And The Thunder Rolls

The night before Livi's Birthday party the kids experienced their first Mardi Gras parade. Oscar had an awesome time, and was in quiet awe for most of it, relying on Dada to get beads and throws for him. Livi was unfortunately hit in the head with beads straight away, and was ready to go home (a rookie parental move and I've got my defensive arm block down now). I wanted to try and get her in the spirit and after a few floats worth of beads and some marching bands, she still wasn't feeling it. We were just about to leave when we saw the unicorn…Up on the top of one of the floats a man was holding a stuffed unicorn. Livi and I saw it at the same time and started shouting for him to throw it. He saw us, made eye contact and pointed at us, threw it, and we caught it! Livi was beside herself and couldn't stop smiling. It was the unicorn that saved Mardi Gras and such a great moment! After that Livi was in the spirit and we quickly filled our bags with beads, animals, and toys.

Livi and her unicorn! (Can you see Oscar?)

We all woke up at 6:30am the next morning in anticipation of Livi's birthday party. As the four of us snuggled in bed and counted the seconds between lightning flashes and thunder booms, my head started spinning about all of the party things that would have to happen inside. 15 - 18 kids (along with their parents) had to fit in our 1000 sq ft of space… But, we rolled with it and set up the dress up and face paint inside, opened up our bedrooms for free play, and staged the crafts in the living rooms… In the end, the games were a hit, the kids had a great time, and most importantly, Livi had a ball!! (A few no shows helped on numbers too)

filling the balloons

almost time for guests to arrive! 

let the games begin!

piñata goodies…I missed the majority of the chaos and the shower of candy falling on them

cake time! you can't see the cake, but I love that smile (and oscar's blur…)

After Livi's party winded down, we headed out into the rain for another parade. The kids were disappointed at first (in the rain even the people throwing the beads weren't quite in the spirit) but once the clouds broke the throws started flying!

he's learned the techinque

Livi and her friend were getting tired so I walked them home while the older kids and dads stayed behind for more schwag. While technically the floats aren't supposed to throw things until they hit the parade route, the floats waiting to go were feeling generous and the girls made out like bandits on the walk home…

Livi and her friend surrounded by their spoils