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!

Whew, I knew we were starting off our April with a bang but I didn’t realize we’d be 10 days in and I’d already feel exhausted! Last week, we celebrated Joey’s birthday, went to Opening Day for the Rockies, attended Lauren and Adam’s wedding dinner and yesterday, celebrated Easter. Probably doesn’t help that Lydia has been thrashing around in her crib at 3 AM for the past few nights, so we’ve been playing game after game after game of paci pong and I think I’m still recovering from Dempsey skipping his nap on Opening Day 🤪😂 But it was still such a nice weekend. Nothing like warm weather and spending time with family 🤍

Can’t believe I got to share another Opening Day with my baby and now, another baby! It was cold until the sun reached us and then it was HOT. We stayed to sing during the 7th Inning Stretch, then peeled out and once Joey left for bowling, all hell broke loose. I finally got Dempsey in his crib and he asked “what was happening to me?” Dude, I do not even know 😬

Had a very low-key Friday, thank goodness. Demps has been fighting a cold for what feels like a month. It’s left him so stuffy and just really wiped out but it’s near impossible to get toddlers to rest, so he’s been going about his days as usual, just whinier and more prone to tantrums 🤪 Got him to bed, then assembled Easter baskets and watched Top Chef. I’m loving this international group of chefs this season!

Saturday started with lemon poppyseed pancakes and a trip to the park — we got a new double stroller and WOW, it’s so nice! — then ended with Lauren and Adam getting married! We were back at home in bed at 10 o’clock last night when I realized I didn’t get a picture with the newlyweds OR with the four of us. I’m so sad and mad about it! But you can sort of see the kids’ outfits in the pictures above. Those shoes didn’t really fit me or Lydia very well 😂 Joey and I got to be the witnesses on the marriage certificate and I felt so honored! What a lovely celebration for them 🤍

Here’s a slew of Easter morning photos! I think Dempsey had more fun going through his sister’s basket than his own 😂 And it’s a toss up on who’s more excited about his new knife set, me or him! Did a little egg hunt in the backyard after breakfast and he was too cute. Made me excited for Lydia’s second and third Easters.

Post-afternoon naps, we let Demps and Lydia open their Easter gifts from Grandma Lori. Dempsey got a basketball hoop and let’s just say he may have inherited Mom’s athleticism instead of Dad’s 😬 Back inside, I had a toddler’s help making deviled eggs and needless to say, they didn’t turn out the prettiest 😂😂 I laughed at him arranging the plate with the little pieces he’d chopped up though. Headed to my parents’ for dinner and Dempsey complained about the egg smell the whole way. He’s not wrong! My mom spoiled us all, as usual and I’m so excited to dig into all of it. She knocked it out of the park on dinner too! Dempsey ran off from the table minutes into the meal but returned later in his “wrestling mask.” This kid! King Cake for dessert and then the most overstimulating car ride home, featuring a screaming baby, a talkative toddler, “We Don’t Talk about Bruno” blasting and me feeling like I’m about to lose my mind. Whew, I’m beat!

Hope you all had a good weekend and got to spend time with family yesterday 🤍