Mardi Gras, Abbreviated Edition – The Reluctant Grownup

If my working life were a treadmill, then each partner at my firm has pushed the UP button on my speed at least once. I went from a gentle walk to a flat out sprint, and it isn’t looking to slow down for the next several weeks. I am taking that pesky old bar exam again in Feb – whoa, that’s THIS MONTH! – and I have my first hearing in a week, a couple of cases are hitting deadlines in a few days, and I’m traveling to Birmingham in just a few days for a seminar thing.

Nevertheless – this is the only Mardi Gras when Liam will be two – and Jack turns the big FIVE in just a couple of months. Time is flying, and I’ll never get it back. So I did my best to structure my time in a way that allowed us to travel to New Orleans for the best Mardi Gras parade day ever – this past Sunday. That meant asking for one extension, working through lunch Friday, staying up late Friday night and getting up early Saturday morning, and doing a lot in the car while we drove.

Anyways, I did it, and spent the remainder of Saturday and all day Sunday completely free of work, and just enjoying the Mardi Gras spirit. The Professor and I attended Endymion on Saturday evening. We hired Liam’s former nanny to watch the boys – we figured she would enjoy seeing them again, and Liam would love seeing her. They spent the evening watching movies and tearing the Professor’s tiny apartment all to pieces, while The Professor and I kicked it on Canal Street, stepping over puddles of filth and dodging bags of beads. (Endymion isn’t my favorite parade, but I’m glad we got some kid-free parade time.)

Tarot Float — This was the tarot float at Endymion – pretty lovely artwork.

More Endymion — Endymion is famous for its lights – all of the floats are pretty gorgeously lit.

The real fun was the next morning, heading to our old apartment to meet up with old friends and watch the triple showing parade up Magazine Street – Okeanos, followed by the foil parades of Mid-City, followed by the incredibly long and awesome Thoth. I’ll tell the rest of this story in pictures. And maybe one video, if I can get it to work. Happy Lundi Gras, every one!

Boys and Breakfast — My boys are reunited with their former best buddy Owen, and enjoy a breakfast of King Cake, Cinnamon Rolls, and fruit before heading out to the parade. Sugar is a necessary fortification if one is expected to endure the excitement.

Moi — Me and the top of Liam’s head. It was hard to do a selfie that included the kids.

View to the left — This is my view from atop the ladder, waiting for the floats.

Bead delivery system — We used a friend’s ladder – pimped out with a number of features, including this chute. Liam loved dropping all of the throws “into the hole,” and I didn’t mind that all of the crap we caught ended up in our friend’s bead bag. Yes!! Less plastic to take home!!

Between parades — The boys and their old friends hung out between parades – in the ladder, on camp chairs, or playing tackle in the middle of the street. While waiting, the entire length of Magazine street becomes a huge street party, and I love it. (Even though Liam kept taking off down the road, threatening to disappear into the crowd. Devil.)

Felicity — Liam was hungry and asked for chips. And lo and behold, along came a float that was throwing bags of chips. Mardi Gras felicity.

Bulls-eye — Some clever locals put a bulls-eye on their balcony – a good way to get good throws, as the drunk parade-riders are easily manipulated into a challenge!

Street Party — Vendors with carts full of blinking toys, cotton candy, popcorn, and various other items troll the streets between parades. This particular cotton candy vendor stopped right in the middle of our children and WOULDN’T leave, even though none of us were buying.

Mardi Gras threw up in here — Every floor and surface in our house looks like this. Beads EVERYWHERE.

And a video. Maybe.