Do you know what it means...

To miss New Orleans?

I DO!

10 years ago I never thought I'd utter those words, or know why I'd miss it.
For instance that New Orleans is in Louisiana, (The boot shaped state right?) Yeah that's right when Nate said he was applying to Tulane I had NO idea where that was.
That my home would be adorned in Fleur De Lis.
I'd like fish (well white fish, and really the Mahi Mahi at Jacques-Imo's.)
That 65 is considered cold.
That mold can grow in most amazing places.
That I'd be a Saints fan. "God bless you boys!"
That my first child would be born there.
That I would evacuate for 3 hurricanes and return to a partially gutted home to start over, after one particular Hurricane.
That I would get all defensive when people would say is there really a reason to re-build New Orleans?
Or that I would meet some of my dearest friends there?

Nope! This list could go on and on.

We left New Orleans in 2007 and I had no hopes of returning before our tender was done here in Hershey, but all that changed when we found out that the ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologist.) conference was going to be held there in October this year.

AND that the school will pay for you to go if you submitted a medically challenging case and were picked to display your poster for 2 hours during the week.

I told Nate I make him the medically challenging case if he didn't figure a way to get us there.

He totally did his part and thanks to a lady with Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, (Ask Nate what this means, cause I'm not exactly sure even after he's told me 10 times.) we made our poster and headed South.

I went a few days early so I could soak it all in. Immediately after picking up my luggage and walking out those airport doors I was immediately reminded of the smell of mildew, the 100% humidity and that heat that doesn't let anything breathe.

We packed my two into my friend Lora's car along with her two and headed straight to Lebanon's. I got my Chicken Shwarma and it was just as good as I can remember. We then headed to Audubon park where we were greeted with a HUGE New Orleans welcome. Me and Owen were attacked by fire ants and had to run away through puddles of mud.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying all the things I missed. Me and Bryn took the kids to the Aquarium. (Still one of my favorites.)





They were so excited they were running up and down this tunnel screaming!





Not so sure about being this close to the fish.



This just freaks me out!





Liam touching his first sting ray. I think I squealed a little myself, they're just freaky feeling.





The boys watching the shark tank.
Nate's parents came too, who wants to pass on a trip to New Orleans? Here is Liam's response to seeing them after exiting the Aquarium.



So happy in fact that he walked back to the hotel with them instead of driving with me and Bryn.


We did some Halloween activities at Canal place. Trick or treating at Mignon Faget, Making masks and Caricatures of my crazy twosome.


And last but not least, to my favorite zoo. Audubon Zoo. I love it here and so do the kids. My favorite part is the elephant show. They teach you all about the elephants, then let you feel the side of one of them.

I found this picture of Liam at about the age Owen is now!
They both touched, but had that concerned look about doing it.



Besides these captured events, we also ate at all our favorite places, (I still think Commanders takes the trophy! But only brunch, dinner is a little too pricey.) Went shopping at UAL, ate Beignets and hot chocolate while walking through the quarter after an evening of Preservation Hall. Had a crazy guy yell at me (actually a compliment) in Jackson square, but best of all was seeing some of our best friends. They let us camp out in their living room on couches and on air mattresses. (Thanks Ryan, Lora, Bryn and Mark!)





All in all a fabulous trip "home." in the words of Louis:
"Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? I miss it both night and day. I know that it's wrong...this feelings gettin stronger the longer I stay away.
...And that's where I left my heart."

I'm ready to be Stupefied!

To say the least, Halloween is a BIG deal in Hershey. There are all sorts of things to do during the month of October and I think we hit most of the big ones. We went to two Halloween parties. One for church which was actually a "Cowboy Roundup" Party and we were supposed to dress like cowboys, but when Liam saw me put Owen in cowboy gear, his first thought wasn't where's my chaps and hat, it was "If he's going to be Woody, then I need to be Buzz Lightyear." So that's what he went dressed as to the party. I didn't get a picture of it, and these pics were taken by Eden and Mike, but it was pretty funny!

We also had to cancel our PIM trunk or treat event due to rain, but moved it to my friend Beth's house and we all stood in different rooms of her house and let the kids Trick or treat at each door. They seemed to enjoy it. And Liam got to do some treating with his "girlfriend" Bannah (Savannah.) Always a plus!



















We went to the traditional Halloween Egg hunt at the outlets. (yes I said egg hunt. Haven't you heard of the Halloween bat that lays orange and black eggs? No? That's funny cause that's what they do here.)

I only took Liam to this event, it can get a little scary with some of the Moms out here. You'd think they were laying golden eggs. I swear I saw a few moms motioning to elbow out the kid next to their kid.
Liam's favorite part? He got to egg hunt with this other friend Samantha (Pocahontas.)






But most the month was spent pretending we were Harry Potter, Hedwig, Hermione and the Golden snitch. As you are all well aware, Liam has been obsessed with Harry Potter for awhile now. He still likes it, but I can tell it's losing it luster. Maybe because he dressed up so much that we started to ask each other if we'd seen Liam anywhere and the on going game was for Liam to take off the Potter glasses and for us to say. "Oh there you are Liam. We thought you were Harry," and then he'd put back on the glasses and we'd repeat.





I'm not sure if I will ever get the Harry Potter theme out of my head since Liam and Owen both hum it all day. Hmm Hm Hmm Hm Hmm Hm Hmm Hmm...... It was another great Halloween. The kids got more candy than I can count, or that I've already eaten. I was ready to take down the decorations and was hoping to be stupified for a couple of days to recoup, but alas I'm still here, decorations down and onto Thanksgiving...

The Fall has fallen

and the cold is upon us. We had a great Fall, here in Central PA! The leaves were as bright as ever and the activities were as abundant!

We went and did some apple picking, pumpkin picking, hay riding, corn mazing and just had fun being outside and enjoying the fall weather.





These pictures of Owen crack me up. He was upset about something and you can watch it play out in the pictures. He gets over things pretty quick!