Our Vacation Post #2

I hope everyone will excuse me while I spend a few days recording the memories of our family vacation (since this is basically my virtual scrapbook).

Friday, July 18, 2008

We had such a great drive to Lafayette, LA. We had all week to get everything organized and ready, and we got on the road by 9:30 a.m. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center after crossing the LA border, and Emily saw an alligator warning sign. She became very afraid that an alli-gay-lor is going to try to eat her. She was NOT happy here (because of the alli-gay-lors) and had to be bribed to stand here long enough for Mommy to take a picture.



She was somewhat confused as to why we didn’t immediately get on a big boat when we were in Louisiana. I have been trying to explain to her for weeks about how we are going to stay in one hotel in Lafayette, then go to New Orleans and stay in another hotel 2 nights. Then, we will wake up and get on the big boat. I have tried every way I can think of to help illustrate this to her, but nothing has worked. Oh, well, I guess she’ll understand when it happens ☺

This is Dee with the kids at the LA welcome center. It was not exactly gorgeous lighting, but I had to record E & T's first steps in Sportsman's Paradise! Can I give the welcome center props for having a Family Restroom?



Our hotel, Courtyard by Marriot, was perfect. They had a pack-n-play, heated indoor pool, breakfast buffet (kids were free). They also referred us to a yummy restaurant, Lafayette's. We ate a delicious seafood dinner. I had blackened redfish covered in their award-winning crawfish etouffee sauce. It was served over garlic-parmesan roasted potatoes. YUM!

When we returned to the hotel after dinner, we took the kids for a quick swim to wear them out and proceeded to try to get everyone to sleep. This did not go well until we came up with the idea to put Ty to sleep in the pack-n-play in the bathroom. Surely we can not be the first family to put the baby or toddler to sleep in the bathroom when they can’t fall asleep in the hotel room with everyone else! It worked nicely, but we had to use the bathroom by the exercise room which fortunately, was not very far down the hall.

Now if only the rest of our little trip had been this smooth (I am closing with a teaser, so that you will be wondering day and night until my next post, what exactly happened once the Trckas got to New Orleans).