What can I say about this weekend except that coming back from vacation on a Thursday + a spring cold has me feeling out of sorts and confused about what day it is. But I know we celebrated my sister’s birthday, Joey and Dempsey went to the CU Spring Game and Lydia and I attended Lauren’s baby shower on Sunday. All fun and happy things 🤍

Busted out my new red beans and rice soap from NOLA on Friday. Don’t worry it doesn’t really smell like beans 😋 And look, our tulips started to bud while we were gone! Worked and did a bunch of vacation laundry on Friday, then spent the evening at Edgewater Public Market to celebrate my sis. We put two candles in Dempsey’s ice cream cone and then he blew them out for Aunt Bean 😂 We hadn’t seen her or Wayne since their trip to Mexico City/Puerta Vallarta but it sounded like they had such a nice time and they brought back some really nice gifts for all of us!

This little girl loves to randomly wake up in the 5:30/6 AM hour and that’s too early for Mom. Joey is always kind enough to get up with her so I can catch some extra zzzzs. Saturday morning I found them downstairs watching Top Gun: Maverick. She was just starting to doze off when I came down, go figure! Awake and happy in her chair by the time we had breakfast ready though. Hadn’t made our favorite vegan pancakes in a minute so they tasted extra good! Jory and Betsy got tickets for us and our older kiddos to go to the CU Spring Game but this cold is still plaguing me and we woke up to snow on the ground, so didn’t feel like the best idea for me to go sit out in the cold for three hours. Joey and Dempsey still went though and judging from the pictures, videos and their own report, they had a great time. Joey had been practicing the fight song with Dempsey for a few weeks and he’d gotten so good at it!

Back at home, me and Little Miss were cuddling 🥰 We put Dempsey down for a suuuper late nap when they got back home then woke him up an hour later. Joey and I tag-teamed dinner and I was smart enough to plan soup for a snowy day. Dempsey told us “I don’t want soup!” then ate almost the whole bowl. He’s so funny sometimes. Put those babes to bed and fired up Ted Lasso, which I didn’t realize we were so many episodes behind on!

Sunday 🤍 Lydia was awake and chatting to herself at 6:30, so Joey took her downstairs again. Once Dempsey and I were up, Joey made egg sandwiches for the boys. I took a shower then put Lyds down for her nap and once she was back up, we both got dressed and headed out the door with my sis to my sister-in-law’s baby shower. I know I had two co-ed showers myself, but there is something nice about an all female event. Lauren looked lovely and everyone gifted she and Adam such nice stuff. Lori knocked it out of the park again with that golf cart diaper cake! And the babies had a sweet moment of looking at each other 😍

Since I had done all the laundry on Friday, the rest of our Sunday was oddly relaxed. I made salads and we all took a long walk around the lake and stopped at the park, where Dempsey was absolutely enthralled by a man and his daughter flying a kite. Guess we’ll have to get him one! Wishing you all a good and happy week.

Ahh, spring in New Orleans. Nothing better 🤍 The city is just fully in bloom, beautiful and warm without being humid, plus snoballs and crawfish are in season. Truly the best time of year to be there! We lucked out and didn’t even get any rain. It was Lydia’s first time there (and first plane ride/vacation ever!) and both Dempsey and Lori’s second and wow, we just had the best time. Well, actually, I developed a cold and breastfeeding on the go had me feeling like I was going to end up with mastitis on that trip, but otherwise it was a perfect time. Feeling very lucky that our babies are such good and adaptable travelers. Lydia slept through both flights and basically every activity we did and Demps napped and slept in a big bed like he’d been doing it his whole life. One thing’s for certain — two grandmas is the only way to travel!

Two good kids on the plane / The longest wait for a rental car / Baby’s first Yoo-Hoo / Nosediving into a tray of spicy crawfish

Breakfast at Surrey’s is a must / Everything closed on Mondays down Magazine means pivoting with a trip to the Quarter / Streetcar breastfeeding / Beignets and a walk along the river / The best BBQ I’ve ever had at The Joint / Twilight swinging / Getting wrangled for bed by two grandmas

District Donuts / Audubon Zoo and the freakiest (but coolest) white gator / Dempsey’s first snoball! / TV time with Mom / Beaded balcony / Garlic knots with aged provolone fonduta at Pizza Domenica

Morning walk through the Garden District / Molly’s Rise & Shine / Mardi Gras World — none of us had ever been and I thought it was very cool and informative, plus free King Cake! — Parkway for shrimp sandwiches and lunchtime cocktails / Port Orleans for snacks, beers, ring toss, pinball and time with my uncle

Coffee and pastries at Orleans Coffee Espresso Bar / A King Cake teether I couldn’t pass up / Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery — I think 1779 was the earliest date we saw! / Collard Green Melt at Turkey & the Wolf (though I preferred the Fried Bologna)

I think we ate, drank and played well this trip. I can’t wait to go back!