Mardi Gras Madness

I'm not a stranger to Mardi Gras. Having a sister who attended Tulane University in New Orleans, LA for her Masters and Medical School I traveled to N'awlins several times over the six year time period she spent there. I even took a group of my closest girlfriends there our junior year of college for Spring Break and we shacked up with my dear sister and invaded every square inch of her rental. Mardi Gras in New Orleans was sheer madness and loads of fun. We went to parade after parade, party after party and had a BLAST. I wish I had more pictures to share, unfortunately, this is the only one I have scanned considering this was before the digital camera/picture revolution. I was explaining to Ron the other night when we left New Orleans after this particular trip all of us girls each had trash bags FULL of awesome beads. All different sizes, colors, themes and we all earned them the good girl way, with our southern charm! ;)

Mardi Gras, New Orleans, LA 2003

Fast forward to Mardi Gras present day:

When I first moved to the Mobile area I was intrigued to learn that Mobile celebrates Mardi Gras as well as New Orleans. Actually Mardi Gras originated in Mobile and on some accounts dates back to 1703. If you want more information on the history of the subject check out this website: www.mobilemardigras.com. For weeks now I have not been able to go anywhere without being bombarded with purple, gold and green. Mardi Gras paraphenelia is everywhere, grocery stores, gas stations, you can't escape it! Ron and I were floored to learn that the schools around here let the kids out early and close the schools completely on certain days of the week due to Mardi Gras parade schedules. Even in my yoga class this morning the instructor announced that the entire YMCA will be closed next Tuesday due to Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras Balls are huge around here and you can find all kinds of parades in different cities surrounding Mobile during the three weeks prior to Fat Tuesday. I realized I'm beginning to ramble so on with the story. Ron and I managed to attend a parade ourselves last weekend. Hold on to your hats for this one! The Mystic Mutts Parade featured all kinds of breeds of dogs dressed in their best Mardi Gras Gear. We figured this was a "safe" parade to take Grant to to save him and us from being wacked in the face with moonpies and beads. Plus, it was during the day on a Saturday. Most of the parades are at night and can draw quite the rowdy crowd. Here are a couple of parade onlookers that just happened to watch the show beside us and steel our hearts.
Ron, Grant and I gearing up for all of the excitement. It was actually really cold on this day which is rare around here. We've become such wusies now when it comes to cold weather! Grant could hardly contain his excitement about seeing all of the puppies!
I thought this little guy was festive with his top hat.

Couldn't resist taking a pic of the pom poms! Oh, how they made me miss my Riley dog!

These ladies went all out. I have been seeing more and more strollers for dogs. Have people gone crazy?!

We did manage to catch some beads. Grant loved them and tried putting them all in his mouth.

Mardi Gras Madness actually turned out to be Free Fun for a few hours. We hope to attend more parades this coming weekend. Hopefully a few with killer floats! Pictured below are my friends Emily and Kimmy with Brooks and Savannah Grace. Stay tuned for more updates on Fat Tuesday, the best is yet to come!