New Orleans and a New Year

Yes! We went to New Orleans for the game. It was a crazy trip that took all I had in me. We left early on Tuesday because flights were hard to come by so we spent a lot of time in New Orleans, which to say great would be an overstatement. If anyone wants to go to New Orleans just for a vacation I strongly advise you not to. We had to take Hailey with us and I felt like a terrible mother taking her out after dark because every other store is a strip club or a bar.

Our trip was also interesting because both my mom and Bill got sick and they spent a day in the hospital each to get antibiotics. After hearing their experience at the hospital, it made me extremely glad to have the facilities that we have here. New Orleans is so poor that only 2% of the people that go to the hospital have health insurance. Needless to say that makes for a very long day in a gross hospital.

Here is a picture of a house in the 9th ward where most of the damage was in New Orleans. Coincidentally, where the hurricane hit the hardest and where the levies broke and did the most damage, was in the poorest part of New Orleans. We went and drove around the damage and it was astounding. Most of the homes are still not lived in and have spray paint on the side of the house claiming that it has been deserted or condemned.

If you can't read it, this sign says, "The Lower 9th Ward". As we stopped and asked a paramedic for directions to the 9th ward his exact word were to take a certain street, and we would know when we were in it and when we what looked like nothing, and if we start getting shot at we had gone too far. (Yes, everyone in the car still wanted to go except for me) I honestly have never been so terrified of being shot and the rest of my family had their camera's out. It was defiantly a scary experience and the next day we found out that three people were shot and killed on the very street we drove down.

We did have some fun! The food was very good and I tried oysters for the first time. They actually don't taste like anything if you put tons of horseradish and cocktail sauce on them with a cracker. (I actually like them).

Here is Hailey with Nemo beads and a hat - essentials for New Orleans

One great thing that we did was go to the Aquarium out there. It was the biggest aquarium I had ever been to, and it was very cool. Hailey loved it until the end when she got tired.

They even have an Amazon display with all the fish from the Amazon and tropical birds. By the way the fish from the Amazon are ugly.

The best part was obviously the game! My mom and I spent the first half of the game in shock. I honestly was just hoping that we would be able to keep up with Alabama, but we ended up killing them, which was so fun.

Hailey even got to shake Kyle's and some of the team's hands; they all loved her.

So here is the lowest part of the trip. I thought that the trip was fine, but I was really ready to go home on Saturday. When we got to the airport we found out that our flight was delayed which was stressful, because we had a connection in Minneapolis. I went to the airport thinking that we could get Hailey dinner there, well I was terribly mistaken. Not only do all of their food places close at 5:00pm, they didn't even have milk! So here I am getting on a plane with a hungry 2 year old, and I know that nothing good can come from this. We get on the plane, and it starts raining so hard that we can't take off so we end up sitting on the plane for an hour. Hailey was a trooper up to this point and it was 7:30 so I figured that if I gave her some Benadryl that she would nod of as the plane took off, (If we did take off), and as we start taking of she starts screaming because she is with Daddy and she want me. She cried so hard that she is practically throwing up. The rest of the flight was a struggle to get her to sleep and she never did, and as we were landing and had to turn off Finding Nemo Hailey started crying so hard that she did throw up. We were then stuck in Minneapolis at midnight and the airport would not give us our bags, so we are all stuck with no cloths or make-up, not even a brush (not to mention all the amenities that a toddler needs #1 Diapers and Milk. The next day we ran to the mall to at least get a pair of fresh cloths and luckily we were able to get on a couple different flights. Hailey went with my mom on a direct flight and the rest of us had a connection in Denver, where we of course had a 5 hour layover. At this point I am beyond myself, without my daughter (which wasn't a big deal, but I am pregnant, hormonal, and tired.) We finally got home after two days of traveling and Greg's sister who took a bus home even beat us. At the end of the day, I am just glad to be home, and I am never taking more than a 1.5 hour flight with Hailey or any 2 year old again.

Well, now that I have that out of my system, I will quit complaining. I mean you should spend at least most of the first part of the New Year with out complaining right?