New Years Fun

We were super excited to spend New Years in New Orleans. This was probably the one night that DJ looked forward to the most, because he was actually able to get away from the hotel for a bit. 

He headed down for team dinner and meetings while I dropped the girls off at their babysitting. 

The bowl provided babysitting for two days and then again on New Years Eve. Knowing that we would be out late, and that the girls might get tired, we put them in their pj's. Except, they gave the kids pizza and soda, so they were definitely still awake past midnight!

DJ and I headed down to Jackson Square, ready to ring in the New Year.

I'm sure spending New Years Eve in New York, is on everyone's bucket list, but this was a close second. We made it to Jackson Square a little past 9, and we were able to get in and squeeze our way toward the middle of the crowd for Marren Morris and Florida Georgia Line.

Marren sang for a while, took a quick break, and then came back for the live television broadcoast with two more songs.

Around 10:30, Florida Georgia Line began playing and played until just after 11:30. They took a quick break, and DJ and I hightailed it back to the hotel to ring in the New Year in the hospitality suite with the other coaching families. 

New Years day was game day!!! We had some time in the morning, so we walked a few blocks over to the Insectarium.

The girls held millipedes and we explored all the bugs. 

They even had a chance to eat chocolate chip cricket cookies! 

Gretchen even ate a little worm. 

After we explored, we headed to lunch, and then met DJ for a quick tour of the Roosevelt hotel.

It was decorated for Christmas and was simply gorgeous inside.

We made our way back to the hotel, rested, and got ready for the big game! 

I'll share all those pictures tomorrow :)

Happy Tuesday friends! 

Sugar Bowl Day 3 & 4

Hey friends! I'm recapping the Sugar Bowl again today and trying to keep it short and sweet! We did a lot and had tons of fun while we were in New Orleans! 

Sunday morning, the girls had their day out with the bowl. Addy wasn't quite old enough, so she went to babysitting, while Gretchen and Megan went on a swamp tour and to Mardi Gras world! 

While they were at the kids day out, I went with the wives to Pat O Brien's. We were with the Georgia wives, so they started out in the courtyard, while we started out with the dueling pianos! 

We had a few drinks, listened to the singers, and then made our way to the courtyard to decorate umbrellas for the Second Line Parade. 

Settling in to a new town can be super difficult, especially when you're thrown in to a football program, but this girl has made the transition so much easier! She's welcomed us with open arms and I've been so thankful for her! 

After getting some glitter on our face, having a tarot card reading, eating king cake, and a few more drinks, we headed out to the street for our Second Line Parade!

We grabbed a seat in the carriage, the jazz band started to play, and we paraded a few blocks throwing mardi gras beads. Friends, this was SO much fun! And just in case you were wondering, throwing beads is way harder than it looks! We were dropping them, hitting people, missing people- it was just a fun experience! 

We ended our second line at Arnaud's for lunch. 

A jazz band entertained us throughout lunch.

I'm not huge on fish, but this was delicious. We didn't eat a bad meal while we were in New Orleans.

And the restaurant was decorated beautifully for Christmas.

Dessert. Yum!

Before this trip, I hadn't been able to spend a ton of time with the football wives, but I know that we'll have several friends in the years to come here in Texas. It never fails, but these football wives immediately become family wherever we are.

Sunday afternoon, my parents arrived! 

We all went to dinner together, and ate at Mr. Ed's

My face was still sparkled up from the morning festivities! But, we enjoyed having some time with this guy! He's always so busy during bowl trips, and rarely gets to get out to enjoy the sights. 

Confession, while my shrimp pasta and crawfish cake were good, this was probably my least favorite meal. My mom ordered their seafood queso which was delicious!

We walked about a block down Bourbon street, and listened to these kids playing "drums." They were so talented!

We didn't spend too much time on Bourbon since we had the kids.... it's definitely a street you want to stroll sans kiddos.

We got back to the hotel and spent an hour in the kids suite playing with friends.

Monday was another kids trip. They spent the day at NOLA Christmas Fest. I had a wives meal, but opted to skip out to spend the day with just Adalyn and my parents. 

We strolled the streets and worked our way to Jackson Square. We stopped in to see praline candy being made. 

And found this big alligator! 

The Sugar Bowl had a New Years Eve parade, so we found our spot to enjoy the parade.

She was so excited to have a girls day out! 

The sound of Texas :)

After our band played, the Georgia band marched. We looked over, and this was Adalyn. A stoic face and her "hook 'em." She's already a big Texas fan and doesn't put up with the other team at all! Ha! 

She was all about the beads though!

Here comes Bevo! 

She even got a mask from the parade!

After the parade, we opted for ice cream. We stopped by the Fan Fest, but it was crowded, and we had to be back by 4 to pick up the big girls from their activity. 

We had a fun few days, but it was time to ring in the New Year!!!!!

See y'all back tomorrow for the NYE festivities!