Throw Me Somethin' Mister

In an attempt to catch up on the past few months, I am going to totally ignore the fact that I haven't posted a single thing since January.  My phone and my camera are telling me its now or never...I am out of picture memory and every time I go to snap a picture, I am instantly reminded that  (A) I can't take any new pics unless I delete an older picture and  (B) I haven't blogged in forever which is why I have so many old pictures.  I have sat down probably 10 times in the past week to write a catch up post and get totally overwhelmed by how much I need to get on here.  Anyhow, for this post, I'm taking it back to February.



I grew up in Mobile, (well not entirely, but I do still consider it home) and us Mobilians take Mardi Gras very seriously.  In fact, as we so often like to correct point out, Mobile is the original Mardi Gras!  And it is serious down there...school lets out for the whole week.  Back in Birmingham we aren't so lucky, but this year, Presidents day fell on the Monday before fat Tuesday and the kids and I got a long weekend.  So, in a celebratory spur of the moment decision, I decided to pack the kids and myself up to head down to Mobile and celebrate Mardi Gras, by myself, meaning without Ash...yikes!

The ride down was rough and the minute we finally got into our hotel room, I had a meltdown and called Ash crying "why did I do this to myself."  Luckily, my sisters and their respective crews arrived shortly after and my kids were instantly entertained and that much easier!  :)







We all said our hellos and freshened up and made our way to parade #1.  We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel downtown and it .was . perfect!  The hotel courtyard faced the street on the parade route.  So, we would catch a parade and then walk the 50 yards to the hotel elevator back to our rooms until the next parade.  I'm not sure how many parades we ended up seeing, but after the first one, my kids were already pros!













Even Lynlee got the hand of it.  One of the days was windy and was blowing the trash all over the sideawalk which entertained her as much as the parade!  ha!



We never left the hotel premise, grabbing room service when we were hungry and snacking on moon pies and candy in between. 









Before we headed back home, we headed over to catch a visit with my PawPaw.  He is 98 years old and still lives at home by himself...he is amazing and we love him so much!! 




It was a perfect quick getaway that I can't wait to do again next year, errr with Ashley! :)