New Orleans for Thanksgiving

We ditched the idea of a traditional Thanksgiving this year in favor of a trip to New Orleans with our friends, the Craguns. Let me say, it was really nice to not have to think about buying a turkey or getting out the decorations for the table. In that sense, the holiday was really relaxing.

Parade
On our first day there, we went to a parade. It was fun to see all the New Orleans culture. Take a look at the Santa behind us in this picture:

They threw tons of beads at us, which the kids really enjoyed collecting. This is only a fraction of the beads Jaimason collected:

Maleah liked the beads, too! 

 Shopping
The shopping is very interesting there. They have lots of fun touristy stuff to see (of course), like beads, masks, alligator heads, and voodoo dolls. Jaimason chose a voodoo doll to take home.

 

 

House of Blues

 We visited the House of Blues while we were there. It was so fun to go listen to the bands play live music and watch the kids dance. We got some pretty sweet (albeit dark) videos of their moves...but they won't post for some reason.

 Maleah loved our friends' baby. She wanted him to dance alongside her at the House of Blues.

 Swamp Tour

Our favorite part of the trip was the Swamp Tour! They take you out on the swamp in flat boats with a canopy to see alligators. 

 We got up close and personal to a few gators before we even got on the boat. Maleah almost got her nose bitten off and Jaimason had an even closer call than that! Luckily the kids wrangled the gator and ended up sitting on him for a picture.

Ben and Jaimason both caught alligator gars with their bare hands and held them up for a picture. Weird how the fish looks exactly the same in both pictures, isn't it?

While we were on the boat, we saw raccoons, leeches, and of course, gators.

 We even got to hold a baby gator. Both kids were brave and held the little guy.

 Trolley Ride and Cemetery
One day we went on an old-fashioned trolley ride through the historic part of the city to see an old cemetery. The cemetery was really interesting! Because it floods so much in New Orleans, they bury all the people above ground. The kids had a great time! We went on a scavenger hunt to find our birthdays on the headstones. I think Jaimason was the only one who found his.

 We got to eat some great Cajun food and seafood and of course beignets while we were there. Overall, it was pretty enjoyable. Probably not a place we'd ever visit again, but it was nice to do it once.