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New Orleans Museum of Art: Fine Culture in New Orleans

Kenny and Karen — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:25:20 +0000

The New Orleans Museum of Art is an expansive collection that houses over 4000 years of art in its many galleries. They have European paintings that span the last 500 years, as well as work on this side of the pond that represents American works from the 18^th to the 21^st century. The New Orleans Museum of Art also has collections from Asia, Africa, Oceanic, Pre-Columbian, as well as Native American art.

Now open for more than 100 years the New Orleans Museum of Art is the oldest fine art museum in The Big Easy. It is also one of the largest fine art museums in the city with over 40,000 permanent art pieces in its collection. The museum is located in prime real estate being in the fabulous City Park it is right next to the New Orleans Botanical Garden and basically attached to the five-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Karen and I went and recommend that you go on a Wednesday because the New Orleans Museum of Art is free on that day we also made an afternoon of it and spent some time in City Park seeing the sights which you can read about from the link above.

While the New Orleans Museum of Art is never going to be the main attraction in New Orleans, it does serve as a nice respite from all the excitement and hullabaloo that takes place in the French Quarter. Their collection does consist of the usual suspects of any respected art museum including works by Monet, O’Keefe, Pollock, Picasso, Matisse, and Degas. The museum also brings in high quality traveling art exhibitions so make sure you check out their website to see what they are currently offering.

Karen and I liked going to the New Orleans Museum of Art especially on a Wednesday when it was free. If we would not have learned about their free day we probably would not have gone which would have been a shame because we would not have learned about City Park or the New Orleans Botanical Garden. If you are visiting New Orleans and looking for something to do outside of the French Quarter we recommend going to City Park on a Wednesday and enjoying the New Orleans Museum of Art and the rest of what City Park has to offer.

To see other art museums we have reviewed like the New Orleans Museum of Art click here.

New Orleans Museum of Art
Located at 1 Collin Diboll Circle, New Orleans, LA
Hours of Operation Tuesday through Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Friday 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Cost as of this Posting Adults 18 and over $10.00 Seniors $8.00 Children 7 to 17 $6 Every Wednesday as of right now is Free
For more information visit their website at http://noma.org/

M’s week 50

Kenny and Karen — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:10:13 +0000

**I cannot even contemplate the idea that she will be an entire YEAR old in just two short weeks!

50 week photo

Highlight of the week:

Karen- The weekends are always a highlight for me because we have our sweet Daddy here at home with us. We got a lot of work done and had a fun time together.

Kenny- There were some really awful tornadoes that hit near us this week. Many people lost their homes and ives were lost as well. We are feeling undeserving and so very blessed to have our home still in tact and our sweet baby girl in our arms. The highlight for me was coming home and getting to hold baby M in my arms. My heart and our prayers go out to those who are suffering losses.

Product we are loving:

Karen- I got a fun little swing at one of my baby showers and this weekend we got the chance to hang it up and M just loves it! If we even walk past it or spy it out the window she waves her little hands and just insists we stop and do some swinging. She is so cute.

Kenny- My wife, she does it all!

Struggle:

Karen- Sometimes we seem to have a little battle of wills about brushing her teeth at night. I think it is mostly because she is getting tired and a little cranky and then I’m trying to put this crazy brush in her mouth. We get the job done, but sometimes it leaves me a little frazzled.

Kenny- She’s a lot more independent than she once was. Not that that’s a bad thing, but she is much more vocal if she wants something and you take it away.

Picture of the Week

Something we have learned:

Karen- She is getting so good a mimicking sounds and even words. I wouldn’t say she is talking yet, but she can mimick lots of animal sounds, ducks, sheep, monkeys, birds, squirrels (clicking her little tongue EVERYtime she sees one, the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!)

Kenny- She’s about to take off walking any day now.

Quote of the week:

At the grocery store a few weeks ago a sweet lady literally stopped me in my tracks and was gushing “oh my word, she is such a gorgeous baby! She should be in movies and on greeting cards, wow!”. It was really sweet and I feel flattered that other people notice my baby. Of course her Momma and Daddy think she’s the most beautiful thing we’ve ever seen!

M vs Giraffe Week 50

It has been a great fiftieth week and we are looking forward to many, many more!

Tip of Week: Take Better Care of your Body

Kenny and Karen — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:52:26 +0000

Take better care of your body is a pretty common sense thing to have for a tip of the week, but honestly how many of us out there do it? Now I am not talking about getting into super shape or eating healthy all the time, and if you are one of those types that can do that than all the power to you, but what I am talking about is simple things like maintaining flexibility and some basic muscle tone.

I would like to say that I could still do all the things as fast and as a good as I could when I was in my early twenties, and being a school coach and occasionally playing in a soccer league I do try but I definitely feel it a lot more the next day. On those mornings I keep having that Toby Keith song “As Good As I Once Was” running through my head. This school year I became the schools cross country coach in the fall and then soccer in the spring and throughout the year trying to keep up with my baby girl when I get home has definitely helped me lose weight this year but my body has just felt tired.

I knew I needed a change so the last couple of weeks before I went to bed I did a few flexibility and muscle toning exercises that I found while trying to plan my cross country team summer workouts. I was sore the first couple of days, but since then I feel a little more refreshed and there is slightly more of a spring in my step. Now I know that I will never recapture my youth and honestly I’m not so sure I would want to, I would just like to have a little less tightness in certain parts of my body that were designed to be flexible.

So find something that works for you like the Myrtle Routine has worked for me. I am not a doctor or a physical therapist or anything like that so make sure you consult a physician before trying any exercise program, but the sooner you start to take care of yourself, the better you will feel.

Louisiana’s Old State Capitol: An Architectural Treasure

Kenny and Karen — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:31:16 +0000

As Karen and I were traveling through Baton Rouge we decided to take some time and stretch our legs and see the USS Kidd, a destroyer that appears exactly like it did during World War II. As we were driving looking for parking to visit the USS Kidd we stumbled across Louisiana’s Old State Capitol and its very unique architecture. We decided to take a few pictures of the building and decided to go in and see the inside and since there was not an admission charge we took the self-guided tour.

The staff at Louisiana’s Old State Capitol was very nice, make sure you stop by and pick up the self-guided tour map at the front desk. One of the first things that we noticed was the grand spiral staircase which led to the magnificent stained-glass dome ceiling. At the top of the stairs was the Governor’s Portrait Gallery exhibit which has an interactive station that lets you pick one of the portraits on the wall and it gives information about that governor. It also gave information on the Spanish and French Colonial Governor before Louisiana became a part of the United States. Other exhibits included a history on how Baton Rouge went from a frontier outpost to the state capital and about the role Baton Rouge played during the American Civil War.

Karen and I both thought the best exhibit at Louisiana’s Old State Capitol was the Legacy of Huey Long which gives a little bit of a background to Louisiana’s most famous politician. Huey Long divided the state of Louisiana between those that loved him and those that wanted him dead and both sides story is represented in this exhibit. It also goes into Huey Long’s oratory prowess with audio recordings of Long’s actual speeches. Finally this exhibit delves into the assassination of Huey Long and mysterious circumstances of his death.

Even though Karen and I are not from Louisiana we enjoyed our visit to Louisiana’s Old State Capitol and learning about some of the history of the Pelican State. It took less than 45 minutes for us to go through it though we probably could have stretched it out a bit longer if we would have spent some more time in the governor’s gallery or reading all of the information in the exhibits. Karen and I were really glad we stumbled across Louisiana’s Old State Capitol because when we get to see something that is free and it turns out to be interesting well that makes for a good destination.

To see other historical sites we have visited like Louisiana’s Old State Capitol click here

Louisiana’s Old State Capitol
Located at 100 North Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA
Hours of Operation: Tuesday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost as of this Posting: Admission is free there is a cost to see the movie
For more information visit their website at http://www.louisianaoldstatecapitol.org/

Teaching Tip: Good Assignments for Those Last Days of School

Kenny and Karen — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:03:11 +0000

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For those of us teachers out there the last few weeks of school can be some of the most challenging days in the school year because after pushing testing all year, when the tests have been completed the students have a tendency to think that school is done. Unfortunately, we usually close our testing window with about a month still to go in the school year. We are supposed to get them ready for the next school year, but the more I see teachers push that type of curriculum the more classroom management issues they seem to have.

Now it would be easy to just pop in movies, go on a fieldtrip, or hand out another crossword puzzle or word search to pass the time away, but that is not very constructive for you or your students. So, I try to use this time to teach them about things that we just cannot get to during the school year when we are in such a rush to cover the things that will be in all of those “important” state tests.

Good Assignments for Those Last Days of School

Do a financial unit with them. Have them research average salaries of different careers and educational levels. Also make them fill out a monthly as well as yearly budget for themselves if they were to move out of the house and have to pay for all the things they “think” they would need. It is astonishing how much my middle school students end up wanting to spend for entertainment purposes.
Have your class create a board game and play it. Make it subject related and have them use knowledge that they picked up throughout the year. A Trivial Pursuit like game is always easy to create, but you can be creative and have them combine a Settlers of Catan game with Risk. The sky’s the limit and so are some of your student’s imaginations.
I also like to give my students facts about drugs and alcohol. I tell them I’m not their parent, I’m not even thier friend, I’m their teacher. It is my job just to present facts and they take it from there. We talk a little bit about drugs and how they effect the brain and that the brain is your most important organ, it is basically responsible for everything. Then I show them some brain scans of people who have been addicted to drugs or alcohol that way they have the facts for when they have to make those life altering decisions.
A good class project, and it will serve as a good parting gift to your students, is to give them a list with everybody’s name on it and they have to write one positive thing about them. They have to come up with one thing for everybody and once you collect them you type up all the nice things they said about each student organize it so each student gets a letter with all those positive messages. When I do this I do not put who wrote what about them except for my personal message to them that way nobody else in the class might be embarrassed by what they wrote.
Along the same lines as number 3 I have them write a letter to a staff member of the school it could be the lunch lady, security officer, teacher or principal. Write a letter telling the school staff member why they are special to them.

Just make sure you make those last few weeks meaningful to them have fun and before you know it the school year will be over.

M’s Week 49

Kenny and Karen — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:26:11 +0000

49 week photo

We had such a fantastic time this week. We went on a fun filled vacation to St. Louis Missouri along with our friends (who just so happen to be our family), Neil and Julie and their sweet little girl. We did so many exciting things and the girls really enjoyed getting some one-on-one time with each other.

Highlight of the week:

Karen- Spending several fun filled days with our best friends was certainly a highlight. We are so excited for our little girls to become best friends too.

Kenny- Seeing M interact with her little cousin. After spending several days together, just as we were preparing to part ways the girls started holding hands and really taking an interest in each other. It was just a glimpse of what is to come.

Product we are loving:

Karen- Aunt Julie gave us two really cute little weebles. M was so fascinated with her new exciting toy. I sat them on the ledge in the back window of the car and she just laughed and laughed as they wobbled back and forth. I even sang the theme song to her ‘weebles wobble but they won’t fall down!’.

Kenny- M’s little fruit and veggie melts came in handy while we were on the road and she needed a little snack to perk her up.

Struggle:

Karen- It’s not really a struggle, maybe an annoyance, but sometimes when we are out and about with baby M, if she has on the color blue or brown and I don’t have her hair bow securely on her head, people will comment about how cute my little BOY is!!! It’s mostly older people and I know those blues and browns are traditionally boy colors, but if you aren’t sure the gender of a baby it’s best to just say “oh what a cute baby” or “wow that’s a sweet little one” or something gender neutral like that. It’s so awkward because I’m not sure what to do at that point. Do I correct them and make them feel like a nut or do I just nod and smile and then I am a nut!? If it’s a stranger I usually just go along with it. Today after smiling in agreement and thanking an older couple who told me my little boy was so handsome, I was so scared to death that they were going to ask me what HIS name was! I’m so crazy…

Kenny- As we were making the first leg of the trip, about four and a half hours to Neil and Julie’s house, M had a breakdown in the car at about the four hour mark. She does so good for so long, but after about four hours when it’s getting close to bedtime she just will not tolerate it any longer. We had to stop and Karen got out of the car with her and just held her close and whispered in her ear and tried to comfort her. Oh, it breaks our hearts to hear her cry.

Picture of the Week

Something we have learned:

Karen- She is growing up so fast! For so long I have been afraid to let her try any food besides her baby food because I was terrified that she would choke. On our trip she got to try some little nibbles of bread, a cracker and even some banana bites. She did so good!

Kenny- She can go for a SEVEN and a half hour drive in one day which is pretty amazing considering she would barely go seven and a half minutes when she was little bitty. My little girl is all grown up.

Quote of the week:

One awesome perk at our hotel (thanks to Neil and Julie) was access to an hors d’oeuvres hour as well as an awesome dessert bar. One the first evening we encountered a lively older woman who had obviously partaken of quite a bit of the wine. When we walked in the door with our two adorable little ladies she shouted out “oh are they twins!?” after we corrected her that they are in fact cousins she piped up “can you believe how many people have cousins!? It’s uncanny!” Ha ha, yes we all just smiled.

M vs Giraffe Week 49

It has been a great forty-ninth week and we are looking forward to many, many more!

Audubon Zoo: The Kid Friendly Wild Side of New Orleans

Kenny and Karen — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:22:48 +0000

The Audubon Zoo is one part of the Audubon attractions that can be found in New Orleans and in our humble opinion it is the best attraction of the three. While the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas and the Audubon Insectarium were well put together, our experience at the Audubon Zoo makes the other two pale in comparison.

The Audubon Zoo is a little on the small size at just 58 acres but the 2,000 plus animals that call the Audubon Zoo home made for an impressive zoo experience. The grounds of the zoo were well maintained and very clean and the display of flowers and vegetation within the exhibit made the zoo feel very inviting and more spacious then it actually is. Another impressive thing about the Audubon Zoo is the number of updates that have been made over the years that have transformed it from an old dated zoo to one of the better zoos in the United States.

There are two award-winning zoo exhibits at the Audubon Zoo and those two are their unique natural habitat of the Louisiana Swamp and the extremely well-designed Jaguar Jungle. Fortunately for all visitors to the Audubon Zoo the nice exhibits do not stop there but their Asian Domain, primate area, and African Savanna are all worth seeing. Besides the exhibits the zoo also has several animal activities and animal encounters to choose from. Some of these extra things will make your visit special they include a a giraffe presentation, elephant activity, a raptor show, and several keeper chats.

The kiddos will not be disappointed with their time at the zoo, besides having the chance to see several unique species of animals from white tigers to white alligators the Audubon zoo has most of the zoo favorites from large primates, sea lions, elephants, and giraffes. This Zoo also has two fun children’s play areas, Monkey Hill which is an historic part of the zoo which has received a face lift recently. Monkey Hill has a rope web for kids to climb on, a waterfall, as well as a safari outpost at the base of the hill. The zoo also has a traditional petting zoo and carousel along with a variety of other attractions to keep the kids entertained when the animals are just not enough.

Karen and I really enjoyed our experience at the zoo. I found the Louisiana Swamp and the Jaguar Jungle to be really top notch exhibits, well designed and planned out. Both exhibits gave their animals a good amount of space which is always nice to see. The Asian Domain was probably my next favorite exhibit in the zoo and the Asian Elephant area was very unique because you end up being so close to the animals. The Audubon Zoo was also improving that particular exhibit which is nice to see that they are trying to improve not only the visitor’s experience but also the lives of their animals. Karen was a big fan of the cosmetics of the zoo and just could not get over the grand entrance with their very large elephant water fountain. Once she saw that she knew she was going to enjoy the rest of the zoo.

While the Audubon Zoo did not crack our top 10 zoos in the United States when we first wrote them a while back it would not be far from joining that list today. It was well worth the time, the only downside to a visit to the Audubon Zoo is the rather expensive price tag for what is a medium sized zoo. At close to $20 for adults and $10 for children the Audubon Zoo could be an expensive day out for most families. It was fun and we are both glad that we took some of our time while visiting New Orleans to go but if we ever go back I doubt we would make a return trip if we could not find some sort of coupon.

To see our other zoo reviews like the Audubon Zoo click here

Audubon Zoo
Located at 6500 Magazine St. New Orleans, LA
Hours of Operation: Tuesday through Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Cost as of this Posting: Adults 13 and over $17.50 Seniors 65 and over $13.00 Children 2 to 12 $12.00
For more information visit their website at http://www.auduboninstitute.org/visit/zoo

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Kenny and Karen — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:50:31 +0000

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

For the second time he saw Michael Corleone’s face freeze into a mask that resembled uncannily the Don’s. “Tom, don’t let anybody kid you. It’s all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of s#@$ every man has to eat every day of his life is personal. They call it business. OK. But it’s personal as hell. You know where I learned that from? The Don. My old man. The Godfather. If a bolt of lightning hit a friend of his the old man would take it personal. He took my going into the Marines personal. That’s what makes him great. The Great Don. He takes everything personal. Like God. He knows every feather that falls from the tail of a sparrow or however the hell it goes. Right? And you know something? Accidents don’t happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo is the great book that spawned what is arguably the best movie of all time in Francis Ford Coppola’s movie by the same name The Godfather. Puzo’s Godfather opened the door to Mafia culture and introduced mob terms and popularity into American culture and has maintained its place there ever since.

The novel follows the Corleone family, the most powerful of the five Mafia families that run New York City from the years 1945 to 1955. The Godfather follows the family patriarch of the Corleone family who is called the Godfather and his three sons Santino, Frederico, and Michael. Sonny is the oldest of the three boys and most impulsive and violent while Frederico is the most timid and weakest of the boys. Michael is the youngest and smartest of the boys and he is also a rebel going against his father’s wishes and enlists in the army at the start of World War II. While Sonny wants to be in the family business and joins at a young age Michael wants nothing to do with it and goes to great lengths to get away.

During this time period a new vice that could make the families more money than they have ever had before is now readily available from a new contender for power, Virgil the Turk Solozzo. Solozzo has access to drugs and needs Vito Corleone’s police and judge connections to turn a blind eye to his white powder operation. Vito did not become the Godfather by taking unnecessary risks with his political connections and knows that getting involved with drugs will dissolve his protection. When Vito tells Solozzo that he will not go into business with him Vito’s eldest son Santino lets slip that maybe they should reconsider. Solozzo sees there could be a split in the Corleone family and decides to assassinate the Don but fails. When Santino retaliates by killing the son of the mob family that sponsored Solozzo a mob war breaks out bringing the power of the Corleone family under great pressure as the Don tries to recover from his wounds. Santino tries to replace the Don but is looked as reckless and the connections his father has built up over time leave him. Frederico who witnesses the attempt on Don Vito’s life has a hard time recovering from the shock and is sent to Las Vegas to learn about gambling. Michael who at the time of the assassination attempt was trying to stay away from the family comes to realize that in his heart he must do what he has to do to avenge his father and restore the fear and respect his family name once produced.

If you have only seen the movie and have not read the book then you are in for a treat because the book goes into so much greater detail of how the Mafia is run and what motivates it. Think of it as a behind the scenes look into Coppola’s movie. It is definitely worth reading though at times it does get bogged down into some of the side stories like Santino’s mistress or Vito’s godson the famous singer and movie actor Johnny Fontane. Despite the tangents Puzo goes down at times I still give the book four and half shells out of five.

To read our other reviews of books worth reading like the Godfather click here

Take-Away Donuts: MMMM Donuts!

Kenny and Karen — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:12:22 +0000

Karen and I took a last minute trip to New Orleans during my time off for spring break. We thought of several different locations at first, but with our little girl who still struggles with longer rides in the car itnkind of helped us make our decision to go someplace a little bit closer to home. Since it was a last minute decision our room accommodations were a bit limited we either had to spend a couple hundred a night, stay in some low reviewed hotels, or stay outside the city. We choose the latter. We ended up finding a decently priced and well reviewed La Quinta Inn & Suites Hotel in Boutte, Louisiana. Although it was a bit of a drive to the places that we wanted to see we ended up liking our stay away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

As we were driving along Highway 90 we were looking for places that we might want to eat and get some food when I noticed a sign for Take-Away Donuts, and once I saw the sign I begged Karen to stop. Being a loving life she allowed it, but only because we are on vacation. She usually tries to limit my sugar intake because she loves me and knows that if she did not limit it I would probably have type II diabetes because I like me some sweet stuff. Once in we asked the lady that was running the counter what kind of donuts they had and what she recommended. She told us that everything is good boy howdy was she ever right. We got a few of their glazed donuts crème filled and topped it off with some chocolate ones. They were so good we ended up going back twice.

Take-Away Donuts really hit the spot on our vacation when we were craving something sweet I just wish we would have tried some of their king cake because we head that it is delicious. Just to let you know we were not paid or perked to write this review in fact we doubt Take-Away Donuts has any idea who we are. Karen and I just wanted to give our humble opinion on Take-Away Donuts.

To read about other restaurant/food reviews like Take-Away Donuts click here

Take-Away Donuts
Located at 13441 Highway 90 Boutte, LA
For More Information call 985-785-6747

Travel Tip: Why You Should Shop Around

Kenny and Karen — Sun, 12 May 2013 03:53:21 +0000

Travel Tip: Why You Should Shop Around

Renting a car from the airport sure is convenient, but your wallet will take a hit for how easy it is. Karen and I both drive older model vehicles that have some mileage on them so to help preserve them we rent a car whenever we travel. It sure saves a lot of wear and tear on our vehicles and since I have a gas guzzler we almost break even if we go for a small car that gets good mpg. However lately on our last two trips it has seemed like renting a car is starting to cost both an arm and a leg.

Recently Karen and I have been planning a trip to one of our favorite cities Saint Louis and decided to go ahead and rent the car thinking that the further out we rent it the more we can save. I checked all the national rental agencies, hotwired it, and a few other spots but they were all close to 400 dollars after taxes and fees for our extended trip. Karen and I then talked about not going or using our own vehicle to go.

I then hit on the notion to check out other rental places other than the airport. As soon as I did that the price for one car rental place went from around $370 to $170. The fees alone went from $107 to $27 the only inconvenience to us was picking up the car between certain hours, but for around $200 in savings we will make it work out. I am not sure that this will work every time, but from now on we will definitely be shopping around and checking the places outside of the airport.

Travel Tip: Common Sense Rental Tips
1. Shop Around
2. Use the Internet to your Advantage
3. Look Outside of the Airport
4. Call to see if they can give you a better deal than their competition
5. Exhaust all options and you will feel better about your decision

To see our other travel tips click here