Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Mardi Gras 2012

Last year most of the Mardi Gras color I encountered was a smattering of the traditional purple, gold and green in doctors’ offices as I ferried my mother and husband Walter’s mother to appointments, my mother’s in Hattiesburg, MS, and hubby’s mom to doctors and labs in Biloxi and Ocean Springs, MS, locations. To see my 2011 Mardi Gras post click here.

This year we have been surrounded by purple, gold and green. Even a visit to a local bank proved to be a Mardi Gras experience. We encountered tellers in purple Mardi Gras T-shirts, plus
Garlands

Beads  

And a Mardi Gras tree complete with purple, gold and green . . .

Ornaments

Masks and

Dolls.

Walter and I are not into celebrating Mardi Gras in a big way and in the past have seized his three days off for Mardi Gras as an opportunity to head out of town. Last year it was to Boone, NC, for a skiing trip, definitely a pre-stroke adventure. I posted about it here.

This year our Louisiana kids and grands invited the Georgia Skupiens to meet them in New Orleans for a Sunday of parades. Daughter-in-law Katie’s family has been gathering at the same spot on St. Charles Avenue the Sunday before Mardi Gras (literally Fat Tuesday) for four generations.

The crowds have increased over the years so much that Katie’s dad and our son Jeremy made a 6:30 a.m. run to claim the family’s territory for the day. There is still a family-friendly vibe to the carnival atmosphere in that particular location with a multitude of multigenerational groups, including youngsters from infants on up.

We couldn’t resist seeing our six grands together enjoying the parades. Plus it is always a treat to see Katie’s family. They are a welcoming and fun group. We arrived after the first two morning parades. By 4 p.m. the kids had at least five parades under their belts along with several huge bags of “throws.”

Throws are trinkets that the krewe members aboard floats throw to people lining the streets along the parade route. Beads, stuffed toy animals, doubloons, whistles and other noisemakers, toy spears decorated with feathers in Mardi Gras colors, and plastic cups rained down on the parade watchers.

Most of the kids joined the “Throw me something, mister” chorus, shouting and waving their arms. In between parades they played full tilt. Grandson Walker wielded his Mardi Gras plastic sword with the big boys and rarely stopped long enough to watch a parade.
An enthusiastic Walker celebrates with mom Katie after a rambunctious sword fight with sister, cousins and grandfather Baboo, recuperating in the background.

6 comments:

  1. What an adorable picture of Walker and mom! Gosh, all those parades would have really tired me out! Did you know the purple is justice, the green is faith, and the gold represents power?

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  2. We don't have Mardi Gras parades here in Hawaii, but we do celebrate Fat Tuesday. It is the tradition here to cook malasadas, Portuguese donuts, and they taste great!

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  3. The South is so different from here in California. Mardi Gras is just a blip on the radar.
    I'm so glad you could have a wonderful time with family and keep the traditions going.

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  4. Mardi Gras was always on my list, especially when I was younger. I thought it was the mother of all parties. Did not know it was family friendly and really like that idea.

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  5. Oh thanks for sharing. I live in such a staid area folks go somewhere else if they want to celebrate. I love the colors. Yesterday, I noted all the Mardi Gras colored ties the guys were wearing on TV. Dianne

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  6. So glad to hear that you and Walter were able to join in the Mardi Gras family fun :)

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