Mardi Gras World

I know it's a little late, but I have finally gotten around to posting pictures from Mardi Gras World.  Again, it was lots of fun and very interesting, even for us locals.  I definitely recommend the tour for anyone.

 

Emily's Birthday Party

Party pictures, as promised. We had a beautiful day and lots of kids showed up.  Unfortunately, these are the only pictures from the party - we were having fun, too. 

 

By the way, I made the cake - and it was purple and gold inside.  And it tasted yummy,too.

 

Happy 7th Birthday, Emily!

Our little peanut has turned seven.  In this last year she stopped sucking her thumb, started reading, started taking piano lessons, joined the team with Eva (hates it), and entered 1st grade -at a new school.  She's come a long way in that year. 

 

Granny gave her a Snuggie, as requested (just like Eva).

 

 

Eva gave her this Rapunzel nightgown, which can double as dress-up.

David and I gave her this cool bow set.  She's been practicing and is getting better.

Here is a video of her shooting it. Be sure to listen for the 'thud.'  That's her sticking the side of our shed. 

 

Her birthday party is this Saturday - pics to come. 

 

Here's hoping the upcoming year is as good, or better, as the last.

David's New Car

So, David's Prius gave him a serious caution sign one day.  He researched it and unhooked the 12 volt battery then hooked it back up and Voila! - the caution sign was gone.  About 2 days later it happened again. This time we towed it to the dealer to find out what was really going on with it.  Turned out it was 'something' with the hybrid system, but they were unsure what exactly.  It was going to cost us $500 to find out.  If a part needed replacement, the cheapest part was going to cost us about $3000.  Keep in mind, this is an 8 year old car with 225,000+ miles on it.  And, he puts at least 100 miles per day on the car. 

 

So, we painfully opted to buy another.  He got a 2014 Toyota Corolla. Nothing fancy, but they're much bigger inside than previous models. 

 

2014 has been rough so far.  More on that later.

 

 

 

Maybe we'll still have it when Eva starts to drive. That's in 7 years.  Eek!

Christmas 2013, con't



Christmas was excellent this year. We had lots of time with family, and we did touristy stuff also.  One of the cooler things we did was take a tour of Mardi Gras World. I highly recommend it, not only for tourists but locals, too. It was neat seeing all of the characters from the floats and being able to recognize many of them.  The tour starts off with a short film, costumes to try on and take pictures in, then a piece of Gambinos king cake.  Next your head into the shop area where artists are currently working on floats for mardi gras 2014.  They gave you plenty of time, as much as you'd like, to walk around on your own and take pictures.  They do have a cafe, but it was closed for remodeling.  Because of this, they did allow us to bring lunch in and eat it there.   

 

 

     

 

 

I do have more and better pictures, but I haven't had time to go through them, so these will have to do; they are from my phone. 

The Sunday after Christmas was Saints Sunday, and we gave our tickets to David's brother and his wife so they could experience a Saints game in the Dome.  We started with lunch at Port-of-Call, then walked through the French Market and ended up at the Roosevelt Hotel for a sazerac.  We walked them to the Dome and David and I headed to a bar to watch the game.  It was a really nice day, plus the Saints won, their last win, by the way.

 



Christmas 2013

Christmas Recital

The girls had their Christmas recital yesterday at Southeastern. 

 

Emily playing Away in a Manger:

 

 

 

 

 

Eva playing Jingle Bells:

 

 

 

Eva and Emily playing their duet, Carol of the Bells:

 

 

In this one Emily decided to play her part at the very end incorrectly, knowingly.  You'll see Eva tell her something about it, but it was too late.  Once finished and back in their seats, Eva broke into tears.  She's such the perfectionist.  No one knew but her, her teacher, and me.  It still sounded great.  Not sure if they'll be any more duets in their future if Emily keeps having Emily moments. I think it's more than Eva can handle. 

Christmas Duet

The girls have a piano recital coming up this weekend.  Each is playing a solo:  Eva is playing Jingle Bells and Emily is playing Away in a Manger.  The are also playing Carol of the Bells as a duet; although, Eva can play this solo. 

 

Here is a practice session this morning before school:

 

Tree Lights

Last night before I went to bed I went to check in on the girls, as I always do. When I opened the door, I found Emily asleep in front of their little Christmas tree. Apparently, she tried to sleep in the top bunk with Eva, but Eva kicked her out after getting hot, so down she went. 

This morning when I went to wake them up, she was back in her bed. 

Santa 2013

We decided to go to Bass Pro to see Santa this year because they offer free Santa pictures - and it was something to do. I am so tired of shelling out $20 for Santa pictures when it should really be about the Santa visit and not the picture.  Of course, you pay for it by waiting 2 hours to see him, but we walked around and 'window shopped.'  We could have left and come back at our designated time, but we just decided to hang around.  They have crafts for kids, a cafe, etc. 

After they finally got to see him:
Emily:  "I think he remembered us from last year."
Me:  "Why?"
Emily:  "Because he said we got taller."

That's a good Santa.