1999

This picture is of Christian from February 1999 when he was 28 months old. We lived in New Orleans at the time and we ALWAYS went to Mardi Gras! Many people only know Mardi Gras from what they see on television. While all of THAT CRAZINESS does happen, it is only a part of Carnival! (All those crazy people down in the Quarter are the tourists, anyway!) There is also a family-friendly side to Mardi Gras. Uptown on St. Charles Avenue the parades are much tamer. The kids wear costumes, and there are ladders and wagons everywhere. Most families with young children have special ladders with seats bolted to the top of them. When the parades are rolling, the kids sit on the seats on the top with an adult on the ladder to hold it steady. This puts the kiddos above the crowds so they can catch beads and they don't get trampled! We haven't been back to Mardi Gras since Christian was two and a half and for some reason I am very homesick for it this year. Jim doesn't think it would be NEARLY as much fun with three kids! He is probably right, but I hate that Coleman and Carolyn have never been and Christian was too young to remember it. Maybe next year we'll be able to go. But for this year, we will have our own little Mardi Gras here in Atlanta!