Are y'all still out there?

Whoa.  What a hiatus.  My apologies for the long break.  I've been busy doing things...you know: house hunting, a trip to New Orleans, moving to Florida, vacationing in the Dominican Republic, celebrating the holidays, chasing around a wild one-and-a-half year old, and GROWING A BABY.  But I haven't forgotten about you!

Let's start with the house hunting.  First of all, house hunting without a Realtor and instead with a 1 year old is awful.  Maks decided to boycott his nap for the entire 10 day trip.  The only way we could get him to catch some rest during the daytime was to let him fall asleep for an hour or two in his carseat.  This kid likes to sleep IN HIS ROOM.  And for the most part, I'm guaranteed a good 2 hour nap and a solid 12 hours of sleep at night...IF HE'S AT HOME IN HIS ROOM.  It's a blessing, but also a curse.

Bad food.

Bad snacks.

Drinking through straws.

Carseat naps.

Anyhow, house hunting was difficult to say the least.  We had no idea where we wanted to live, so we had a HUGE radius around Tampa to search.  Not to mention more than half of our showings cancelled on us last minute or simply didn't even show up to let us in!  Luckily, we found a place on nearly our last day of searching.  It's in South Tampa and just about 3 miles from the base gate.  Although the suburbs were lovely, the hour and a half commute for Bryon each way just wasn't sounding do-able.  I'd rather have a smaller place that costs twice the price and have my kids see their daddy before they go to bed at night!  We knew the properties in South Tampa fly off the market like hotcakes (literally less than 24 hours), so we took the plunge and jumped into a historic bungalow merely minutes after we walked through the front door.  With a house lined up (although not ready for us until a month after we've already moved to Florida), we took the last few days of our trip to soak up some Florida sunshine.

They look right at home already!

He's loves running in and out with the waves!

We purchased our annual pass to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.  I'm thrilled that this is just 8 miles away from us!

Maks could pet and brush the goats all day long! 

For better or for worse, his experiences with Kira have taught him to not be fearful of animals!

This beautiful park and splashpad (with adjoining fishing pier) is just 2 miles down the road from us!  I know where we'll be spending some hot summer days!

Maks approves!

We went to the Aquarium, too!  It'll be just 4 miles from our doorstep!

Everything's more fun when you're on Da-da's shoulders! 

Here fishy, fishy!

Always an adventure with Dada!

Maks and Daddy even squeezed in some canal fishing and kayaking time!  Thanks to Bryon's Aunt DeEtte and Uncle Clayton for letting us stay at their house even though they were out of town!

"I could get used to this!"

"Full speed ahead, Dada!  Pick up the pace!"

"We went for the KAYAK!"

Right before we officially moved, Bryon and I decided to take a short trip to New Orleans.  I figured that after living in Louisiana for 3 years, it was about time I visited NOLA.  Plus, I don't plan on making any trips back to LA for any reason in the foreseeable future.  Luckily, I have an AWESOME friend in Shreveport who was literally jumping at the chance to watch Maks for 2 nights (along with her 2 and 4 year olds) so that Bryon and I could enjoy our trip by ourselves.  I'd throw said friend's name out there, but I don't want y'all to start dropping your children off at her doorstep...because yes, she's that awesome.  Honestly, she'd probably welcome your children with open arms and be nothing but grateful that she could be of help.  Amberly (whoops, I'll omit your last name), I miss you!

As for New Orleans, I received this cute little book from another friend as a birthday gift, and it pretty much planned our entire trip for us.  In an effort to fully enjoy our trip, we decided to leave the camera behind.  (Sorry for the lack of photos, but lugging around a camera just didn't make the priority list this time!)

We stayed in this hotel right in the heart of the French Quarter - so everything was accessible by foot or streetcar.  On our first night, we enjoyed drinks (well, Bryon did...but we both enjoyed people watching) on the porch of The Columns.  Afterwards we headed to Frenchman Street where we ate dinner at Snug Harbor and spent the rest of our night listening to a brass band play in the streets.  We planned to go into one of the Jazz clubs, but the brass street band was just THAT GOOD.  Plus, the jazz clubs were packed.  It was fun to watch the swing dancing going down inside, though!  I could tell Bryon was dying to dance.  However, with a 3 drink per person minimum (and me not drinking), we decided to forego the club.

The next day, Bryon went for an early morning run through the streets of the French Quarter.  He reported that the streets were wet from being hosed off and quite smelly.  I'm particularly glad that I stayed back at our hotel.  We started off by grabbing some beignets at Cafe Du Monde.  Next stop was the Backstreet Cultural Museum to learn firsthand about Mardi Gras Indians and the history behind the Mardi Gras Tribes - and most importantly the handmade costume competitions.  We arrived just as the museum opened, and the owner (Sylvester Francis) let us know that he only had 40 minutes to show us around because he was closing shop to attend a Jazz Funeral.  To make a long story short, we got the details on an official Jazz Funeral, as well as an open invitation to attend the celebration.  This was hands down the most amazing part of our trip.  After the church funeral, everybody (literally hundreds of people) followed the hearse procession, dancing down the street alongside a brass band...for miles!  People were happy.  Everybody was celebrating.  It was one big party!  What a cool way to commemorate the life of a loved one!  Lunch was a shrimp po'boy from a hole in the wall restaurant inside of a very small convenience store.  We were a bit skeptic, but with noteworthy reviews from places such as NY Times, we decided to give it a try.  The Rampart Street Food Store didn't disappoint.  And at $5.99/sandwich, it was easily one of the most affordable meals of the trip!  Afterwards we ran across town to catch a ride on a 3-hour Gray Line Hurricane Katrina Tour.  We learned how levees were breached, what it was like for residents (our guide was a victim of the flood), steps that have been taken towards renovation and rebuilding (along with what has NOT been done) and effects on the economy and coastal wetlands.  We learned so much more, too!  On the way home, we stopped at Hove Parfumeur and I picked up some bundles of root in Vetivert - an earthy scent which was supposedly favored by Creole women.  After relaxing for a short bit, we hopped in the car (for the first time since arriving) and drove to Dick and Jenny's for an early dinner (such a great way to avoid the crowd and allow plenty of time to get back into the French Quarter before it was too packed...hey this pregnant mama needs her sleep!).  Back in the French Quarter, we listened to live Jazz music at Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse and then roamed the streets people watching for a few hours before calling it a night.

Sitting street-side eating our Shrimp Po'Boys.

I wish we'd have had some extra time to visit some Cottonwood Plantations, but with a 5 hour drive ahead of us followed by packing up our UHaul for our big move to FL, we were anxious to get back the following day.  We hit up Elizabeth's for breakfast - and Bryon had to order their praline bacon.  Everything was tasty and kept us satisfied for the majority of our trek back to Shreveport to pick up our little man!

Elizabeth's Restaurant

Go figure, Maks did great!  He took all of his naps and slept for his full 12 hours each night.  I'm sure he was thoroughly stimulated during all waking hours with a 2 and 4 year old to keep up with!  And this mama did her part by not checking in on him once during the entire 3 day trip.  I knew he was in amazing hands.  Within 36 hours we had our entire household loaded up into a UHaul and we were all on the road to Florida!

I know I've got a lot more to cover to get us up to speed, but my pregnancy pillow is calling my name.  More adventures to come!