Two sleepy children woke up very confused as to why we were in the car and how they got there! Luckily, they were not fussy for long, we fed them breakfast in the car and told them we were going to the beach and they quit fussing (for the most part).
All three babies on/in my lap. Jake and Mari loved the boat ride!
Above you can see dolphins rolling through the water. Jake is sure they are dolphins, because dolphins don't eat people (his words). I guess if they had been eating a person, that would have made them sharks. Although, he did see sharks the next day at the aquarium and they weren't eating people?!? He gave the woman at the shark petting pool a good laugh though, when she asked him if he wanted to pet the shark too (Mari was attemtping to pet the shark at this point) and he replied that "No, its to scary, they eat people".
Jake proudly showes off the shells he collected.
Mari playing with the sand (she was working on a sand castle with me, but I didn't get a picture of it because Jake tore it down, while I was getting the camera).
If you click on the picture above, you can see Jake asleep in the beach chair. Mari really enjoyed the water, but Jake was happier on dry land. We did make him get in the water (I held him) to make sure he just wasn't scared of it, and he just really preferred to sit in the chair and eat his food or look for shells.
More Mari playing with sand and Jake taking a nap!
Above, Mari and her Daddy enjoying the water. James was sitting down, it wasn't deep although it looks like he is up to his chest in the water. Mari really liked being splashed by and riding the waves.
Unfortunately, James' phone (it is less than two weeks old) went for a swim as well. Here it is drying to dry off on the beach.
Jake was taking such a good nap (below) and Mari was starting to get over excited, so we decided it was nap time for her as well. She took a nice nap while I went and got James some more food/drink. They really did have good hotdogs at the island snack bar.
After some more fun in the sun and water, it was time to catch the 2:30 boat back. We could have stayed until 4:30, but I was worried about over exposure (sun burn, which I ended up being the only one who suffered from it and it was because I was putting it on everyone else and forgot to put it on my own back/one shoulder, but even mine wasn't bad and is already gone).
Above, the kids throwing a fit about leaving the island. You can see the old Spanish fort in the back ground. We didn't even attempt to tour the fort, but we had more than enough fun with just the beach.
Jake and Mari are excited about getting to eat another hotdog (on the boat) and about being back on the ship.
Jake slept on the trip back and Mari should have, but she didn't give up the fight until we got in the car. Instead, Mari made friends with the baby in front of us.
New Orleans at night, taken along the river walk near our hotel.
Jake and Mari really liked the trollies!
Mari did not want to go to sleep. Finally, after we all laughed at her antics long enough, she at least quit crying.
The next morning, Jackson Square and Cafe Du Monde beignets.
The Aquarium of the Americas.
You can see more of Baby Carr number three sticking out in the picture above and below. I can feel s/he moving quite a bit now and it is not really comfortable to carry Mari on top of him/her but she doesn't understand. At one point Jake was really lagging behind and I threatened to carry him and he said no, I don't want to hurt the baby. I felt really bad for him (James was carrying Mari and I was just going to switch with him and there really is NO way I can carry Jake) as he obviously was tired of walking, but he was more worried about hurting me and the baby. He finally agreed to ride in the stroller and was content there most of the time, Mari not so much.
Jake liked looking at the sharks and below I took his, James' and Mari's picture in the shark jaws.
They both loved the "Nemo" tank that had "Dori" fish and "Nemo" fish.
James petting the rays.
Jake and Mari having fun on the indoor play equipment at the aquarium.
Mari "petting" the (nurse) shark.
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At this point you can see Mari had enough so we headed home.
Jake really liked the Lake Ponchatrain Causeway (24ish mile long bridge).
Taking a nap for part of the way home!
