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Mardi Gras 2011

Many people in the world might have thought yesterday was just a Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of people in New Orleans knew better though; it was FAT TUESDAY! Though cloudy, leaky skies threatened to quite literally rain on our parade, we had a great time with a big group of friends at the parades. It was incredibly crowded (compared to your typical small town parade but not so much so compared to the downtown/uptown parades) but every single person we encountered was super friendly. We also will be eternally thankful to the good people at Starbucks for providing a free, clean restroom because some planning genius decided to put all the port-a-potties on one side of the street meaning you had to dart through the parade if you had to go and then there was only ONE unlocked! So on behalf of pregnant ladies and little kids, go give the Veterans Starbucks your business, y'all! = )

The kids had an absolute blast and honestly, so did Jackie and I. You can't be at the parade and not get excited. You just automatically find yourself smiling and hollering and piling beads around your neck. And beads--oh, the beads. We have plenty of them not to mention other little toys and stuffed animals and cups. The loot the kids brought home was enough to fill up our whole couch! It was definitely like Christmas in March for them. Here's a slideshow of our day:


Now the magic is over. I'll take down my beads from my balcony today if it ever stops raining. And we won't have any more King Cake for nearly a year--wah! And I won't have any Dr. Pepper for at least 40 days--not that I'm already thinking about that or anything. But it was great fun while it lasted and I'm so glad we're getting to share these experiences with the kids!
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