Family Vacation: Last Stop, Vicksburg, MS

We spent one night in Vicksburg, MS, to break up the drive home, and it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip. Right now is the sesquicentennial of the 40+ day siege on Vicksburg during the Civil War, so we really enjoyed touring the National Civil War Park. Every state that fought in the siege has a memorial, and there were markings where important battles took place. Dave has been teaching the boys about the battles of the Civil War, so this was a perfect stop for us.

Staring Contest at dinner

Minnesota Memorial

Fire the cannons! 

The Illinois Memorial

battlefield

USS Cairo -- This ironclad gunboat was sunk in the Mississippi River in 1862 and recovered about 100 years later.

Texas Memorial

Iowa Memorial - This memorial was originally dedicated in 1912 and just finished being refurbished. It was going to be rededicated the next day by Iowa Gov. Branstad.

Family Vacation: Second Stop, Dauphin Island, AL

We LOVED Dauphin Island! It's a small island not far from Gulf Shores, but it appeared to be primarily residential and not very touristy, which is just our pace. We stayed at a wonderful condo that had indoor and outdoor pools in addition to the beach, so the boys never ran out of water to play and swim in.

Dave and Nate enjoying some local BBQ ribs. There aren't a lot of foods that Nate likes right now, but ribs are one of them!

Lunch on our patio.

We played a lot of Battleship.

Fort Gaines

Family Vacation: First Stop, New Orleans

Beignets at Cafe Dumond. Charlie loved them, but Nate was surprisingly uninterested. I mean, who doesn't like fried dough with a mountain of powdered sugar on it?

Hide and Seek in Jackson Square

Riding the trolley

Future Photographers

Some pictures taken by Nate and Charlie

April

Charlie loved playing baseball again this spring. He especially loved to play catcher.

Nate moved up another stripe in Taekwondo. (He's now up to a green stripe.)

The boys and I had a lot of fun making a chocolate Oreo cheesecake cake for Dave's birthday. And we all had even more fun eating it!

Easter in Minnesota

The boys and I went to Minnesota in March to celebrate Easter and my grandma's 90th birthday. It was a great time being with family!

Grandma and her great-grandkids

Grandma and her granddaughters