Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras!

Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday.  It is a holiday that falls the day before Ash Wednesday.  Some countries call it Carnaval which means goodbye to meat in Latin.  Traditionally, in the days leading up to Lent, people would eat all the meat, butter and fat in their homes, preparing for the 40 days leading up to Easter when they would eat only fish and fast from other foods.  

Mardi Gras has a lot of traditions like parades, balls, feasts and crazy costumes!

In the past month our family has gone to eight Mardi Gras parades!  Each of the kids has collected over 100 beaded necklaces and many stuffed animals.  We have also caught our fill of moon pies. 



We took these photos at the Orange Beach parade yesterday.  It was wet outside but the streets were full of people who didn't leave even when it started to rain.