How to do Mardi Gras

Last year I was too afraid to venture out to any parades.  All I knew was what I'd seen on tv and there was no way I was lifting my top for beads, nor was I allowing my children to participate in such an activity.  Imagine my surprise when I learned that is not what Mardi Gras is about!  General rule of thumb is, if it is a daytime parade, it is probably family friendly. If it is after dark, maybe not, so check with your friends.  If it is in the French Quarter, stay far far away. FYI outside the French Quarter, lifting your shirt can get you arrested.  The city wants to shed that image.  Plus, you get beads for free, no showing nothin'!

We did our second official parade yesterday and it was a lot more crazy than last Saturday.  It was a LOT bigger, and they shifted the parade route, meaning we had to walk at least a mile to get to the start.  So, right there, you know the parade was a mile long!  We dropped Joshua off and started the long hike.  I pushed a stroller filled with diaper bag, snacks, water bottles, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and 3 chairs. I'd also packed a loot bag for each kid.

We passed some friends along the way and said hi to the missionaries. 

We decided it was too far to get all the way in front of the parade, so we picked out a good spot  almost at the front.   Rylee practiced her begging technique on the little cars that were lining up by us before things got rolling. She did score some beads and was pleased as punch.  We had dropped Joshua off at 10:30 and were in position by 11:30.

I took a picture of me just to prove I was there! 

Marian and Callie killed time by climbing the trees before the parade started. 

Callie went down to make friends with the Sheriff's mounted police.  She really really loved the horses and was thrilled any time she could pet one.   

Even better, Callie is an awesome sister and helped Rylee get to pet the horses too.  I love these kids!  The parade finally got rolling and the kids were delighted.

Rylee loved getting beads.  She thought it was the greatest thing ever. 

We cheered on the Marine Corps Band.  

The parade had a lot of starts and stops as it went along.  The parade would meander along, then halt for a few minutes.  This could be very lucrative.  If a float stopped by you, they would continue to toss out loot for a bit, which was awesome for the kids. 

Marian has good Loot-Collecting techniques, and I rarely saw her, except when she would drop off a fist full of throws into her loot bag.  She was quite pleased with those chili pepper beads she got and she's handing me a flower here.  The horseback riders usually had flowers, and the girls would run right up to them.  The riders would hand them flowers, and sometimes beads.

There are some great things to see, like the Indian horse.  He was all by himself out there, and a bit too austere for the girls to approach. 

Sadly, Delaney was not good at getting beads.  See her there, if she'd run out, that lady on the float would hand her stuff, but Delaney just hung back and then cried when she didn't get anything.   She's also a bit oblivious.  You have to watch the people throwing stuff.  If they make eye contact with you, you're golden.  If you catch them at the right point in the grab-the-beads-and-toss process, they'll toss to you.  Delaney always seemed to be at the spot when the people were reaching back for more beads.  Poor kid was so sad.  I think she also expected them to come all at once.  Nope, you catch some from each float and it all adds up.  Sometimes you don't catch anything from a float and that's okay too.

 That kid out there is Callie.  She would run right along the floats till she got something.  She's awesome.  She said she saw someone with feather boas, so she asked for one and the guy gave it to her.  She told me all about how some boy was trying to jump up and get the boa, but the guy wouldn't let him have it.  He made sure Callie got it.  That's the stuff that makes this so fun!

You do need to be seen though.  You have to get out there and wave your hands!  Being with friends helps too.  Partly because you can get a bigger spot on the road, and partly because friends are more likely to share! 

We sat with some of our friends.  One of them had brought face markers and Paul, who is in Delaney's kindergarten class, painted this butterfly on Rylees face!  How cute is that?!

It was fun to see all the bands and costumes. 

And there were some dang cool costumes! Or are they Uniforms? 

 Did I mention how Delaney tends to just stand there?  She was in tears at her lack of beads.  And then, she was in tears because she got wapped in the face with them.  So beware, beads hurt and can be flung at high velocity!

 Joshua and his band were towards the end.  We'd finally realized that the other side was being sorely underutilized, so we'd moved there.  It did mean a greater loot haul, but it meant I was on the wrong side to get a picture of my boy!  Aack!  And they had their van following them this time, rather than ahead, so I didn't realize they were coming in time. You can barely see a part of his face there.  He said they waited till 1:15 before they started marching.  The parade began at noon, so they hung out for quite a while!

Some of the floats and costumes on them were pretty cool.  Some were a little odd.  This parade was done by the Krewe of Allah, by the way. 

Delaney did finally get enough beads and stuff to make her happy.  She and Rylee scored some good stuff and they had a really good time. 

Did I mention how much Callie liked the horses?!

We had to get a picture of us in some of our beads at the end.  Yeah, we rocked it!

The parade lasted till 2:30- that's 2 and a half hours!  Then we had that long walk back, but in addition to all we hauled in, we were tired, and we had acquired 4 large bags of beads and stuff! I felt like quite the pack mule.  We made it back to the car.  But then we had to drive to the end point to get Joshua, which was dreadful with all the road closures.  It was absolute insanity.  We did make it close enough to his pick-up point and parked and walked over.  We got to see some of the parade again, but not the whole thing!  Only 30 minutes or so.  However, since it was at the end, they were tossing everything out.  Whole bags of beads came flying.  Marian was begging for stuff by a float and the guy motioned her over and handed her a fabulous ceramic mask.  The really expensive kind.  That was her favorite score.  

We finally saw Joshua.  His band director actually cut them out 1/2 mile early to avoid the worst chaos at the end.  It was 4:30 when he ended.  We nabbed Joshua, got him some food at Burger King, where I'd found a parking spot and headed home.  It was 5:30 before we arrived home!  What a day!  I was exhausted, as were the kids.  They said they had a great day.  Then they ran off to sort through all their stuff.

Other than the great mask, this giant cup is Marian's favorite throw.  I think it may be a beer stein, so I called it her giant stein, and she keeps asking me,"What's it called again?" 

As for me, I just wanted to throw all the beads on the floor and roll around in them.  So I did! 

And now a brief tutorial for my mother, who was unaware that beads came in various qualities.

Beads do indeed come in different levels of desirability. The smaller beads are common beads. The pile of beads under my head are all common, lesser beads.  The bigger the beads, the better they are.  Also, special designs are more desirable.

These are all better beads. Bracelets are extra cool, because they are less common.  Beads with extra special beads, pendants or unusual colors are better. 

These are superior beads.  The purple ones are giant beads.  I nearly got them in the face, which would have really hurt!  The multi colored large beads are good, as are the ones with the pendents.

The kids also got the flowers, lots and lots of plastic cups, doubloons (coin), stuffed animals, and random toys like Frisbees, plastic toothbrushes, balls and drink cozies.