Lettin' the Good Times Roll

January 30-February 1

We enjoyed our second Mardi Gras season in New Orleans this year. We hit as many parades as we could before we headed out of town to Idaho. We missed the actual Fat Tuesday celebration, which was actually kind of sad, but to make up for it, we tried to catch as many beads as possible before we left. Lucky for us, there are oodles of parades to hit before Fat Tuesday so we got our fill before we left. The sad part was that since Mardi Gras fell so early this year, the weather didn't always cooperate and some of the bigger parades we were going to go to got rained out. But really, I promise, we got plenty of beads without them!
After moving here and experiencing our first Mardi Gras last year, it was refreshing to find out that it really is incredibly family friendly. It's all about the kids. And the kids LOVE it. The traditional line to yell is "Throw me something, mister!" and this year Tyler had it down pat. With his hand out stretched, he yelled and yelled and begged and pleaded.
And as you can see, it totally paid off. Not only do you catch beads, you also catch toys, stuffed animals, doubloons (a Mardi Gras coin), and some Krewes hand out their signature items such as a decorated shoe or a coconut. You don't get candy, that's for sure! Tyler was getting so many beads that he'd wear some for a while and then take them off and deposit them in our bag and collect some more. We did this over and over and over.
When we were driving to our first parade, Tyler (my obsessive little green lover) told me that he was "so excited" and that he really really hoped he could catch some green beads. Looks like the riders in the parade somehow knew that was what he wanted.
It's amazing that you *kind of* start to think that purple, yellow, and green aren't all that bad together. And then you wake up the next day and realize that they are still a pretty pukey combination!

Tyler got to go with his little friend Anna to see her sister Ellie ride in her school parade. So he and Sam got to wear their matching Mardi Gras t-shirts and they looked pretty dang cute! It was fun because it was in the daytime. And we got so much stuff it was insane! All from an elementary school.
Anyone who lives here will know that the above picture is a pretty poor representation of how the trees look after a parade. But this was only after an elementary school parade, keep in mind! Beads drape the branches of the big trees around town forever after Mardi Gras. If you go to uptown, the branches are just heavy with beads. It's amazing! So I thought I'd throw in a much scaled down version for you! I can't imagine having the task of cleaning the beads out of trees. It would be such a pain!
This is Tyler and Anna. Tyler was a bit gun shy after getting hit in the face with some beads. He was not a fan of that! But he eventually warmed back up and got back out there to get him some more beads.
And here is the cutest little Mardi Gras baby ever!

So, even after it was all said and done and we only got to hit 3 parades, I'd say our Mardi Gras was a success. I didn't count the individual strands of beads, but we collected over 50 POUNDS of them, got 12 stuffed animals, and a bunch of toys (I guess there wasn't exactly a "need" to be here for Fat Tuesday with all of that junk taking over my house!). None of it was nice, it's all junk really. I'm ready to get rid of it soon (picking up beads gets really old really fast), but it's definitely not the throws that matter, it's the thrill of the catch! Nothing beats the feeling of getting a throw. It's just the best. We love Mardi Gras!

And a funny Tyler story--since we've been home and playing in the beads again, he keeps bringing me some beads (always the same strand of silver ones) and says, "here, Mommy. Here is some boo-u-ful beads for you wear to the temple." Interesting perspective. I'm not sure if Mardi Gras beads are appropriate attire for wearing to the temple, but I don't know if Tyler quite understands that!