New Orleans: Day 1

I tried to condense the weekend into one blog post but New Orleans refused to be reduced into just a few pictures and paragraphs. So, here by popular demand, is New Orleans: Day 1. Or, Saturday.

We started at my brother's apartment
before heading down to Canal Street.
From there we went to the IMAX and saw Dinosaurs Alive! narrated by *the* Michael Douglas.
They look so real!

We climbed high and low looking for fish, birds, and sea creatures of all types.
Some enjoyed it more than others.

I'll spare you all the hundreds of pictures of random fish I took but here are 2 pretty cool ones. Some giant ells
and a shark that swam around with his mouth open all the time. I think he had lock jaw.
Next we took a little trip to the Riverwalk which a mall area on the waterfront.
We ate some beignets which my aunt declared delicious.
The aftermath was brutal. There are lots of rules for eating beignets: Don't breathe in. Don't breathe out. And under no circumstances should you shake the excessive sugar off the top.
Brandi climbed on things she wasn't supposed to (this was a reoccurring theme)
and then we visited the insectarium which is giant museum of bugs. Here's my brother getting friendly with some cockroaches.
Brandi and I chose to hang out with the butterflies instead.
Later that evening we went to Superior Grill which had the best burrito I've eaten in a long time and we took turns mimicking my parents' dog who has big droopy eyes and gets things toys stuck on his teeth from time to time.

I got my to-go cup of (rather strong) margarita and hit the town.
I fit right in. Then it was back to my brother's apartment where my dad got some first class lodging.
Tomorrow: the zoo and knitting.

P.S. Check out my future SIL, Brandi's, blog. It's a little glimpse into what it's like to join my family in our kooky adventures.