Bugs Bugs Bugs....

We ordered caterpillars a couple of weeks ago and are anxiously awaiting butterflies.
I have a couple of pictures of the caterpillars right before they went into their chrysalids. They were less then half of this size when we got them.



We had them for 8 days when the first two went into their chrysalids on the 9th day the other three followed.



One of the hardest parts was moving them to the top of the habitat. They shook like crazy and I was afraid that they were going to fall off of the paper that they were attached to but we managed to get it attached to the top of the habitat with no fatalities.



These were the best pictures that I could get of the chrysalids. I tried to take pictures through the side of the habitat but you can't even see through the mesh in the picture.



This last picture is a of their home. Today is day 9 for the first two and day 8 for the other 3. They are supposed to come out within 7-12 days so we are hoping this weekend.



Hope that everyone has a happy holiday weekend.

We took the boys to see Ironman 2 last week before Craig left town for work. And Jacob had to pose with the Shrek poster Zach just rolled his eyes and walked away. Seems he is still not into pictures. The movie was pretty good by the way and the kids are looking forward to seeing Shrek.

Ok the boys and I have been giggling at this ever since we saw it on another blog we look at. I know that Craig is going to want to redo our family portrait now on the back of our car. Just so you know I get first dibs on smart.

Just a few last odds and ends pictures from our trip. This one I had to take because well see for yourself. A bar named after my favorite character of all time from my favorite book (and movie) from all time.



A picture of a plate of crawfish that our waiter brought to us in one of the restaurants that we ate at. We asked him about them and how they tasted and he showed up with little plate full for us. Neither one of us was really planning on trying them but they were actually pretty good. We also got the chance to try jumbalaya which was good and Alligator which was actually pretty good also. Honestly it tasted a lot like chicken. We also had Beignets (not sure of the spelling) at cafe du monde a couple of times. And my absolute favorite thing that we had was the po boys. I have been trying to recreate them ever since we got home. We will see. We had them everyday though and the first couple of days that we were home I seriously craved them.



This picture was taken of a church in the french quarter. It was a pretty church and the grounds around it were also really pretty. This is also were the horse drawn carriages lined up everyday.



More pictures up a little closer of the church. There were some cute little classes running around and eating popsicles in the yard. I got the chance to talk with one of the sisters who was saying that they only had two weeks left of school at the time so they are probably out now.





This picture was for my mom a year round christmas shop.



A picture of the Mississippi.




Old man River.

Cemetary

This cemetary was in the middle of the Garden District also included in our tour.



Looking down the main walkway.



This next little road crossed over the main one but what I found interesting was that it led right up to someones side yard. I don't think I could live in this house.



The way that they bury was very interesting. This crypt had a broken front stone the tour guide told us that if you looked in the opening you could see the casket down in the ground. I didn't look. There is only one casket inside everyone else has been bagged and tagged (her words).



This type of plot is for people who prefer or for religious reasons have to be buried underground. There is no vault they just dig up the dirt under the stones and bury in a wood box. This leaves a mound of dirt over the top but as the body and box decompose the dirt levels out until it is flat like this one is.



Resident cat.

Garden district tour

The first picture on our garden district tour is of one of the trees that is covered in mardis gras beads. They will continue to build up until a big storm comes along and blows them away. You have to look close in the picture but they are there.



I thought that the houses were all great but what surprised me was the lack of yards.



This next one I took cause I thought that the boys would get a kick out of it.



This next house was owned by Anne Rice she never lived in it but did own it. Nicholas Cage also owned it after she sold it but then he lost it to the government when he got busted for tax evasion.




This next house was pretty cool.



I also liked the fence around the building.





This is the restaurant where Emeril got his start. We didn't get to eat here jackets were required and Craig hadn't taken one with. Maybe next time.



This next house was used in the Benjamin Button movie.



We also saw John Goodman's house but I didn't get a picture of it. The next two pictures are of Sandra Bullocks house that she bought. She just adopted a baby boy from the area and is going to raise him there.



This is a side view she actually had one of the larger yards there.



And lastly the house that Anne Rice lived in when she lived in New Orleans. When my parents took this tour years ago she was still living there and got out of her car onto the sidewalk right in front of them and they exchanged hellos. Don't know who lives there now.



We also got to see the home of the Mannings and where the president of the confederate states Jefferson Davis died but I didn't get pictures. This last picture was kind of funny. It was on the fence next to the end of a long driveway.

Ghost tour

We took a ghost tour can't go to New Orleans without one of those. We have seen so many references on the travel channel about all of the haunted property there that we couldn't pass it up. It was a lot of fun and a great way to walk around the city and see the different homes. Unfortunately I don't remember which stories go with which houses for the most part but the houses are still fun to look at.



This one I just took cause I loved the balcony and plants.



This next one is actually linked to what they think is a vampire story. A women passed out and was driven home by a man who took her to this place and when she came to he was leering over her with longer eye teeth than normal she ran out of the building and came back with the police but of course he was gone. The rugs in the room were saturated in blood. The only thing I always wonder about is how come vampires waist so much of the stuff?



There was a local butcher who lived in the upper floor of this place and he got married later in life. The woman he married brought her sister along to live with them and this didn't turn out to be such a good idea (seriously is it ever?). The downstairs neighbors said that they fought all of the time and one night after a very noisy fight ending in screams blood started dripping from the ceiling. They went for the police and when they got back to investigate he had chopped them up and packaged them neatly with their heads on top. On the anniversary date of the death every year they say that blood pools on the ceiling and drips and then dissapears.



This picture was for the boys have to have a picture of Pirate's alley.



I don't know that we would ever do a haunted tour again mostly since there is so much to do there and never enough time but it was definately worth doing at least once. And a lot of fun to see the city at night. We also went to areas that we never would have gone on our own.

New Orleans Laura plantation tour

Craig and I went to New Orleans last week to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was absolutely amazing. We figured that three days would be enough but it wasn't. There is so much to do there it is a very beautiful city and so full of history. Since it was for our anniversary we decided to stay at the Roosevelt hotel it is part of the Waldorfastoria collection and it was gorgeous. This picture was taken looking down the entry hall on ground level it actually takes up a whole city block.
And of course the rooms were also great walk in closets full size dressing table and room and of course no room is complete with out a tv in the bathroom and no that won't be our next purchase for home even though some people think it is a great idea.



We walked all over the city everything is walkable there. We took a tour of the Laura Plantation. Where the stories of Brer Rabbit were told and copied down to publish.



This is a Creole plantation Creole plantations were where business was done and money was made. They also owned a lot of property over in the french quarter and this is where they would have shown off their money. Creole plantations were not the gone with the wind plantations I was expecting but I am still glad that we took the tour. They also painted their homes in bright colors to make them stand out unlike the American plantations which were usually white.




This next picture was taken in the bottom level which wasn't closed in you could just walk up and into it between the brick pillars. The house had to be raised up because of the flooding that would happen from the river. But the did store stuff under here and even do some work.



Just under the house.





Looking out at the front yard from the front porch.



It was crowded inside with the rest of the tour group so I let Craig take the pictures in there and don't have any I will have to have him send them to me so I can pick some to add here later.

This is from the back porch looking at where the kitchen used to be it was in front of those two little buildings and would have been multiple levels the cooks lived in one of the top levels. The kitchen would have been 2400 square feet in size. I can't even imagine.



Another angle showing the back yard and the retirement home for older members of the family.



View of the back of the house.



Gardening area behind where the kitchen would have been.



This last picture is one of the slave houses. There was a porch along on the other side also and then one room on either side one family per side. The porches on the other side at some point had been covered in to make them a two bedroom place on either side. They were tiny. There were only four still standing but there would have been rows and rows of them when the plantation was working.



This was a very educational tour. We had a great time and it was beautiful. The stories about the plantation and its history were absolutely fascinating. I can't recommend this tour enough. If you ever find yourself in the area I would suggest checking it out.