Fall Break 2010

In lieu of time off for Thanksgiving, our kids get a Fall Break in October for one week.  Last year we went to Curacao, but this year we decided to go home to Louisiana and Galveston as we are not going to the States for Christmas or Spring Break this year.

Fortunately, my best friend Stephanie decided to celebrate her 40th birthday in New Orleans the weekend we arrived.  When we touched down in Houston on Friday, Chris took the girls on to rent a car to drive to Galveston, and I boarded a plane to New Orleans.  

New Orleans was a blast, and a bit of a blur.  Stephanie rented us beautiful rooms at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street.  We even had a balcony to watch all of the activities below.  I laughed until my sides hurt, danced until my feet hurt (my shoe choice, although stylish, was not conducive to a long night on Bourbon Street), and had a fabulous time.  I got smart the second night and packed a pair of flip flops in my purse to change into when my feet started hurting and I just didn't care about fashion anymore.  Highly recommended.  

Here is Heidi, me, Steph, Pamela, Emily and Margaret on Friday night.  I think the guy behind us is the bellman from our hotel.  Gracias to the photographer.  

 On Sunday, we headed to Mandeville and Madisonville to see my cousin, Marla and some old friends from medical school.  Marla is as funny and gorgeous as ever.  Here we are at a lake front restaurant in Mandeville, having, what accidentally turned out to be a 5 hour lunch/pub crawl.  Got to love family dinners and it was worth every minute to see her and my aunt and uncle.

After lunch, we spent the night in Madsionville with Jherie (my roommate from medical school) and her husband Charlie and their beautiful kids Trent, Kate and Lauren.  She asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner before we arrived and I told her good seafood is hard to find in Caracas.  She made the MOST fabulous gumbo with lump crab, shrimp and crab claws AND had seared tuna steaks and scallops on the side.

Uncle Jude and Aunt Jamie came in from New Orleans for a visit and Uncle Jeremiah was able to bring cousin Juliana over for a day to play with the girls.  On our last night in Louisiana, I was able to drag myself out of bed to take the girls to Randol's, their favorite cajun restaurant.  Aunt Leah and most of the uncles were able to make it and we had a wonderful dinner.  The girls love it so much because they play cajun music and dance.   

I captured a short video of the girls dancing together - but as cute as they are, they did not steal the show.  You have to watch the video to understand what I am talking about.  Some people really know how to have fun. The next two days we spent in Galveston, running errands and visiting our loved ones there. 

On Saturday night, we returned to Caracas. 

We have a couple of months of routine, and then we head out to Peru and Argentina for three weeks over the winter break.  Expect a blog with video and all of the usual trimmings.  

We plan to visit Lima for three days then head to Buenos Aires to meet up with Chris' sister and her family there for Christmas Day.  On December 26th we leave for Bariloche - a resort high in the Patagoinian Andes.  After exploring the lakes around Bariloche, we will head to the Glaciers National Park to see Mount Fitzroy and the surrounding glaciers and finally we will head to Tierra Del Fuego and Ushuaia - at the end of the world.