Celebrating your birthday in style

Adam getting ready to add a batch to the pot.

Every year we, along with our friends, host a big crawfish boil. I think this is either the 5 or 6th year we have done it. We usually order around 100 lbs of crawfish and spend the day at a local park cooking it and hanging out with our friends.

waiting for another batch. It was unseasonably cold this year. I had to steal Adam's fleece.

This year the party happened to fall on our birthday. (Did you know Adam and I share the same birthday? Although he is a year older.)

Good friends. Love these ladies.

We invite around 100 or so people and we always get a great turn out. The party this year was a little smaller, but it was awesome because all of our closest friends made it. I honestly think everyone should experience a crawfish boil. I will say not everyone enjoys the crawfish, but those that don't want to eat it usually bring inferior meals like Chick-fil-A to sustain them.

The table with freshly dumped potatoes, garlic, mushrooms, sausage, crawfish and corn. Delicious!

There is nothing like standing around a table eating with your friends. I'm sure it might be a little more entertaining and the crawfish a bit hotter if alcohol was involved, but.. we usually make due. It is a lot of work. We love it, but it really is a lot of work.

The hosts.

Every year we ask one another if we are ready to talk about the boil and most years we can't even discuss it until sometime around February/March of the following year. We always need a good 8 months to forget about the annoying things. But, this year both Carrie and I looked at each other and said- "wow. we have to do this again next year." Maybe we have finally worked out all the kinks and the idea of planning it isn't painful.

This year we had a huge bag of Mardi Gras beads. Carrie's family went to Mardi Gras and they brought all the reject beads. If you have ever been to Mardi Gras you know what I'm talking about. Beads are a BIG DEAL! Fancy beads are an even BIGGER DEAL.

Girls decked out in Mardi Gras beads.

This little one loved the beads. I have a similar picture of Adam from our first year in New Orleans.

Sorting beads.

I highly recommend checking your calendar next year and coming for our annual crawfish boil. It really is a fantastic tradition.

The Big Easy

One of the days we were in town we hopped on the streetcar to head downtown to the quarter. The first year we lived in New Orleans we were sans car, so part of our day was spent riding the streetcar. We rode it everywhere, including school, Banana Republic, and my weird temp jobs. Although we loved the experience- Mardi Gras parades were HIGHLY inconvenient (the streetcar stopped running at 5pm so if you missed it, you were in for a LONG walk), grocery shopping was a joke (luckily we had a small grocery near our house) and once Adam started rotations we HAD to have a car.

As we rode the streetcar down with our kids and pointed out all of our favorite haunts like our old 1, 2, and 3 apartments (we moved a lot while we lived there), Lee Circle, The D-Day Museum, the church on St. Charles, etc.. it brought back lovely memories and even though it could be a hassle, I miss those rides.

A little grouchy on the streetcar ride, but she cheered up

Ted loved the ride and so did Buzz.

Ted loves beignets.

Oh so delicious!

Going Home: Day Two

Ted had a hard time keeping his head in the street car. Clearly he couldn't read this:




These two loved the street car ride. They were impressed I rode it the entire first year we lived in NOLA, because we didn't have a car.

Our church building right on St. Charles.

"Mmmm Cafe Du Monde. More powdered sugar please!"

We went to the insectarium. It was AWESOME. I especially loved this display.


This is inside the Zen garden. They have a large number of butterflies. Lulu was v. patient waiting for a butterfly to land on her. After waiting for about 15 minutes the nice entomologist picked one up for her and put it on her arm.

"I ate a bug."

Later that night we got a sitter for the kids and headed out to another favorite restaurant with Phil and Marcelle. I was mildly horrified when I found out how much a babysitter cost in New Orleans. Yikes.

It was a great day except for the heated words exchanged at the streetcar stop when herds of people jumped in front of us and didn't recognize that it might NOT be polite to butt in front of the two woman traveling with two strollers and three small kids that waited at the stop for over 20 minutes at the front of the line. Stupid tourist.

Going Home: Day One

Few places give me a general sense of peace like New Orleans. I'm not saying that the trip wasn't crazy, or that it wasn't hot and sticky, or that there weren't a ridiculous number of tourist, but I am saying that at the end of the day I always feel like I've come home.

I took advantage of the long weekend and made the drive to New Orleans with just little old me and my two littles. Adam was on call for the bulk of the weekend so he missed all the excitement. On the way in, we stopped in Baton Rouge to pick up this lovely lady.

Love this lady. It was nice to spend the last bit of the drive chatting with her. We had a lot to talk about. We were lucky to have her around the whole weekend, as well as her awesome British fiancee. We always stay with our friend Livy and her family.

Side note:
Years ago the three of us, along with two more, took yearly trips to reconnect and regroup. Unfortunately grad school, fellowships, lack of funds, and lots of bebes have put the kibosh on our trips. However we came to the agreement that our dream vacation would happen in 2 years. We are headed to the Bay of Fundy to see the puffins. The reasons are too long to explain, but we have been dreaming about this trip for nearly 10 years.

The next morning we opted for pastries from La Boulangerie to start the day. If you ever go to NOLA this is the best french bakery in the city. It is always on my list. After breakfast we headed to the zoo. New Orleans has an AMAZING zoo. When Adam and I lived there we had a zoo membership and went nearly every week.

When I get with my girlfriends I swear we sound like this flock of flamingos.

Ain't it the truth. It gives me an eerie feeling to read this quote.

Ted was an awesome climber. He and Lulu did it a handful of times. Each time they would walk all the way to the end of the long corridor and Ted would turn around and run full speed back. Maniac.

Whenever you go to New Orleans a good rock in a porch rocking chair is a must.

This is in the Louisiana Bayou section of the zoo. We actually attended Adam's cadaver ball at the end of his first year of medical school. The party is in honor of all the individuals that donated their bodies to the anatomy lab.

Best way to cool off on a hot day: Hansen's Sno Balls. It was a long line, but totally worth the wait. Many might argue that their sno ball shop is the best, but I stand firm in my decision!

Dinner: I was hoping for a Domilise's Po-Boy but they were closed. Frankie and Johnny Po-Boys was a happy alternative. Delicious.