mardi gras 2014.

we headed to lafayette for our annual mardi gras celebration.  last year, hollis was only 5 weeks old and we had him out at the parades, so this year was waaaaay more fun for everyone involved.  we got in late thursday night.  emme took down two containers of applesauce and about a quart of milk and then the kids and adults hit the hay.  friday morning, mom made a spread of food for us to graze on while my grandmother came to visit the kids.  during nap time, ek and jb rested while mom, hollis, and i took the dogs to visit uncle joey and his new pup dela.  she is sooo cute and super rambunctious.  the dogs wore each other out.  we grabbed judice inn for a late lunch, then played in the yard with my childhood neighbor's kids before heading to the parade.

the friday night parade is super fun - not as crowded, lots of beads.  the kids each got a glow wand/sword thing and emme got a feather boa.  hollis was grinning and shrieking and as happy as i've ever seen him.  we caught tons of stuff and ek kept saying the parade was so much fun but the music was a little loud.  ha.

saturday morning my parents made a big brunch and my grandmother came over again.  then we all headed to the old horse farm farmers' market which was awesome.  i love how lafayette's weekly farmer's market feels like a festival.  there was zydeco music, face painting, food, etc.  ek loved the children's museum table, where they had craft supplies for making mardi gras masks.  after that, mom and ek and i made a quick trip to visit the pyle family - ek and amelia totally hit it off and i got to meet baby anna (such a calm, sweet, gorgeous baby).  back home for napping and getting cleaned up, then that evening we headed to the beyt's for their annual mardi gras happy hour.  janice has more mardi gras decorations than you can imagine and the food is heavenly (the food is always heavenly at louisiana parties).  we headed to the saturday night krewe of bonaparte parade after that, but the kids were pretty wiped by then.  hollis fell asleep on me, in the ergo, about three floats in.  he didn't wake up during the transfer into/out of the car or into his pack n play.  sweet baby.

sunday, my parents got ready to head to the king's luncheon - one of their close friends is king of the krewe of gabriel this year (a really big deal), so they had to get decked out.  we packed up our gear and then hit the road.  hollis was asleep before we even hit the interstate, and ek wasn't far after him.  it was in the 70s/80s on saturday and we drove through the cold front on the way home to 25 degree weather.  crazy spring!  it was a great weekend.  i wish we could have stayed until the actual day of mardi gras, but maybe next year...