Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. In 1723, the capital of Louisiana was moved to New Orleans, founded in 1718.[13] The tradition has expanded to the point that it became strongly associated with the city in popular perception, and embraced by residents of New Orleans beyond those of French or Catholic heritage. Mardi Gras celebrations are part of the basis of the slogan, Laissez les bons temps rouler, (Let the good times roll) and the nickname "Big Easy".[12] Mobile, Alabama, the former capital of New France, also has a long tradition of celebrating Mardi Gras. Other cities along the Gulf Coast formerly occupied and owned by the French from Pensacola, Florida, and its suburbs to Lafayette, Louisiana, have active Mardi Gras celebrations. In the rural Acadiana area, many Cajuns celebrate with the Courir de Mardi Gras, a tradition that dates to medieval celebrations in France.[16]
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras
There are ALOT of parades during this time, we planned on going to a few on Saturday but we were RAINED out.. flash floods and all. Our friends the Pena's were even able to Canoe in there backyard! We ended up taking a drive to New Orleans on Sunday after church to go to the Krewe of Bacchus parade. We ended up seeing one right before that as well. It was crazy how many people were there. When we read about this particular parade we were kind of nervous because it said that several HUNDRED THOUSAND come out for this one every year. We debated back and forth on whether or not to take the kids.. we are so happy that we did.
Mainly because of this guy right here:
We love Will Ferrell. The kids are constantly citing his movies. This picture above is of him handing beads to Dustin, Skyler, and Tyken.
Here he is looking right at me.. probably because of the constant flash that was going on.
We were worried that the kids would see things that were inappropriate to say the least but the dirtiest thing we saw was this:
This was bunch of beads in horse manure.. it was kind of fun watching the marching bands and cheerleaders try not to step in it.
And this is what all the streets looked like, full of garbage and beads that were not caught.
The ladders were made to sit on top so you can see the floats that came by.
And this guy here was the most disturbing thing that we ran into.
Kennedy and some random girl she asked to take her picture with.
Every time Skyler would get something he would yell "I WON I WON"
So happy that we got to experience our first Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We love living in different places and getting to experience the awesomeness that each area has to offer.
