Skip on over to 21

It's later in the week for a post, and the date we have vs the one the doc has is a little different; so we'll just call it 21 weeks along for now. Ish. Speaking of dates, we've calculated June 27th, and they have a window from the 20-24th.

This was a busy week! It was Mardi Gras! And then - bam - just like that, it's Lent. Here we are, with our first Fish Fry Friday already behind us.

So, let's walk through our Mardi Gras busying for a moment, here.

We surprised ourselves with a trip Uptown for the Hermes parade Friday night. Dylan and I had hemmed and hawed for the sake of pregnancy safety (and tips from friends previously pregnant during Mardi Gras), but when Peter and his gal, Serena, mentioned a nearby house (aka: parade bathroom plan), we decided to go for it! We set up at dusk on the neutral ground near the front of the parade, which rolled at 6, had a giddy ol' time, walked the 4 blocks back to the car around 7:30, and everyone was asleep by 9. I call that a Mardi Gras win if ever there was one.

Saturday ended up being a bit more than we intended. There's a local Westbank parade to which we can walk that rolls from midday called NOMTOC (New Orleans Most Talked of Club, teehee ). And it's a relaxed, sit on the curb kind of time. Lovely. We left in time to regroup at home before leaving around 3 for Endymion, the most bright-flashy-lights-long-crowded parade there is, which rolled at 4:15. Now, the big reason we did end up going to this one despite having scratched it from the list (again, for bump safety), was that the husband and parents of a good friend, Lauren, and mom to Paul's bff, Sage, are opening a restaurant, which happens to be right on the parade route. And she had wristbands for us for this sneak-peek parade event. Anyway, we left our house in time to sit in the NOMTOC traffic leaving the Point; Dylan dropped me and the kids off when we got close-ish; he found parking and finally made it to the restaurant about 45min later; and when it was all said and done, we sat in the car for a good while before clearing the interstate on the way home. That all said and done, Endymion puts on a pretty good show =). I'm glad we didn't miss it and even got to enjoy some of the crazier bits from the comfort of a beautiful restaurant window with scrumptious food.

Sunday was Superbowl Sunday, not that we did anything specifically for that but stream it online. We relaxed in the backyard - it was a beautiful day - and Peter and Serena joined us for a crawfish boil. Always yum.

Monday was what they call Lundi Gras, and we intended to hop the ferry for a little peek at some music put on by Zulu. We headed out after naps, and I got to feeling pretty tired and winded quite quickly. We had a rest on a bench in the Quarter, took a lap around Jackson Square, and I needed another rest. It was getting too chilly and was far too windy to stay outside now that the sun was down, so we hopped into a café. By then, it's nearly 6-something, and we made it to the ferry terminal in time for them to close it for an hour for the fireworks display. Well, we got to see the fireworks, and the break didn't last nearly an hour, but we weren't home until about 7. The kids were beyond done, Dylan's having to put out scream-y fires with them, and then I slipped! Fell right on the kitchen floor! I cried, he's running between me and the 2 kids - Paul's upset about changing his bandaid, and Ada's upset because I'm crying - so he hands me a bag of frozen corn for my elbow (I landed on my side), and tends to them. All in all, it was about 5 minutes, but man when those times come, every second feels like a year; I know that feeling all too well and couldn't help but giggle as soon as the tears subsided. We all survived a rotten evening.

That brings us to Mardi Gras Day!! We woke at 7, hustled out the door with coats and sausage balls and purple, green, and gold Jell-o jigglers, and a thermos full-o-tea to catch Zulu, which rolled at 8. We were meeting that same friend, Lauren, and her family at a spot Uptown, and we found parking; all was well. It was cold & windy, but all was well. Until the makeshift dj-man behind us blasted music. Alright, pre-game show, ok, ok. No, no, he kept it going thoughout the parade. Zulu hit our location around 9, maybe? And we called it quits before 10. Seriously quits. We hated it - it was loud, the kids were crying, the wind was cold (plus we were up in that ladder!), and we just said, we'll try again next year. We hadn't even met up with our friends. While walking back to the car, we had a bit of breathing room, felt the warmth of the sun, and said, hang on - let's just walk up a bit and catch Rex, at least. Aaaah, big sigh. (I actually just sighed while writing that, remembering.) Apparently we're not crowd-y people anymore, not with the littles in tow. We found a patch of sun on the sidewalk, perched, ate our goodies that were supposed to be for the friend potluck, and had the best time watching Rex. We're "traddies" I think ;) (traditionalists) because we love the class, if the term can be applied to anything carnival at all, that is Rex. He's the King of Carnival, after all. It finished around 1:30 or so, we had zero traffic coming home, and the kids were asleep shortly after 2. Rex redeemed the day! Hooray!

T reads: "Caution: Baby Inside"

Purple, green, and gold Jell-O jigglers

 

And now it's Lent. Phew. Never have I yearned for Lent the way I do now that I live in New Orleans, ie celebrate Mardi Gras for real, for real. I've already, in three days, felt such peace and simplicity. With the exception of the kids' wanting to "play parade" every morning with the heaps of beads in the living room. Of course. It's like anything else we teach them - they don't really get the anticipation side of things, but, man, once the event comes and goes, they love it and want to keep it going. Tis why Ada's been singing "Gloo-oooo-oooo-oooo-ria" since Christmas Day. They'll be playing "Throw me something, Mister" til Easter. In fact, now that things are simple and decorated in purple, clever little Adeline started singing "O Come, O Come, Emmanual" ... because it looks like Advent! It does, little miss!

The feast day for Our Lady of Lourdes was Thursday, too. While this isn't a feast day I regularly have on the calendar to honor, we've been asking her to intercede on a few friends' behalves as she's the patroness of the sick. We've been praying the prayer that came with the little doll and card (see previous post) for, as Paul says everynight, Baby Drew, Baby Calen, Mr. Dan, and the sick children (who draw for MD Anderson). Very special.

And a little randomness with the wee ones:

Here, we painted bread with colored milk before toasting it, when the colors pop! Paul's a grumpy post-napper, though, so he didn't want to show off his edible artwork. Shoutout to Mom for the snack craft ;) She did this with us when we were little.

Tree-trimming out front