Mardi Gras 2010

Cassidy's first parade of the season was Ponchartrain, but as it was an impromptu viewing following lunch at our favorite indian restaurant, we didn't have the camera along. By the 3rd float, Cassidy was waving her arms and clapping along with everyone else. We ended up with 12 stuffed animals and a ton of beads.

Barkus.

You'll recall our previous Barkus experience with Sake and Baxter, who spent the afternoon at home eating rawhides, much to their displeasure when we returned home with the smell of doggie betrayal all over our clothes.

Cassidy loved Barkus, as we knew she would.

Our location on the parade route was poorly planned (one block after the parade crossed Bourbon) which led to a lot of breaks in the parade. This actually worked out okay as Cassidy spent the time walking around the street meeting people and dogs, and smiling at everyone!

Carrolton

(caught this one on the way back to the car after Barkus)

You can see by this point Cassidy knew just what to do as the floats approached us.

Thoth

We found an empty spot a bit off the street just after the parade started. Not bad considering the street was packed and we had to park a 25 minute walk away. We were under a tree, so the throws were minimal, but we had a great time eating pizza, and checking out the sites. Cassidy made friends with our neighbors who enjoyed giving her cookies, cheetos, and other junk we never have in the house.

On Mardi Gras Tuesday we headed out to the Metairie parade Argus. I didn't take any pictures as I was traumatized from the previous night of about 3-4 hours of sleep, and a morning including a call to Louisiana poison control as I was pretty sure I had double dosed Cassidy with her antihistamine/decongestant prescription in my zombie state and inadvertant introduction to peanut butter (not allowed until she's two) while on the phone with poison control when Cassidy got hold of a dog kong set out to give the dogs on our way out the door. I was not really in a parading mood. We wrapped up the day with a low grade fever (day 6 of our new schedule--she was a bit early this time).

All in all, I think we did pretty well considering we were in the first week of our new schedule including massive amounts of coughing and snot. Since it was pretty cold out, we tried to stick to the day parades and early bedtimes to maximize sleep and keep to our normal routine. We did push back naps to later in the afternoon which Cassidy didn't seem to mind, as the parades distracted her.

With her decreased appetitite, she wasn't too interested in the king cakes we bought, but I think I ate her share. I have to admit, I enjoyed this Mardi Gras more than any of the others since we've lived here. I'd imagine they'll only get better as Cassidy gets older and can enjoy all the festivities with us!