Sunday, December 13, 2015

The Lauer Family

I had so much fun capturing some memories of the Lauer family this fall.  Bennett is a very smart little boy and so much fun. He is one of Colter's good friends.  His sweet, teething baby bro, Nash is so squeezable.  Love them both!!!  You can see so much love radiating from these boys' mom and dad.  Such an awesome family!! Thank you so much for having me take your pictures! :)
















Monday, December 7, 2015

New Orleans, 2015

Hi everybody!  I just wanted to hop on here really quick and share some pictures from my recent trip to New Orleans!  Joey had a work thing, so my mom and I decided to tag along and explore while he was in class all day long.  :)  It was so special to get to have my mom with us, and made it a lot more enjoyable for me to have a partner in crime all day long.  :)  Joey and I had been there in 2012 so I was familiar enough with the French Quarter to play tour guide so we ate, drank, and shopped our way through the quarter.  Here are a few pictures of our adventure if you'd like to see.  If you're planning a trip there, feel free to send any questions my way!!!  I love NOLA.


St. Louis Cathedral + mule drawn carriage

Our first stop upon arrival was to the Gumbo Pot. I think I ate my body weight in gumbo this trip.  SO. GOOD. 
Bourbon Street signs


St. Louis Cathedral

French Market 
My momma is seriously beautiful!
French Market 




I had a breakfast po boy at Mother's Restaurant, it's huge.
Joey and I always try to pick up local art where ever we travel.  This was a street artist's work in Jackson Square. Don't be afraid to dicker on prices a little bit. I knocked $25 off the price of this piece. 
A lot of history in this bar, and some smells....the vibe is pretty cool though.  


Had to take a walk down Bourbon Street to show mom ;) 

One of us is spicy and the other is sweet....hint, mine has a cherry on top.  (sorry mom lol)
This is us with Cole, he is 5 and still in training.  He reminded us so much of our one Charlie Mule at home. Mom's keeping an eye on him, he was trying to pull some shenanigans.  

Cole again, thinking he could walk on the sidewalk too.  He has a free spirit.  NOLA uses only mules of their carriage rides, for a few reasons but they can handle heat and humidity better than horses.  (many people thought these were horses though....) I recommend taking a carriage ride, we did a French Quarter/Cemetery #1 tour.  The bigger carriages are cheaper, we were the first on so we got to chose our seat.  There is a whole row of carriages, so how I chose is to look at the driver and make sure he/she looks nice to his animal and doesn't smoke, then I'm happy.  Cole here got a banana after his ride.  He doesn't like apples.  :) 


Cemetery #1 tour, it felt kind of rushed.  You have to go in with a guide now a days because of the vandalism.  Make sure you stick with your group....no doddling, right mom?!  LOL!  Somebody asked what was with the XXX's and our guide said nobody really knows but some people say it's for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, some people say 3 can't be divided, some say it's legend to knock 3 times (to wake the dead), mark Marie Laveaus' tomb tomb with XXX in chalk or brick, knock 3 times again, then make a wish.  Then you must leave an offering.....I say....you get in big trouble for vandalizing the tombs, so take a pretty picture and move on.  :)  They really are quite beautiful.  Some are in much better shape than others.   Nicholas Cage purchased the last tomb in Cemetery #1, and it's really ugly.  I didn't photograph it.  



Marie Laveaus' tomb, her daughter is buried here as well. 

Cafe Du Monde from the carriage 
We stubmled upon this band on my favorite street in the French Quarter and they were so good!  We wound up eating dinner where they were playing that night, which was a place close to Frenchman Street, where were we going to go to the art Market anyway.  Win Win!  Their name is Yes, Ma'am and you should really check them out.  


The Frenchman Art Market was a fun stop.  This is a little ways off from the French Quarter and it has a different vibe.  You can find a place along Frenchman Street that's playing good music and/or stroll through the market.  It's not huge, but has art, jewelry, clothes, and super cute dog collars (which we brought home for Winston and Sawyer) :)



We decided to take a swamp tour on they day we flew home.  It was really fun and definitely worth while.  It would have been even more amazing had it been warmer weather for more animals.  This bridge works by a weight system, they lower the big cement blocks and the bridge goes up.  It's full of rust because during hurricane Katrina, the water was actually all the way up in the little building there.

Shrimp boat


We only saw a couple small alligators because the big boys were already buried in the mud keeping warm. Alligators eat marshmallows, FYI. :) 
Our swamp tour guide, Troy. 
Two raccoons, who have a love for marshmallows.
Cyprus trees 
The kissing tree 
Our guide called in the wild pigs, they know his voice...this is Hamlet.  
and here is Oreo...
Swamp selfie 

Last meal of our stay, well I had gumbo, but mom and Joey had to try the famous Drago's charbroiled oysters...