Christmas down South

 Smiles like these are constant when we go visit Gr &Gr Cottrell in Louisiana!!  We left cold and chilly Illinois for a warm and sunny Christmas down south! 
 Kristy, Scott and Shayna were there with us as well and we all took a day to go see the big Mississippi and feed the birds.  This was a HUGE HIT with the kids and we were all lucky not to get pooped on!!

 Here come all the birds!!!!  Cover your heads!!
 The French Quarter!!  I LOVE the Flea Market there. As you can tell you can find all sorts of things there!  Justin was cautious about the alligator heads but eventually give them a 2 second touch and snatched his hand right back! I think he thought it was going to snap at him like a alligator game that we have back home does.  We ate some yummy authentic Southern food in a indoor/outdoor cafe.  Mine was Louisiana seafood gumbo...yes yummy
 The French Quarter in Downtown New Orleans, is such a tourist attraction that you never know what you will find. Artist, dancers, jazz musicians, people selling goods, fortune tellers, kids tap dancing on smashed pop cans anything to get tips from spectators.  Here is a guy that made his very own Transformer costume.  His arms and legs had what looked like roller blade wheels on them and the big tires actually ran on a small battery and when he got on all fours he turned into his car and drove around the crowd!!  He would them stand up and flip the front bumper back and transform into the robot.  Clay and Hayden loved it!!



You can always see these funny guys striking a pose and keeping it for what seems like forever to me and then make jerky movements to spook people walking by.  Its hilarious to watch!
 Steve and Diana are always great hosts!  I love making dinners together, playing games, enjoying time in the hot tub, and movie nights, they all are a must.  The kids loved making homemade ornaments with Diana and they turned out so great.  Christmas morning is pajama time, opening presents and lots of WOWS, AWESOME, and THAT'S SO COOL!
Thanks Gr & Gr Cottrell for such a great vacation and Christmas time spent with you!!  We are all so lucky to be part of such a great family!!

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