A New Orleans Wedding (pt 1)

At the beginning of this month, our family took a short getaway to New Orleans, Louisiana to watch my "not so baby anymore" cousin marry his love! His (then) fiancé (now wife) asked for Dannika and Mattis to be a part of their wedding, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to be a part of their special day! My kids were over the moon that they could be in a wedding, and my sweet Dannika, at 9 years old, finally got asked to be in a wedding.

We were not disappointed about making the trip to New Orleans either. I had been there as a kid with my family, but hadn't been back since, so I was really excited. Nick has only driven through there, so it was cool to get to experience "the birthplace of jazz" as a family. I took over 230 photos during our short stay there, so I decided to break it up into the 3 separate posts from each day that we were there.

Below are photos from day 1.

Here is a photo of some of my cousins and me on a family vacay to Jamaica.

My cousin that got married is the third kid from the left (sitting next to me).

Obviously, this photo has nothing to do with our trip to New Orleans, but just to give you context of who in my family was getting married.

He really was "the baby".

The Mercedes Benz Super Dome where the Saints play.

Are Uber pics obligatory?

And because we were in LSU territory, we had to rep our Fighting' Texas Aggies!

After all, we DID win this year in a historic 7 overtime game!

We met up for lunch with a dear friend of mine at a New Orleans hotspot, Cafe Pontalba (in the French Quarter)

Dannika and I split the most delicious plate of red beans and rice with a side of authentic gumbo.

Nick had a traditional po boy and he gave it a 10 out of 10!

We highly recommend you check it out!

It a small cafe, so seating is tough to get, so prepare for a wait!

My friend Kelley and her son Waylon! 

I met Kelley through a small group at our church when we were all stationed in California.

Thanks to social media, we've managed to stay in touch!

It was such a treat to get to meet up with her and meet her sweet son!

I mean, can you say you've been to New Orleans without listening to some street musicians playing "When the Saints Come Marching In" in the middle of the French Quarter???!!!

Our kids had a blast dancing in the street listening to this awesome band play jazz music.

We popped into a seedy liquor store in the French Quarter because we wanted to show our kids a wholesome good time...

They really enjoyed the festive Mardi Gras masks.

Our kids had a blast there the first day. We got to walk around the French Quarter, dance to jazz music, have authentic New Orleans cuisine, meet up with old friends, and soak in the city. 

My cousin's wedding rehearsal dinner was at the House of Blues. I'll post about that tomorrow!