Mardi Gras Parades

Feb. 13, 2015

Mardi Gras is a big celebration down here.  There are parades for up to a month before Mardi Gras.  It literally means "Fat Tuesday."  Mardi Gras is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  I guess it is the last hooray before Lent starts.  The boys elementary school holds a parade for the kids every year.  They have floats from the community and floats for each grade level.

As Eliza, Nathan and I were getting there we saw the participants lining up for the parade.

This cool jeep let the parade.  We followed it off base. :0)

Daniel coming out with his class.

He was excited to see us.  We didn't know where he would be...we just happened to pick the right spot.  Eliza and Nathan were super excited to watch the parade with him.

This is our friend Abby and her mom and dad.

Her brother Ry is in Daniel's "trade" class.  They were right next to us.

Ready for the parade to begin.

We had to wait for a few minutes since we were a little bit early.

Nathan loves rocks!

Eliza and our other friend Abby Wake.

This Abby's brother Peter is in Daniel's class.

Eliza, Nathan, Abby and Rachel

Abby and Rachel are in Eliza's preschool.

The Biloxi Police drove through first to make sure the road was clear.

The beginning of the parade!

Stars and Stripes Forever!

Eagerly awaiting the first beads!

This is the 2nd grade AR float.  The top two AR students form each class got to ride in the parade and through beads to the kids.

Daniel's friend Peter was on the float.

This was a middle school marching band.

This is a cool bus!

This is a float we saw decorated in our housing community.

They had several military members helping with this float.

This is a cool Mardi Gras alligator drawn on the front of this truck.

The glare doesn't let you see it clearly. 

Daniel getting beads.

I was surprised to see Bradley on the 4th grade AR float.

He didn't even tell us he was in the parade!

Bradley throwing us some beads.

This float had a manican riding shotgun.

Lots of beads!

Fire trucks are always a favorite!

A closer look at the 2nd grade parade.  The parade went around the block twice.

The cheerleaders from a local high school and their mascot.

The 4th grade AR float again...

 Daniel yelling to Bradley to throw him some beads.

It was fun to watch the parade with Daniel's class.  It was a good parade for our first Mardi Gras experience.

This doesn't really have anything to do with Mardi Gras, but it did need to be documented.

Eliza has been drawing ever since she got her art kit for Christmas.  This was one she drew for me.

I just love this girl!

On Feb. 17th, Mardi Gras, we went to the parade in Biloxi.  We got there a little bit early so we could find a seat.  It was a little bit cold and windy!  I also forgot my camera.  :0(  Luckily I had my cell phone.  The picture aren't the best, but at least I have some.  We brought a picnic with us.

Daniel

Nathan

Bradley

Eliza

We met some friends at the parade.

The sister in the red plaid jacket is Sis. Winans from church.  She had lived here for a long time and new all the secrets and the best places to go.  We are glad she was willing to go with us.

Asher and his mom, Jennica

The whole parade route was lined with these fences.  I loved it!  It was a great way to keep the kids out of the road.  I always get so nervous about them running out in front of a float.

Ry and Daniel

Caitlin and Luke, some more friends from church.

We knew the parade was about to begin when the motorcycle police drove past.

The first few floats were all pulled by military vehicles.

These men would give roses to any woman willing to kiss them.  There was no way I was going to kiss them, but they did give roses to the little girls without any kissing.

These are typical Mardi Gras floats.

This was the Mardi Gras Queen's float.

There were several high school bands that marched in the parade.  They were pretty good.

More beads!!!

This was our very favorite float!

Notice all the beads still on the road. They weren't specialty beads, so people just left them.

The wing span on this float went over the fence on both sides.  They had people walking in front to warn people to watch their heads.

Bradley, Daniel, Abby and Ry

This guy had an awesome necklace!

Cool pirate float with red eyes.

The parade lasted about 90 minutes.  We were all tired and cold when we left, but it was a lot of fun. 

This pile of beads were from Bradley's bag.  I think he collected the most beads out of everyone.

We separated all the beads into groups.  We had hundreds of beads!!!

Aunt Bethany helped me weigh them once she got here.  We got about 25 lbs. of beads!

Nathan fell asleep on the way home from the parade.  I moved him into the house and he kept sleeping on the couch.  This is the Bambi a nice man threw to him during the parade.

He is getting so big!

We got a LOT of beads, candy, cups, Frisbees, plastic footballs, bouncy balls and some stuffed animals at the parade.  It was a lot of fun, but I think one a year is enough for me! :0)