New Orleans Aquarium

We decided to take Ally to the aquarium in New Orleans before we headed to the airport on Sunday. Karl and I had been there before but Ally has this obsession with all things Finding Nemo so we thought she would love it and we were right. She has been particularly interested in alligators and turtles and they had all of it. Some of the tanks were at just the perfect height where she could check them out on her own. After a few hours checking out the fish we stopped for an authentic New Orleans lunch then headed to the airport around 3. Of course Ally fell asleep on the way to the airport so she napped for about a half hour until we got to security then she was awake through the first flight, played in the Dallas airport and then fell asleep about 20 minutes from landing in Peoria. She did fairly well on the flights and passed the time playing on my lap, watching Nemo, snacking and checking other people out. She really did great for only being 20 months old!

Looking back on the trip, it was a lot of fun to take a cruise but I am not sure we would advise someone to take a child as young as Ally unless you have some help. We were happy to have grandma and grandpa along to give us some time to do 'adult' things and to let Ally be entertained by someone else at times when we would get a little frustrated with her. It was a big change from our daily routine but she handled it really well. As first time parents, we tend to over react to little things but when it comes down to it we really do have a great girl. She is just at that independent but still needy stage of toddler development which means that she knows what she wants and wants it now, and you better figure out a way to make it happen because she can only do it halfway on her own. Weather was beautiful, the ship itself had tons to do, rooms was better than we expected, clientele was a little suspect but made for good people watching so if you are looking for a great way to spend some money in the Caribbean in a week, consider it. Special thanks to Grandma Sharon, Grandpa Henry and the Eagins for getting us to do this and for helping out along the way!