Beginning of Mardi Gras

This past Friday was Travis' first trip out of the house. Kai invited us over for dinner, so we all piled into the car and headed over early that evening. It was nice to go out on a Friday night. We haven't been able to do that for so long because Travis always works later than normal on Fridays and then usually has to work again Saturday. That was not the case this weekend!

Rich left on Thursday, so it was just Brenda, Travis, Aiden and I to go to Kai's. He had his kids, Railey, 9, and Brennan, 6, so I was actually able to lay back a little bit while Aiden played with them. While I still don't trust him 100%, he is much better about using stairs, so I didn't have to freak every time he showed up at the top of the stairs all by himself. Railey was also really great about leading Aiden around where ever he wanted.

Saturday we got up bright and early so I could pop into work for a moment before we went to the Mardi Gras parade. Every time Mardi Gras rolls around, I am reminded of buying our house. We closed on Fat Tuesday 2007. It's strange how fast time flies once you reach adulthood.

Travis' boss, Guy, parked his truck and a trailer on the Seawall on the parade route, so we would have an unfettered view. He grilled burgers and hot dogs before the parade reached us. A huge group of us got together for the parade (Alexa, Blair, Skylar, Kai, Brennan and Railey), including several of my friends from college (Tehina, Chris and Veronica) and Guy's huge family.

I was a little nervous about how Aiden would handle the parade, mostly because it fell directly during his nap time. He had several cranky moments, but there was no complete meltdown. It helped that Guy is really good at scooping Aiden up when he is "having a moment". There were a couple times when the drums in the bands scared him. Makes me a little weary of the fourth of July this year.

The kids collected many beads and various goodies they throw from the floats. By the end, Aiden was even holding one arm up in the arm and screaming "Wooooo!" like the surrounding people. He's growing up so fast!

I was a bad blogger and forgot my camera ALL weekend. So you'll have to make due with these cell phone shots. First, is a shot of the Crank Monster...

Both of my boys wore yellow, which helped me pick them out from the crowd. Here's Surgery Boy with his trademark squinty-eyed photo:

Here's Guy with his granddaughter Addison. Travis works with Addison's dad, Jeremy.


We sat around and ate a little more before leaving Seawall. Aiden desperately needed a nap, as did I. I wish the weather would have been nicer. It was overcast and foggy. The day before it was clear skies and 75 degrees! I guess everything can't ALWAYS be perfect.