It's finally over

Mardi Gras has come and gone for another year. We did make the trek downtown on Fat TUesday. The girls and I left the house around 7:40, stopped by Wal-mart for ice and a few snacks, then made our way downtown. AFter driving around down there for a few minutes, I found the perfect parking spot just one block away from Bienville Square. We hauled all of our junk over there and were set up by 8:30. We had the perfect spot right on the parade route. So while we were waiting for the partying to start, I took a few pictures of the sights of Mardi Gras.

This is just a small part of the long line of tow trucks that drove through the streets, a couple of hours before the parades started, towing any cars parked on the route.

This is "guy selling overpriced beads"

This oughta ruin someone's day

Passing the time. Yes, they are having a duck race. They had already run, skipped, jumped, hopped on one foot, etc. They had room to race because this is before it started to get really busy.

This was the mounted patrol that was stationed in the park for crowd control. The were from St. Paul, Minn. They said the horses have to undergo ongoing sensory training to be able to stay calm and in control in these types of situations.
This was right after we got there and had finished setting up. They were still clean and happy.

Still waiting for the first parade.
See how pretty our canopy is all decorated with the beads?
This is "woman selling overpriced hats and junk."

Now we get to start counting down until Easter. Payton came home from school yesterday and asked "Mom, do we celebrate lint." I am sure she meant Lent. She told me Ms. Baker was giving up fast food and raising her voice for Lent and that she can't eat meat on Fridays. I told Payton to tell Ms. Baker that Catholics can celebrate Lent all they want, but us Mormons want to "Rock and Roll all n-i-i-ight. And party every day." I told her to make sure she sings it. I don't think she knew I was kidding though. Because on the way to school this morning, she asked me if I still wanted her to say that to Ms. Baker.