Trip To New Orleans

About two weeks ago, Tali and I went down to New Orleans for a quick visit. We saw Gran, Grandpa, Aunt Cara, Granny and Papa. Tali had a blast and is still talking about the trip. Here's a quick recap:

Tali on the plane, in her safety restraint and listening to the TV.

Plane ride down: The flight wasn't that full so Tali had her own seat - hooray! The day before, I bought her a seatbelt/aviation restraint that mimics her car seat straps and it held her in pretty securely. Unlike last time she had her own seat, she couldn't easily get out. But, it's a long flight and my very active daughter couldn't sit in the seat the whole time. A very friendly flight attendant came over to chat with her and Tali took that as her cue to entertain him for the rest of flight. He saw her "happy feet," met her stuffed animals (lion, puppy) and her blanket, and she told him all about her life. There was only one meltdown the entire flight and no nap.

Tali playing with Grandpa at the zoo.

New Orleans: Tali had a blast. The weather was great so she spent a lot of time outside. Gran really wore her out and she took some pretty long naps while there. Tali had a lot of fun with Aunt Cara, Grandpa, Granny and Papa as well. But the best part of the trip was taking Tali to the zoo. New Orleans has a great zoo and a fabulous petting zoo area. That was the first place we took Tali when we arrived at the zoo. Unfortunately, about five elementary schools had the same idea and it was packed. So Tali played there for a little while and then we went to look at all the animals she sees in her books. After lunch, we returned to the petting zoo and it was pretty empty - she was the only kid there. Tali had a blast petting the goats and sheep (which she could tell apart). She hugged them, kissed them and sat next to them while they napped. The adults that came in were so amazed with how comfortable this little girl was with all of the animals. When it was time to go, she had no problem telling us goodbye so that we could leave her there with the animals! I actually had to carry her out, kicking and screaming.

Petting a sheep.

Chatting with a goat.

Kissing a goat.

Plane Ride Home: The ride home wasn't as eventful for Tali as the ride down. We flew during lunch time so she spent most of the flight eating. I brought some food with me and ordered two boxes of food for us to share - one cheese combo and one salami/cheese combo. The flight home was full so Tali sat on my lap and was pretty good. Near the end of the flight, she did get up to walk around the plane a bit but we spent most of the time in our seat. I was hoping she might nap on this flight, but no luck.