Bennett's Birthday Weekend-NOLA style

When Bennett said he wanted to go to a Saints game instead of having a birthday party we said "YEAH!"  We've been gearing up for this fun weekend for a while now and it did not disappoint.  We were going to go Saturday-Monday, but then we decided not to waste a whole day in New Orleans so we left after school on Friday night.  We called up our pals, Beck and Shari and they said we could stay with them.

We got to their fancy condo around 10pm and it was so homey. We got to stay in what they call their "hot box."  The boys shared a couch and we got a nice air mattress.  They made sure to have all the luxuries of home for us.  They even checked to see what the boys liked and Shari went shopping.  They accommodated us with root beer, apple juice, and even donuts!  Shari had some homemade chocolate ice cream that was DIVINE!  Our favorite part about staying with them was their dog Sebastian! This French bulldog LOVED Henry so much that he kept "dancing" with him.  The boys thought it was dancing.  It was more like pole dancing if you catch my drift.  What a cute pup!

We woke up Saturday morning and got ready for our day.  When I walked in the bathroom "Be our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast started playing in the bathroom! haha!  Love that special touch!

We started our day going by their new house.  We got a special tour and I did a little photo shoot of them.  This needs to be your Christmas card!

Love this New Orleans gem!

The porch is FABULOUS!

We headed downtown after the home tour to see the St. Louis Cathedral.

The boys with the statue of Andrew Jackson. (Jackson Square)

We took a carriage ride around the quarter.  We had a very colorful tour guide.  Bennett got to ride with the driver!

They said this is the 2nd most photographed building in NOLA.  Apparently it's the oldest bar in the US!

The boys loved the mule: Gracie

Neil had the boys pick out the best tattoos.

Out of all the street performers this is who Neil had Henry take a picture with!

While Shari and I went to a shop to get me a NOLA ornament, the boys were posed by this street performer.  Neil got it on video and everyone started clapping after!  So fun!

We went by the dome after we ate our delicious brunch at the Court of Two Sisters.  The Becks treated us and it was so nice.  Here are my boys in front of the Steve Gleason statue.

Dome Sweet Dome

Saturday night we checked into our hotel and then met up with Nana and Granddad.  We went to eat a delicious meal at Dickie Brennan's steakhouse.  YUM!

Bennett loved the quarter!

I REALLLLLLLLY wanted to go to City Park for all the lights and train and Christmas fun, but it started to rain so we had to detour to the Roosevelt hotel.  Such a pretty lobby!

Sunday morning we were ready for the game!  Bennett had every bit of Saints gear on!  Beck gave him the finger, Rebecca gave him the cape, and he is even wearing Saints socks!

We went to a little place for breakfast and there was a really long wait.  Luckily for us there was a little massage place across the street.  I popped in there for a 10 minute scalp massage while they waited for the table!  Best idea ever.  Neil sat down for a hand massage, but they called our table so he got up and left. Nana got a foot and scalp massage after breakfast, too!

Fleur de Lis Cafe

We took a bicycle taxi back to the hotel after breakfast.  The boys loved riding in all the forms of transportation.  We missed the Street Car...we will do that next time!

We dropped our stuff at the hotel and walked to the dome.  We were only about 5 blocks away so it wasn't a far walk.  Neil picked up a bunch of ponchos so we could all stay dry.  Rain, rain, go away!

We got to our awesome seats right before kick-off.  Bennett SO PUMPED!

Henry loved the concessions. The game: not so much.

PUMPED!

I love these people. IT was a fun game despite the loss.  Bennett was pretty ticked.  He took the loss personally and it was a little sad to see.  Poor guy!  He perked up later.

We went to Luke for dinner and Bennett found a pearl in one of the oysters!  How fun!

I mentioned in secret to the hostess that we were celebrating Bennett's birthday. The waiter came over and said "Are y'all celebrating anything special?"  Neil said no!  WTF!!!??  He cancelled the birthday.  Later on in the meal I found the hostess and said my husband was a tad confused and they ended up getting 10 staff members to come out and sing Happy Birthday to our boy!  He was so proud!!!

Bennett was thrilled with his birthday song!

On our way home on Monday we stopped by the capitol in Baton Rouge.  Since the boys missed school on Monday we thought we better do something educational.  It was POURING down rain.  We were soaked to the bone, but that didn't stop us!  We are some dedicated Louisianians!

Bennett has his finger in a bullet hole left by one of the bullets meant to shoot Huey P Long.

We even got to go out on the observation deck of the tallest capitol building in the USA!

View from up top

Proud Louisiana Citizens!

I received this photo of them with their hostess gift begging for this blog post.  Thanks for being the best hostesses!  Hope you enjoyed it!