More Mardi Gras World Museum photos

The Mardi Gras World Museum is not just a museum, but a working factory where artists make the floats for Mardi Gras. As part of the tour, you get to try on costumes (see previous entry for a photo of Nino and Dani). Here are some more photos: Tavo dressed up; Dani and Nino with various props; and a photo of me, where you can see my pregnant belly. The last photo is an awesome-looking witch for Mardi Gras 2009.

Dani's visit

Nino's niece, Danielle, drove back with us from Texas to New Orleans and stayed for a week. Tavo was excited to have Dani around. He loved waking up in the morning and going to see her in the other room. And, he had fun visiting all the sites. We got to play tour guides and tourists in our city. Besides showing her the French Quarter, the Aquariam, the plantations and taking her to eat beignets at Cafe du Monde, we visited something that we ourselves had never been to: the Mardi Gras World Museum.

Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

Last stop on our trip was Nuevo Laredo, Mexico to visit Ninito's great-grandmother Chacha, Tia Rosie, Tio Nino and Tia Irma. Ninito enjoyed checking out the toys and listening to music at the mercado, chasing pigeons in the park and laughing with his great-grandmother Chacha and Tia Rosie.

Texas, Part 3

Our next Texas stop was San Antonio, to see Ninito's Abuelita Christina, Tio Ricardo, Tia Cynthia and primo Galo. Galo just turned four years old and the two cousins played nicely together. Tavo had so much fun playing with Galo's toys and running around the house with him that he skipped naptimes and stayed up late.

Texas, Part 2

Next, in Austin, we visited Nino's sister Christina, her husband David and their kids Alex and little David. Ninito loved playing ball with Davey and swimming in their pool. He even managed to make a few slam dunks in the pool basket, with help from his father. One afternoon, Nino and I got to go shopping alone while Ninito stayed and played until he was exhausted. We came back to find him sleeping on top of Davey!

Texas, Part 1

We spent almost two weeks in Texas, visiting family and friends. First, we stayed at my parents' house in Bastrop, along with my brother, my sister, her husband and their 4 children. Tavo was thrilled to have so many playmates around, and despite a cold, was super happy. Photos are of a trip to Natural Bridge Caverns, a family shot (just missing Jason's wife Amy and stepdaughter Creslyn), the grandparents with all their grandchildren, and the last one is of Tavo and Benjamin playing (Jana's cousin's son, who is 3 months younger than Tavo).

A few more DC photos

Some of the most awe-inspiring places that we went to in our trip were the National Cathedral, the Islamic Mosque and Cultural Center and the Basilica of the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception (Thanks Darrell!) Here are photos of Tavo having fun at all the places.

DC

Before we are a family of 4 (I think everyone knows by now that we're expecting a second child on August 30th), we wanted to go on a vacation. We originally thought of interior Mexico or perhaps a beach somewhere, but prices of plane tickets for those destinations were outrageous. However, we found cheap tickets to a place Nino had been wanting to see, Washington D.C., for mid-June. We stayed on Capital Hill with friends Marsha & Darrell Blakeway and had a wonderful time exploring the museums, sites and monuments of D.C. Tavo's favorite museum was the National History Museum, where he ran around excitedly looking at the animal displays and the other children, and the National Zoo. We also enjoyed spending time with Marsha & Darrell (second to last photo), and catching up with friends Erica, Matias and their children Nalia and Elio (last photo).