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Over Memorial Weekend I headed to New Orleans to visit my sister Rachel. She and her husband moved there right after their wedding so that John Trey could start his medical residency program at Ochsner hospital. They have been there for 2 years and I have wanted to visit since the day they arrived. So, I finally got my chance.....better late than never.
Dan kept William for 3 days while I was gone (that adventure is the next post), and my parents decided to come along for the trip to see Rachie. I was jumping out of my skin to see her, their house, her job and her life in the Big Easy.
I got there on Friday afternoon and headed straight to her house. It's darling! Rachel's neighborhood is just so cute. 5208 Senac Drive has never hosted a more happy couple. Rachel's house is busting at the seams with personality. If her job as an ultrasound tech ever tanks, she has a career in decorating. It was so fun to look at all her pictures and wedding mementos that were on display and to see how clean and pristine her house is.....Sure makes a gal with 1200 sq. feet, a train table, 200 race cars and a bike trailer in her kitchen feel jealous of such glorious clutter free living!!!! ha!
After the "ooos" and the "ahhhhs" we spent the rest of the trip eating ourselves silly and touring some of New Orleans most popular spots. Here we are on location with the very reason that Rachel ended up in Narlens - the fabulous Ochsner hospital. John Trey is receiving the best education with their residency program and the word on the street is that he's the cutest doctor there!
We also were lucky enough to visit with some dear friends, Frank and Ginny. Frank and Dan were roommates in D.C. during their bachelor days (many a story on those two!) and Ginny and I married these two clowns. They are two of our best buddies from Washington and Ginny and I worked at the White House at the same time. A few years ago, they relocated to Ginny's home town of New Orleans. As luck would have it, Ginny became a realtor and sold Rachel and John Trey their house! Funny how things come full circle and you realize it was all meant to be!
Frank and Ginny had us over to their town, Mandeville. We got the grand tour (such a darling town on the water!) and pined away as we passed by some beautiful old New Orleans houses with great big porches and swings. Frank cooked his famous craw fish dish and gave us a crash course in Mardi Gras. We even got to see the wall of beads in their garage. I have never seen a more organized display of necklaces in my life. I think it would put any jewelry box to shame! Unfortunately, I never took a picture of Frank and Ginny.....sorry guys!
On Monday, it was time to say bye-bye to Rachie. I had the best time just hanging out with my family, and seeing her life in New Orleans. It's hard to believe that 2 years are behind them already. Before we know it, Rachel and John Trey will be packing up for another adventure somewhere. The unknown is always scary, but I admire Rachie and John Trey for embracing the adventure with joyful hearts. You bloom where you are planted, and their soil is rich in memories.
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Today is my birthday! Dan planned a super, jam packed birthday weekend for me and it was great fun! Friday night we all went to the airport for dinner and watched the planes take off and land. Then we headed over to "airport park" where we sat outside and watched airplanes fly within feet of our heads as they came in for a landing at National airport. 
Saturday, we drove to Leesburg, one of my favorite places in VA. Leesburg is home to high end outlet shopping! William fell asleep so Dan sat in the car playing games on the blackberry while I did a marathon shopping spin. After purchasing a few new birthday presents for myself, we went over to Blue Ridge Grill for lunch and stopped by Mama's Pies for a homemade birthday pie.
Sunday, we went to church, came home to change our clothes and then turned around headed out again. This time, we drove 1.5 hours to Luray Caverns. William took his nap the entire ride to the caverns, so he was ready to party with the birthday girl when we got there.
For more than 125 years, Luray Caverns has been renowned as a spectacular natural wonder. Today the caverns remain as magical and majestic as when they were first discovered in 1878 by a tinsmith and a local photographer. 
To top off the trip, we drove through the Shenandoah's majestic Skyline Drive. It was a wonderful adventure that I will remember always! I had the most fun just celebrating my special day in the company of my favorite boys!
Here is William showing off the most the FABULOUS plate he made for me at school in honor of Mother's Day. The butterfly is actually his footprints! I don't think I can bear to eat on it because it's so cute, and it's my first official arts and crafts Mother's Day gift. It came in a white sack about as big as William and he had decorated the bag with his handprints. He handed it to me with a beaming smile and "Mama, I made you dis! "I love you Mama!" I'll treasure that moment always.
Since William has a new shoe obsession, Dan and I went to the REI sale and got our little guy a pair of Keens. He and Dada match and William thinks it is the most exciting thing next to school buses, bridges, airplanes, waterfalls, and the highway. " ohhhh Mama, Dada and William wear Keens!"
William has discovered a new love for my wearing shoes, specifically tennis shoes. The other day, he was in the kitchen and very quiet. After a minute, I peeked in and he was wearing my shoes and trying to walk around the kitchen table. He immediately squatted to the ground when he saw me - almost like he was either embarrassed or felt like he was in trouble. Nevertheless, I encouraged his curiosity and he quickly decided it was "ok" to wear my shoes in public. That night, he dressed up in my tennis shoes and proudly walked around the living room. He played this game for 30 minutes, switching from one pair to the next.
A few months ago, I bought tickets to A Day Out with Thomas the Train in Baltimore, MD. William loves trains and watches Thomas every night before he goes to bed. He knows every character's name, their car number, and their color. I just knew that William would be so excited to attend and meet Thomas in person. I waited until Saturday morning to tell William where we were going and he beamed in wonder along with "Yeeeeessss! See Thomas!" I am not sure he really "got it" at that point, but he was really, really happy. I had ordered his t-shirt awhile back from a good friend on mine in Alabama. I kept it in his drawer until Saturday morning. When I showed it to him, he squealed in sheer delight as only a toddler can do.
We got to Baltimore about 1 hour before our scheduled train ride. This gave us plenty of time to walk around and absorb all the entertain options and allowed William some time to soak up his surroundings. The event was held at the B&O Railroad Museum which in itself is very impressive. The museum stores a variety of old train cars, locomotives, etc. and most have a historical value to them. There was even a Presidential Steam Engine from the 1800s. So, even though we were there for a Thomas the Train event, the museum was also open to everyone and I must say, it made the whole event even more enjoyable.
Most of the activities took place inside the old railroad station which William noticed right off as "Mama, it's Tidmoth Sheds!" - that is Thomas' "house." Lego Duplo was a sponsor for the Day Out with Thomas so they had constructed the MOST ELABORATE cityscape out of nothing but legos. There were trains running over the bridges, but the town design was amazing. Everything was detailed from the construction worker holding a coffee mug, to people inside the lego hotel, to spider man scaling a building, a shipwreck with gold, etc. You name it, it was out of legos.
William could have stood by that display for 3 hours. He LOVED it. Dan didn't have a second to put William down because he could see so well up high. But, we did convince him to move on to something else when....................
Thomas came puffing down the tracks! William's eyes got as big as saucers and he said, "Yeeeeeesssss, it's Thomas!" He was delighted to see his best train friend in person. We crowded around the train so we could get a better look and take a few pictures. William was really excited to see Thomas, but was also overwhelmed with the "let's do it all!" feeling, that he was ready to tackle more of the fun. So, it was off to see Sir Topham Hat and to check out a few more train displays at the museum.
At 10:45 am, we boarded Thomas' rail car for a ride down the tracks. Thomas music was playing overhead and we found the perfect window seat. It was at this moment that William burst into tears. He thought we were leaving and not coming back. It took a few minutes and a graham cracker to convince him that we were only going for a ride. Once the train started moving, William was his old self and cheerfully announcing what he saw from the windows, "it's a bridge no water, just grass. It's moving! Here we go! It's baseball (there was a team playing in the distance), It's turning!" The conductor came down the aisle to hand out Jr. Engineer certificates to the kids and William stared at his for a long time.
We continued to check out the museum and after 3 hours of having a ball, we were ready to go! William had such a good time and I had even more fun creating the memory!
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