a trip to NOLA for mom and dad and mini camp for William

Orie and I recently took a trip to New Orleans to celebrate the wedding of some good friends of ours. The trip was my first time to leave William and our first friend vacay since William was born. It was William's first weekend at "camp"!

It was SO MUCH FUN - I can already hear the peanut gallery comments...."you mean you didn't miss William"...."wasn't it horrible to leave him?" "was his schedule so messed up when you got back?"

Yes we missed our child, yes it was weird to drive away with no baby in the back, and no his schedule was not messed up when we got back! He was in SUCH good hands and that made it so much easier to leave and have a blast with so many friends! It also makes me so proud as a mommy that my little boy is so  content and confident in any surroundings....it certainly makes it easier to leave him!

I will start with William's weekend at "camp"....

Thursday night we drove in and spent the night at Orie's house. William woke up with his Nana and Grumpus and three dogs to play with. He was in heaven....his Nana was so excited to spend the day with him. They even had company....his Grandma, Grandpa, aunts and cousins were coming over to celebrate Grandma's birthday!

We left after his morning bottle and I knew he was going to have a great day. I had left a novel of instructions, as my brother in law likes to tell me, and a wardrobe of clothes to last a week! Don't you know he was dressed in his birthday outfit for Grandma!

I don't have pics from this day but I am sure he had a big smile for all his friends....and I am pretty sure he was loved on ALL DAY LONG!

Friday after work Jennifer picked him up for some fun with the V family....he was in heaven again...I mean two big boy cousins running around? It doesn't get much better! I think they partied all night long....he has the best big boy cousins....they take such good care of him...especially Cooper - he ADORES his little cousins and is ALWAYS asking about  William - it melts my heart that this precious two year old who I have dubbed B-A-D (well more like mischievous) has such a huge and compassionate soul for others....come watch him in action one day - he is so kind:)

the three amigos...

cooper's in charge...oh no! 

I wish i had the pic where he pushed william onto the grass and just sort of left him there:) - at least he was strapped in, right?


Saturday William spent the morning with Aunt Kat, Uncle Josh and August....he christened them with high volumes of spit up and really just started the morning off with a bang! They hung out at Tess and Papa's while the Orient Expressed show was going on....I thought William might model a few pieces but since he also spit up all over Amy too I am sure they were thinking back away from the clothes sweet boy!

his aunt kat, aunt jen, uncle josh and uncle rod worked hard on perfecting his "sitting up"

The rest of the day was spent partying like a rock star and definitely not napping....my sweet boy got a big fat F in the nap department while we were away...oops! At least he slept at night, right?

I think my baby was captured by some pirates....

Sunday my sweet boy was kidnapped by his Tess who had been out of town for a week. I think he spent the afternoon in her arms....that is certainly where I found him when I got home!

So in a nutshell, my sweet boy was spoiled rotten from the moment we pulled out of Nana's driveway to the moment we walked in the door....I wouldn't want it any other way!

I love it that his Tess was so upset she didn't get to keep him the whole weekend, I love it that his Nana and Aunt Kat and Aunt Jen wanted him to spend time at their house....I love it that he is so loved!

I think William enjoyed his weekend at "camp"....new faces and experiences are certainly more fun than his boring ole mama and daddy!

NOLA bound Friday morning....we had so much fun! Driving away able to blast some tunes was certainly a big treat...we jammed the whole way!

When we got to New Orleans we were able to visit the Roberts clan in the hotel lobby....then it was off to explore the streets and buy some art - one of my requests of the trip. Well we got about 50 paces out the front door and our friends Jarrod and Kim arrived....so we went and checked in with them and then wandered around a bit....of course the girls wandered into a beautiful art gallery and the boys wandered over to a street cafe to have a beer! Ultimately the boys won...it wasn't that bad though - the day was GORGEOUS and we really enjoyed sitting around and catching up for a bit!

blue dogs on a building...

this was cool...this is kim's shadow on  street box with her mom's maiden name...

orie, jarrod, kimberly

di and orie

yeah! garrett's in town! and he cut his hair:)

our cute little street cafe alley....with tony the tiger!

That night Orie was off to rehearsal and I got ready for dinner...I met the girls down in the lobby and we all waited for the bus to head over to Arnaud's for dinner. It was fabulous! They had a fantastic trio of musicians performing upstairs for cocktail hour! We hung on the balcony, mingled inside, listened to their great tunes and then headed down for a beautiful and delicious dinner celebration. I think rehearsal dinners are so special and fun...this one was no exception!  Afterwards we headed to the Loew's Hotel Swizzle Bar for the after party...again - so much fun! I think this night we were out until 2:30....wow!

di and orie at the rehearsal dinner

beautiful centerpiece on the bride and groom's table

Saturday morning we woke up and got ready for Ben's Last Hoorah at the Bourbon Cowboy....the weather was gorgeous again! We enjoyed another great balcony with the Krewe of Ben and Lecie, munched on some yummy jambalaya and then headed out to roam the streets. 

orie on the balcony...who doesn't love a pink boa?

I picked up a new piece of art from a fabulous artist at Jackson Square...maybe some more on that if I start Tuesday's Treasures again.  We heard some fabulous jazz music from a band consisting of 8-12 year olds - they were amazing! Then it was back to the hotel for a little cat nap and then another round of celebrations!

The wedding and reception were just beautiful....we enjoyed every moment...I wish I had more pics but they are on others cameras - so go check out their blogs if you wanna see more....The reception had a fabulous band, amazing food, great company, a photo booth (where we took WAY too many pictures), fabulous dancing and just a great night with friends!  After the reception we headed out to Pat O'Brien's with friends and listened to the dueling pianos....so much fun! I just love New Orleans....there is never a dull moment! I don't even want to tell you how late we stayed out Saturday night....

di and orie at the reception at the Audubon Tea Room

the boys....aren't they cute? 

the 2nd line at the reception...so fun!

beautiful portrait...the artist was even at the reception doing sketches of guests - so cool!

Orie and I laugh at this huge ass beers sign.....

Years and years ago when Orie worked for the Sheriff's Association we came to New Orleans for convention and stayed at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street....outside the hotel was this sign on a stick....how nice that they now have a real bar and not just a corner selling beers!

Sunday morning we were up packed and ready for brunch by around 10. We knew we needed to get on the road at a fairly decent time to make it home to see William and to celebrate Tess's birthday!  We had brunch at Mother's...I have never been...it was delish and such a fun New Orleans experience.

the sign...dad asked me if i had the ham...yuck - i do NOT like ham

inside our dining area...

After brunch we were on the road for Shreveport....what a long drive the trip home always is. OH well...we made pretty good time and got to walk in the door and see our sweet boy - passed out in his Tess's arms. That evening we all headed to the club to have a fabulous birthday dinner for Tess. Rodney made his delicious chocolate cake and fun was had by all! I love that we really can do it all sometimes! Happy Birthday Tess....we hope your trip was fabulous but even better to return home to all your kiddos for a birthday dinner!

Thanks to all of our helpers for keeping our sweet boy and letting his mama and daddy enjoy a fantastic weekend away with friends. We can't thank you enough!