{Mardi Gras 2012: French Quarter}

I'm having so much fun looking back at all the pictures from our Mardi Gras trip. I can't believe that we actually made the trip. It started out as a casual invitation from my dear friend Ra last year. We were out celebrating her mom's birthday last December and they talked about Mardi Gras again. I got excited and told them that I'll ask Ed if he wanted to go and he said, definitely. Hence, the plan for this wonderful Mardi Gras trip.

We can not thank Ra and her family enough, for welcoming us and sharing this beautiful tradition with us. We had some bump with our hotel reservation but that did not stop us from going. Her aunt graciously opened their home to us and we stayed with them the whole time. It was a blessing in some way, because we all got to spend a lot of time together.

The Saturday afternoon parades were cancelled due to rain and thunderstorm. We decided to brave the weather and explore the French Quarter. New Orleans is definitely a unique place. We love the food, the atmosphere and the people.

A couple of pictures at Jackson square before the big rain.

The balconies at the quarter were beautifully decorated. Some folks were handing out beads to all the tourists. The kids learned well from the parade the night before and was very well aware that they can holler, "Hey, Mister throw me somethin" and get beads.

The rain distracted me from taking a lot of pictures. I can't believe I didn't took a single picture with Ra and Brian. It was so nice of them to join us at our French Quarter adventure. I also neglected to take a picture of the awesome Po boy sandwich we had for lunch at Johnny's Po boy.

Before the downpouring rain, we had the chance to see St Louis cathedral, a traditional mardi gras band playing at the square, check out some more shops with all the cool beads, take a peak of the long line at Cafe Du Monde and stroll the streets of the quarter.

Later that night, the boys had a great night in with popcorn and TV.