Sno-bliz!

I know there are many reasons not to visit us in New Orleans during the summer. But here is one mighty powerful reason why you should: Hansen's Sno-Bliz. They're only open during the summer, this is their 69th year in business, and they still shave their ice on a machine built by Ernest Hansen in the 30s. These are nothing like a snow cone; the ice in a Hansen's sno-bliz is light and airy, and the syrups are made in-house, using Mary Hansen's original recipes, and they are just heavenly.

Elio loved his first New Orleans sno-ball. He made a face every time he tasted mine because it was so cold, but he kept reaching for more.

Ahhhh

Us on our front porch.

Elio and Grandma Nancy:
We had brunch this morning with my former boss, Paul (on the right) and his boyfriend, Rolando, who were in town for the weekend. Elio did okay in the restaurant, but was really excited by the sprinklers outside.


Cuteness around the house:






Concentrating so hard on the ping pong ball/pandeiro interaction:


Feet!


I love having a camera again.

Back in action

We're back! My mom is here visiting, and she brought a camera! Yay! And we have been gifted with a temporary replacement camera until ours inevitably turns up as we continue to unpack and settle in.

We finally let the cats go outside, and Elio seems to really like opening and closing the backdoor to help them.

Sunday afternoons = music class. Elio's primarily interested in the drums and shakers.

Bipedelio!

So Elio's new nickname these days is Christopher Walken. This weekend he has really figured out the perambulation thing. Very exciting! Sometimes he looks like a tightrope walker, aware of his balance with every step, pausing to right himself before continuing on.

Arriving

Hi all. We live in New Orleans! Neat. So far the city has been treating us well. People are incredibly friendly, and there are lots of great things to explore. Cats and kid did really well on the road trip, and the movers brought our stuff yesterday, so we've got lots of unpacking and arranging to do. Our house is super cute and we really like the neighborhood we're in.

Sadly, my camera is still missing in action. Dan thinks he packed it in a box, so I'm hopeful of finding it with each box we open. That means, no pictures of our first week adventures here. I'll rectify that with blow-by-blow re-enactments as soon as I can. During our first week here, we went to the zoo, which is amazing! We got a membership so we can go all the time. It's six minutes from our house and really really neat.  We still have to go to the aquarium and the newly opened insectarium (though I don't know how well I'll handle that!). We went to our library branch to get cards. The branch near us, the Latter, is absolutely beautiful -- it's in a grand old decrepit mansion, and it feels like quite the event to go there. 

Send good thoughts for the return of the camera. Dan is inflating Elio's kiddie pool as I type... what a shame not to go take pictures of Elio in there!