The Journey of Parenthood…

New Orleans Day 4

Our last day in New Orleans! As I mentioned in an earlier post this was the first Aflac trip in a long time that we just stuck with the length of the trip given. And really three nights were enough to explore New Orleans. We both agreed we liked it WAY MORE than we were lead to believe we’d enjoy it. It has a very Savannah vibe (which we loved last year) and is an area we’d like to return back to someday. The one thing we wish we’d had time to do was see the World War II museum. I’ve heard nothing but incredible things about it but we didn’t have enough of a solid block of time to check it out, def on the list for next visit 🙂

We had a tour I booked through Groupon (this trip was also an old school Zach and Emily style trip where we tried to only use the spending money Aflac gave us, we’re keeping things CHEAP around here!) so we grabbed some breakfast on our way to catch the tour. 

This guy does some hand motion dancing all day every day right outside the restaurant. Our waitress knew his entire routine by heart which was pretty awesome. 

We did not end up ever riding the trolley! We tried to but it would have just taken us longer than walking!

The groupon tour seemed pretty shadddddddy. We were told to get there early but then when we got there they said to come back later so we walked around a bit. 

The tour ended up being great though! The guide was born and raised in New Orleans and his passion, pride and love for the area really shown through which was nice! It was a “hit the highlights” kind of tour which yall know are my favs 😉 

We went through some of the area that was hit by Katrina. It’s crazy to see how HIGH the water went and to see the markings the search units would use on the outsides of the homes as they searched. 

Riding through the cemetery was very beautiful. It was interesting how they have to bury above ground when possible due to the water levels. With Katrina a TON of graves came up and he admitted there is just no way to know if all the bodies got returned where they belonged. 

Family plots are cool. They literally bury them on top of each other and list all their info together. 

Nicholas Cage has a pyramid like this one already purchased for himself there .

We stopped for a break and some treats! I was glad we had another change to try beignets! 

Zach is skilled with his powdered sugaring 😉

Usually before every trip I get out at least $100-$200 in cash “just in case” but this trip I consciously made the decision not to. I NEVER carry cash. Why would I need it if I don’t need it at home? I had literally $19 for the whole trip in cash. And I never carry my atm card either haha. At this stop they didn’t say anything to us about it being cash only and the bill was $11.

A lot of movies, tv shows, etc are filmed in Nola and passed SEVERAL production crews. One restaurant we stopped in they were filming so we may have gotten on film 😉

Along the tour we also got to see Archie Manning’s, Drew Brees’s, and Nicholas Cage’s homes!

After our tour we had a mission to get a Po-Boy. Zach loves food and had always heard when in NOLA you gotta eat Po-Boy. 

First stop. Cash only. 

The courtroom used in Runaway Jury 🙂

2nd try was on Bourbon Street. Desperate times people, desperate times!

You know it’s good when they have top secret symbol signs. 

So it was a total dive bar that we had to walk through to get to the very back in this room that was the size of a closet. And we finally find it and it’s Cash. Only.

Third try….will they take credit cards?!?!

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

It was GOOD!!! I wanted to love the potatoes but we don’t do spicy and they were SPICY!

I’ve also learned that you can’t trust people when you ask if something is spicy. People who enjoy spicy food become desensitized to it. They have a totally different scale in regards to what they consider spicy. For a wuss like me (and Zach) even the slightest spice is SPICY!

Back at Walgreens for more treats 😉

We had a few hours and decided just to spend them hanging out. Eating snacks. Watching our show. Just chill mode!

The last night of the trip was the awards banquet. This is always such a hodge podge of people. Some rent tuxes and fancy dresses even! I ALWAYS prefer to be over dressed than under dressed. And since this is one of the first Aflac trips where I’m not nursing or pregnant I really did look into buying myself a fancier dress. But yall. They are SO expensive. I even looked into renting and I just can’t pay $100 to rent something?!? Especially when you really are sitting down the entire night. I do need to keep an eye out for fancier things as all my stuff is more on the casual end. I LOVE to dress up (as does Zach) and I cannot STAND feeling underdressed for an occasion!

I mentioned before that this trip was probably the best done Aflac trip ever. I’m not joking. We had our Awards Dinner…inside the SUPER DOME. How amazing is that?!?! It’s the first time we have EVER stayed for the entire program and were among the last people to leave. We just wanted to soak in the once in a lifetime experience!

We met Jude on an Aflac trip I believe in NYC and have stayed in touch sense! It was great getting to catch up 🙂 

Tripp, Zach’s state coordinator, brought a football along. Before the festivities began he got us all into some trouble tossing it around on the sidelines. They told the men boys to wait until AFTER the event to toss it again. Hence why we stayed throughout the whole night 😉 

Got to meet a IG friend and fellow #aflacwifeclub member, Cindy!

So excited for her family as they are expecting their 2nd child and it was awesome to see her husband be recognized for his achievements with Aflac! 

During the program they announced they would have trash cans and footballs when the event ended. We later realized they were JOKING. But a TON of the men there that night didn’t catch the joke (us included haha) and stayed waiting to get to play. Luckily Tripp had that football! It was SO ADORABLE to see all these GROWN men acting like straight boys! They all wanted turns to catch a touch down pass and all of us wives just took pics of it all haha

I went with some videos:

Before the dinner (when they got in “trouble”)

View of awards dinner

Next years trip is BACK TO HAWAII!!!

Fireworks 1

Fireworks 2

Sidenote about this video. This was Zach’s first time going out for a pass. In all the excitement and being caught up in the moment he COMPLETELY forgot that HE CAN’T RUN. I haven’t talked a lot about the effects of Zach’s back surgery in May but it left his left leg with what we call “dead leg.” He has to consciously think about walking or will stumble sometimes or trip over it. He can’t wear flip flops b/c he can’t grip them to keep them on. And he legit can’t run. So he took off running to catch the pass and hardcore fell. I didn’t even know he was falling b/c he pulled it off so well (and still caught the pass!) so I even am laughing in the video thinking he’s just being a show off haha 

This time he took it in more of stride and was consciously thinking about his steps and was able to catch it without the fall 😉 

I’m telling yall these men were having a BLAST

With Zach’s leg issue he stuck to quarterback 😉 

Last one 🙂

I love that our room key is always Aflac themed on trips

and it’s super nice that they give each woman/wife a bracelet with a charm from the location!

We had MUCH less issue getting home than we did getting there, which I’m thankful for. At the end of any trip I’m DYING to see my BABIES and it’s truly heartbreaking for me when anything delays us getting back!

Zach had been wanting a pretzel all week. Such a random craving. And who is he waving at? haha

We hooked the kids up with Aflac freebies and some prizes too 🙂


With our recent medical news I know it’s a life altering moment where we will look at memories as “before health issues” and “after health issues.” I’m thankful we had this trip. At the time I was frustrated that we didn’t know results before we left but I now am thankful we didn’t know. Thankful for the quality time together without worrying if I’m talking too much about health stuff or wondering what he’s thinking about everything. I know all of the craziness of this time period will pass and I’m hopeful that by next year’s National Convention (HAWAII!!!) we will be in a better place emotionally, physically, medically, just across the board so we can enjoy that trip on the same level we enjoyed this one! Always so so thankful that Zach works for a company that rewards its people!

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Emily Parker
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