I just got new clothes for you. Needless to say, you are getting bigger and taller every day. 

As for your interests, you love building things with your hands. Especially marble runs. You love to make different setups and see which marbles make it down first. You ask to watch videos of marble races as well and like to choose a marble to see if it makes it down first. You like cars and car tracks, magnet tiles for building, and will build with your brother's legos as well. Your favorite show is Octonauts, and ask to watch it almost every day. I started putting on Lego shows and movies for you, and you seem to enjoy those, too.

We found out that full-day preschool is offered at your siblings' elementary school and now that you are four you can join in the fall. I don't know how I feel about that. We will do it of course, as it's free and very convenient, but you've stayed home with me all your life! That's a big change, but I know you will enjoy it. You have FOMO (fear of missing out) when it comes to your siblings. You always want to tag along and know you would be stoked to join them in going into the school. You would make great friends and get to do fun and exciting things. Although you do great at home and play by yourself all the time, I think you would love the change. As for me, I have to figure out what to do once my last baby enters school!

 

You have such a funny personality! You are into potty humor big time! More than your siblings ever were at your age. In fact, you will substitute many words while reading the scriptures with poop or fart, and your siblings love it. Mom, not so much. You also love puppies! You insist you are a puppy and love to carry around all your stuffed puppies. They all have fun names, from Rancher to Sarah to Sue to Sunny to Dory, and Ruff. Ruff is your favorite puppy you refer to him as your best friend. You lost him for a while and prayed almost every day to find him. We found him the week of your birthday after I've given up on finding him. It was so fun to see your face light up!

 

Being the youngest can be hard sometimes. You want to join your siblings but either don't know the rules of their games or annoy them, haha! You also flip-flop where you sleep. But to be fair, so does Eden. The most recent sleeping arrangements land you in Eden's room in her bed while Eden sleeps with Eli. That seems to work for now, but I know it will change like it always does. You mess up their rooms during the day, so when it comes time to clean their rooms, they tell me you made the mess, so it isn't fair! I like that you are getting older in that you can play with your siblings more and participate in more things. We took a road trip recently and it was nice not having any babies to take care of or any diapers to change. It's bittersweet to see the baby grow up for sure.

Well, I hope this gives a small glimpse of who you are as a person Noah. I love reading these letters and remembering each of the ages of stages, and I just want to capture Noah at four, since you will never be four again. You are a bright spot in my days and I'm so happy you joined our not-so-little family! Keep being the sweet and spunky boy that you are!

Love,

Mama