Mardi Gras Mania

Laissez Les Bons Temps Roullex!

Happy Mardi Gras! For those of you who don't know ~ today is Mardi Gras Day ~

We spent the better part of last week and the weekend in Mobile celebrating Mardi Gras. Did you know that Mobile is the "Mother of all Mardi Gras?" When you think of Mardi Gras, your mind probably immediately jumps to the craziness of New Orleans, and why wouldn't it. New Orleans plays host to the most famous {and probably the most wild} Mardi Gras celebrations, but the reality is that Mobile hosted the original Mardi Gras in the United States. Those of us who are native to Mobile are quick ~ probably too quick ~ to point that out! In truth, Mobile does provide a tamer, more family friendly place to spend this time of celebration before the season of lent begins.

We went downtown for the parades...

We found old friends on the street...

We waited...

We froze...

"Throw me something mister! Please!" We like it all ~ doubloons, serpentine, cups, beads, moonpies...

*Note in the picture the "peanut butter" moon pie. That was the new flavor last year, and I have yet to try it. I like to catch moon pies but don't love to eat moon pies. I am however looking forward to trying this peanut butter especially after trying the new flavor for year. Mint! It was delectable ~very similar to a Girl Scout Thin Mint, and who can resist those.

We are having a very small Mardi Gras party this evening, and we spent some time yesterday preparing. Because our cupboards were bare our day began at the grocery store but then we started our preparations.

We made masks for place cards... We made a King Cake {or four} ~ one for dessert, one for Mary Frances, one for Stephen to take to school, one extra...

We boiled and picked the chicken to make jambalaya ~ I'll spare you those photos.

I cleaned the kitchen twice - in fact the dishwasher was emptied and counters cleaned two times and still returned home from small group and there was stuff all of the counters and the sink was full of dishes waiting to enter the dishwasher. You know the drill...you walk from one side of the house {yesterday the kitchen} where you can see progress to the other {yesterday the bedrooms} where nothing is being accomplished. No pictures of that either ~ I would be embarrassed.