Big Easy Wedding

A friend of mine congratulated me on dealing so well with being away from the twins for the first time. She hasn't seen them in a few months which explains why she thinks it might be difficult. But it wasn't. It was EASY!! Well, it was easy once we were gone and I couldn't worry about preparing my two sisters and mother for the task of caring for my little babes.

It turned out that preparing them wasn't so difficult - they were excellent students! I had been using frozen milk so that the mini-fridge was packed with the fresh stuff for the weekend. This would make it easier for them to prepare bottles because unfreezing milk is a pain in the ass. I had prepared 24 hours worth of bottles before I left so my sister had a nice head start. Also, I wrote down our routine to give her an idea of how the day should look, when to feed them and how to do naps and bedtime. Of course, as I was writing it, the twins were throwing me curve ball after curve ball and I wasn't sure how relevant the "routine" would be by the next day! I warned by sister about as much but she was a trooper - she would just roll with the punches.

Other than that, I didn't do too much to prepare. I had my sister with me the day before so I got to show her where things are and how I do certain things and that was really all she needed. My other sister and mom are here most every week so they already knew the drill and would be helping her out. So, between the three of them, I was pretty sure they could handle it. And it was nice to think that it takes 3 people to replace me. Hehe.

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The trip was short but fun and so needed! I was at my wits end with baby tantrums and craved a day off. And New Orleans was a great place to do it, seeing the city and celebrating my friend's wedding.

When we got on the plane going from Newark to New Orleans, Billy commented on how bigger it was than our first plane (BOS - EWR) because the first class had twice as many rows (he was hoping to get upgraded...). So, we are checking out how full first class was as we're walking to our coach seats and YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO WAS THERE!!

The drummer, bassist and keyboardist for BON JOVI!!!!

And they were waiting for their bags right next to me at baggage claim but I was too chicken shit to ask for a picture with them. I'm so mad now because that would have been blog-perfect stuff!! Oh well. You'll just have to take my word for it.

The first night, we had the rehearsal dinner and after that we were too tired to do anything else so back to our Heavenly Beds we went. We woke up early-ish that morning and had plenty of time to get showered, get "pumped" and get to the infamous Cafe Du Monde by 9am. The line was long but worth the wait. We gorged on Cafe Au Lait and Beignets while we people-watched on Decatur Street. We also bought some Cafe Du Monde swag as thank-you gifts.

We spent the rest of the morning wandering through the French Market, French Quarter (Bourbon Street is very yucky and disappointing in the daytime - far too much sobriety and clarity...) and Jackson Square (see picture to the left). Then we headed to the river to find a nice outdoor restaurant and get our fix of traditional New Orleans cuisine. Billy and I had some Cajun shrimp, po' boy sandwiches and steamed crawfish, complete with Cajun spices. Finger lickin' good, in my opinion.

In the afternoon, we relaxed a bit on the rooftop pool and napped. Because when am I ever going to get to nap again??

That night was the wedding - the ceremony and reception were both beautiful. I cried my eyes out as soon as I saw her. She wore her mother's dress and, with a few alterations to make it a little less covered up, it was perfect. Here is the best picture I could get of the bride and groom, exchanging their vows:

They had their reception at the Elms Mansion, which had a gorgeous outdoor space complete with magnolia trees, gazebo and Brass Band. Here I am, with the beautiful Bride. I couldn't be more happy for her - it was like seeing a little sister get married.

It was too bad we couldn't stay longer but all in all, it was a great trip. Great to see Lena, great to be away from home and see a new city, great to spend some quality time with Billy, sans twins.

Now...packing for our next trip. Leaving at 430am tomorrow - sheesh. Will post more on that later.