Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Mardi Gras Parades (Part 7)

On Monday, the day after the Chicken Run, we gathered at James and Yvette's to assemble our float for the Kaplan Parade.

We sorted through all the beads and things we collected at the other parades, packaging them for our turn to do some throwing.

Just some of the throws we collected from the five parades we attended. 

The guys bolted all the sides to the trailer that would serve as our float. And then the gals did some decorating.

The float sides went up fairly easily. 

The interior rear panel of the float. 

 Each side of the float, as well as the rear panel, held a map 
showing where we called home

The map wasn't quite accurate. This time there were no folks from Oregon, Utah or Minnesota. The couple from Kentucky and Michigan were trapped in west Texas on a volunteer gig. And the folks from Iowa were now from Wisconsin. The idea, however was still accurate. We did come from all over the country to celebrate Mardi Gras in Kaplan!



Jennifer wielded a mean staple gun! 


A happy/sad day as Fat Tuesday would be our last in Louisiana. 

The right front panel of our float. 

The left front panel and door to the float. 

The outside rear of the float was a lovely mural painted 
by one of Yvette's acquaintances.


On Tuesday, James, his grandsons, and a young set of twins donned real costumes for the event.

James' eldest grandson posed with Terry. 

James and the kids are ready to go. 

The rest of us donned our masks and what would pass as costumes and got to ride in the parade and throw stuff at/to people along the way.

We impressed the judges (the King and Queen) so much with our enthusiasm that, once again, our float won a First Prize ribbon for displaying the Spirit of Mardi Gras--just as it had two years ago. Perhaps it was the confetti sticks with which we showered the Royal Couple with bits of colored paper that helped.

Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the throng of people begging "Throw me something, mister." I was preoccupied with...well throwing stuff.My arm was sore for a couple of days.

All in all, we had a grand time during our visit to southern Louisiana and its family oriented Mardi Gras celebration.

3 comments:

TennRebel said...

Great pics. How about a pic of the new rig?

Tina Marie the Willow Witch said...

Looks like you guys had fun...

threecollie said...

Thank you so much for sharing your Mardi Gras fun with us!