Mardi Gras

This was our second annual road trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We always have a great time when we go and this was no exception. It's a fun weekend getaway. We went with our friends the Gruwells and stayed at Jake's parent's house. We got there Friday night and Saturday we went to the family parade that was Disney character themed. We brought the ladders and picnic lunches and had a great time seeing all the floats and catching stuff. We had the idea to go to a different parade after the first one, instead of staying where we were, so we went to the site of Endymion and set up our ladders and chairs and set out our stuff and got ready to wait. We had to get there early for prime location and so we ended up waiting that afternoon for probably two or three hours prior to the parade's beginning.


For a while, some kids went to the Gruwells car and watched a movie, and then we took a few trips to the public restrooms, a good eight block jaunt for porta potties. Then we had to entertain ourselves. Luckily, the girls love hanging out. They made their own fun making faces...





And then Andrew wanted to make funny faces too.



FINALLY, the parade began, but it stopped almost as soon as it started and since we were a ways down the parade route, we waited even more! And it started getting really cold and the sun was going down! We were cold, but the kids were pretty good sports, especially because once the floats DID start coming, they were throwing out all kinds of awesome stuff! Everyone in New Orleans was still so crazy from the Saints winning the Super Bowl, that when one of the players was the grand marshall, everyone went crazy!

We got light up wands, and cups, umbrellas, headbands, stuffed animals galore, all kinds of beads, balls, flowers, and more. It was amazing. It is no wonder that Mardi Gras is all about excesses. Aubrey really wanted an umbrella, and she got that, and Andrew really wanted a light up ball, and he got one of those. And at the last minute, Aubrey got an stuffed elephant that quickly became "Stuffy" and her new favorite animal. By the time the parade was over, the kids were pooped and fell asleep on the way home. Andrew was actually asleep before then.

It was fun but it felt like a lot of work!

The next day we got to attend the little branch again and that is always a fun experience. We came home that afternoon but we felt like we'd had a whole lot more time there than we did because of all the fun we had! Thanks Gruwells for another fun trip!