Boo to You & Turning 2! Oct 2012 PTR *NEW* 10/30 We're Back! TR Link Posted!!

I might have fibbed a little, because this post won't have any WDW planning in it either. :laughing: I thought I'd share a few pictures from Paxton's first Mardi Gras Day adventure! Last year I was working Mardi Gras Day so we didn't get to take him to any parades.

We ended up driving to my mom's house Monday night since we wanted to go to the start of the parade route which began rolling at 10 am. We figured we'd be better off doing that than trying to get up super early and driving to New Orleans from our house. Great decision!! We decided to leave our house at about 7:15 or so, right before we usually put DS down for the night. Our hope was that he would sleep in the car and we could transfer him to the PnP once we got to my mom's house, but he woke up as soon as we pulled in her driveway. But we put him in the room, shut the door, and within a few minutes he was out for the night.

None of us slept great and we were up before 7 am. My dad cooked us a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes, pancakes, and some French toast. My dad put DS on his lap while he was eating and DS got a kick out of eating the sausage off his plate, and picking up food off my dad's plate to feed to the dogs! :rotfl:

We got moving a little late but made it down to the parade route by about 9:35 and got a spot right on the corner where the parade starts. DH was carrying DS in the carrier while I carried the stuff.

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He liked all the riders on horses! (I just noticed I caught my FIL in this pic! lol He's the guy in the yellow t-shirt in the street!)

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Still not sure what we're waiting for!

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All hail Rex, King of Carnival!

We caught a few pairs of the same beads for DS to wear, then he caught this little bracelet that he LOVED playing with!

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Checking it out...

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Putting it on his head...

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And putting it on his face!

DH made some pretty impressive one handed catches, including this Rex crown pillow.

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Me & DS!

Once Rex was over, we moved over to the opposite corner of the street to catch the beginning of the truck parades. DS refused to go back in the carrier at this point, so DH put him up on his shoulders.

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You might notice the 2 hats on DS's head in that pic. He put his own hat on, then stole DH's off his head and put it on top!

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Dad, gimme your hat!

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Hat swap!

After only about 10 trucks, DS was itching to be let down to run around, and that just wasn't happening. I didn't want my child being the one in the papers that got dragged under a Mardi Gras float! So even though we had only been there a couple of hours, we packed up and went back to the car. Of course, nowhere will let you use their restrooms on Mardi Gras (the famous saying is, "Ain't no place to pee on Mardi Gras Day!"), so I had to change him in the trunk for the first time, which DS got a kick out of!

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At that point, it was getting to be lunchtime, so we headed back to my mom's area and met them at Chili's for lunch before going back home. DS knocked out the second we got on the Interstate and stayed snoozing the whole way home! DH and I were exhausted too, but we had a really fun time!

And just a couple more pics from yesterday. I took DS to Hammond (another 2 hour drive from our house!) to visit my newest cousin Stryder! I love all of my cousins of course, but my aunt and uncle asked me to be this little cutie's godmother, so he will always have a special place in my heart! I can't wait for him to call me Nanny!

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Stryder is adorable. Nothing like a newborn to bring a smile to your face!

Your parade pictures are so fun and I love the one of you holding your son! So cute!

It must be so nice to live somewhere warm this time of year. Jealous!
 
Stryder is adorable. Nothing like a newborn to bring a smile to your face!

Your parade pictures are so fun and I love the one of you holding your son! So cute!

It must be so nice to live somewhere warm this time of year. Jealous!

It was SO nice holding a newborn again! I couldn't get enough of him. Definitely had DS a little jealous though. :laughing:

The one of me with DS is one of my favorites! We had a lot of fun with him this year, and I think next year when he is a little older will be even better.

The weather has been crazy the last couple of weeks! It will warm up to the mid 70's for a few days, then like today, the high is only in the low 60's & windy (I know that's not cold most other places in the country, but here, that's COLD!). Mardi Gras day though, the weather was absolutely perfect.
 
Your godson is a cutie!!

How fun going to the Mardi Gras parade!! We order a Kings Cake from Gambino's bakery every year and have it shipped to us (usually for Fat Tuesday, but this year we got it delivered the Fri before for Disney movie night...Princess & the Frog).
 


That sounds like a fun day. I'm sure Paxton had a blast seeing his grandparents and watching the parade.

Probably a good idea to not let him get down and run around, despite what he thought was in his own best interests. :lmao:
 
Your godson is a cutie!!

How fun going to the Mardi Gras parade!! We order a Kings Cake from Gambino's bakery every year and have it shipped to us (usually for Fat Tuesday, but this year we got it delivered the Fri before for Disney movie night...Princess & the Frog).

Thank you! He is such a handsome little sweetie! It was fun holding him, but it definitely made me miss Paxton being so tiny.

That sounds like a fun day. I'm sure Paxton had a blast seeing his grandparents and watching the parade.

Probably a good idea to not let him get down and run around, despite what he thought was in his own best interests. :lmao:

It was the first time in a long time I actually enjoyed myself on Mardi Gras Day! Usually it is stressful because we ride with FIL and he hops from New Orleans to Metairie and we are jumping over ice chests and blankets, etc. from the people who staked out their spots early in the morning. It's just not my idea of fun! But having a plan for just the 3 of us was great, and I think it'll be even better next year when we hopefully don't have to bring as much stuff for Paxton!

Yeah, no running around for him! My last straw was when we let him stand on the ground and he immediately started trying to pick up the reflector off the ground and getting mad when he couldn't! :laughing: Definitely time to go at that point!!
 
Your Mardi gras looks like it was so much fun! Glad you had such a great time (and Paxton did too). Can't believe it was your first time changing him in the back of your car! I've already done that with Aria lol!!
 


Now that Southwest has released their dates through the time of our trip, we have a better idea of our arrival & departure times. I'm really NOT crazy at all about the flight times available, but since Southwest is the only direct flight we can take, we are stuck with what they have! At least the prices are not too terrible. We haven't bought any of our October airfare yet (heck, we haven't even bought all of our May plane tickets yet! :scared1:) but these will more than likely be the flights we end up with.

Our departure flight would be the earliest flight available that day at 10:30 am arriving at 1:10 pm. It's later than I had hoped, but it's the best available that day, and at least it is a nonstop!

Our return flight choices are not ideal either, but I'm thinking we will end up on the flight that leaves at 6:00 pm and arrives home in New Orleans at 6:40 pm. This too is a little later than we usually fly home since we still have a 2 hour drive home ahead of us. But it's our best option since the two non stop flights in the morning are just too early, and the two afternoon flights each have a stop with a plane change.

As I was typing this post, I checked the airfare for the direct flight from New Orleans to Los Angeles for our May trip and the price had gone down from $211 to $180/person, so I snatched them up! Even if we check 1 bag per person ($75, but we will probably only need to check 2 which would only be $50), it STILL comes out to be $67 less than flying Southwest with no bag fees! :woohoo: So as it turns out, I get my direct flight with DS, while DH gets his wish to save money. :laughing: The flight departs from New Orleans at 7:05 am and arrives in Los Angeles at 9:22 am. Crazy early arrival, but that just means more time in California!

And just so this picture won't be pictureless, here's a few pictures of clothing purchases we have made recently for our trips!

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We got this one because of DS's newly discovered love of Tigger on our WDW trip. It's an 18 mo. size so it's for the DL trip.

The next few are ones we bought a few weeks ago when the Disney Store online was have a big sale on t-shirts. They are all kids size XXS so I'm hoping they will fit for October. If not, they are just cute shirts so he can wear them whenever!

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During that same sale we also got him a few pairs of cute pajamas!

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This one was from Target. I think it's actually a St. Patrick's Day t-shirt, but we saw Donald and had to have it. It's a 24 month, so it should definitely fit for October. I'm hoping as the trip gets closer Target puts out more cute Mickey Halloween t-shirts that I can snatch up!

And the last purchase was for me! We went to the mall last weekend, and I spotted this shirt in Macy's. Had to have it!

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It is a little too sheer for my taste, but it looks great with a black tank underneath. :thumbsup2 DH and I joked that our wardrobe is slowly being taken over by Disney clothes!
 
Your Mardi gras looks like it was so much fun! Glad you had such a great time (and Paxton did too). Can't believe it was your first time changing him in the back of your car! I've already done that with Aria lol!!

It was a blast! I'm actually excited to do it again next year. I'll be working Mardi Gras Day, but we are thinking of going to the daytime parades the weekend before.

It was my first time changing him in the trunk, but I have changed him many times in the backseat of the truck! The backseat of my Civic is entirely too small for a diaper change at this age!
 
Yea for getting the May plane tickets...and at a lower cost :cool1:!!

Cute clothing purchases!! I bought that red t-shirt for Evan when Disney Store had that sale a few weeks ago too :thumbsup2
 
Yea for getting the May plane tickets...and at a lower cost :cool1:!!

Cute clothing purchases!! I bought that red t-shirt for Evan when Disney Store had that sale a few weeks ago too :thumbsup2

I was SO excited to see that the fare had gone down! We are getting ready to book our flight from LAX to Seattle right now because Virgin America apparently JUST released their flight info and the fare is only $115! We are jumping on it because I just don't see ANYONE having airfare cheaper than that nowadays.

I can't wait for him to wear his new shirts! I think the red one was tied for my favorite with the Mickey Mouse striped one. DH didn't really want to buy him that many shirts until I told him he could get DS a Marvel one. :rotfl:
 
Cute, cute T- shirts for you and your son!

glad you are getting all your flights worked out! :thumbsup2
 
I love the Gonzo shirt!

The flight times are the same for me too. We're not going to get into FL til around 2. They have earlier flights but I just do not want to wake up at 5 am to get to the airport and then get to Disney & the room won't be ready/we'll be exhausted. Coming home really isn't a big deal. Plenty of options!
 
That's a shame that the October flight times weren't necessarily at ideal times, but I'm glad you were able to get your direct flight to California, all while still saving money. That's a big win!:thumbsup2
 
Cute, cute T- shirts for you and your son!

glad you are getting all your flights worked out! :thumbsup2

I'm so glad too! Now just to tackle the beast that is our return flight from Seattle...:sad2:

I love the Gonzo shirt!

The flight times are the same for me too. We're not going to get into FL til around 2. They have earlier flights but I just do not want to wake up at 5 am to get to the airport and then get to Disney & the room won't be ready/we'll be exhausted. Coming home really isn't a big deal. Plenty of options!

The "getting there" flight has usually never been a problem. We have always been able to leave early in the day for an early arrival. Last trip with DS, we purposely chose the second flight out of the day at 9-something, and even that was fine. 10:30 just seems so late. But I know we will be able to make the best of it, even if it isn't perfect.

That's a shame that the October flight times weren't necessarily at ideal times, but I'm glad you were able to get your direct flight to California, all while still saving money. That's a big win!:thumbsup2

Yes, a BIG win, especially in DH's opinion!! :laughing:
 
Wow awesome on the CA flights AND the lax to Sea flight too! Youll have to let me know how Virgin air is, I've always wanted to fly them but flight prices have never been that cheap compared to other airlines. Sorry about the October flights.

Nice job on all your purchases! He's going to be one stylish kid hehehe.
 
Wow awesome on the CA flights AND the lax to Sea flight too! Youll have to let me know how Virgin air is, I've always wanted to fly them but flight prices have never been that cheap compared to other airlines. Sorry about the October flights.

Nice job on all your purchases! He's going to be one stylish kid hehehe.

I will definitely review Virgin in my TR...I'm a little nervous because I have never flown then before myself. However, $115 a ticket was just too good to pass up! We were not even planning to buy more than one leg of the airfare so close together, let alone the same day. But when you see a good price, you have to jump on it before it disappears, right? :thumbsup2
 

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