Laissez Les Bonne Temps Roulet!

When we found out that we might be moving to Mobile, Alabama for a job offer, I went to Wikipedia to find out more about the city we could potentially be calling home. One of the first things I remember reading about Mobile is that it hosted the first ever Mardi Gras...yes, Mobile originated Mardi Gras in the U.S., not New Orleans... who knew?

I didn't know much about Mardi Gras except the drunken salacious images I'd seen in various movies depicting the New Orleans version of Mardi Gras. So to say I was sceptical of our participation in any kind of Mardi Gras celebrations would be an understatement. I did notice, however, that on Wikipedia, Mobile touted itself as the 'family friendly' Mardi Gras destination.

Two Saturdays ago, we ventured out to our first Mardi Gras parade and it has been love at first beads ever since! Our first parade was in downtown Mobile and we were a little worried about parking, the crowds and well, everything else! As it turns out, parking was easy (and FREE - take that Chicago) and the crowds were super nice!

It didn't take Quinton very long to discover that this was a very different kind of parade we'd ever been to because the swag was so awesome!

Sawyer was a little nonplussed with the whole parade thing at first but he warmed up to it pretty fast...except in the last picture in this blog post.
Now, Matt may strike some as the mild-mannered corporate type but let me assure you, he whooped it up at the Mardi Gras parade with the best of 'em!
This is only a fraction of Matt's new jewelry collection!
After the downtown parade on Saturday, we went to an evening parade in Fairhope, a cute little town just east of Mobile - across the causeway (a really long bridgeway across Mobile bay).

We met up with some new friends from church and had another fantastic time at the parades!
Matt snapped this picture of me pandering in an oh-so-lady-like fashion for beads, stuffed animals, moon pies, frisbees and whatever else the krewe had to throw.

Now, I can't get enough of parades!
I dragged Matt and the boys to another parade Tuesday night. I about peed my pants when I took a closer look at Sawyer in this picture - I hope I don't offend anyone! That kid...
I have to tell you that I am SUPER pumped about the parades tomorrow and the Fat Tuesday parades the day after tomorrow and then, sadly, the season will be over. BUT, that is not where the fun ends because I will now be campaigning for all of our favorite friends and family members to make plans for visiting us next year during mardi Gras season!
Get ready!