The weather was cool and comfortable, so everyone was able to play outside for a bit. Wesley is digging this swing. We wore our New Orleans Saints shirts in the hopes that this would allow us to "blend" in with the crowd and gain the favor of the float riders. 
Jared, with no particular place to go.
After playing outside, we decided to put the boys down for a nap before the parade started. We thought the problem would occur when we tried to put the boys down with a house full of fun. However, the problem arose when we tried to wake them. When we got news that the parade was approaching, we went into the room to wake the boys. We turned on the lights, made loud noises and clapped our hands but the boys would NOT wake up. We were finally able to drag them out of their peapods and get them ready for the parade. Luckily the parade is only a block from the house so we did not miss much. This is the boy's-eye-view of a marching band passing by.
This is Team Darnell's 2nd Mardi Gras parade. Jared needed a refresher on how to get the bead thrower's attention.
Not as crazy as the New Orleans crowd, but still pretty lively. There was a ton of people and lots of floats.
Wesley caught a teddy bear, and they became fast friends. It looks as if Andrew is talking to Jared, but Jared is more interested in the beads.
Some of the wild and crazy locals. Actually it's Grandma Sally, Aunt Connie, and Aunt Sue.
There was so much to look at and take in.
Mommy and Daddy ran security to help keep wayward beads from hitting the stroller.
Wesley would wave his arms and yell "throw me something, mister!"
Andrew would follow suit. Note Jared - Someone didn't get enough sleep during nap time. He was not very happy about the early wake-up.
We headed back to the house to see what everyone caught during the parade. Our stash included about 30 pounds of beads, a few stuffed animals, 7 footballs, and other trinkets. It appears our Saints shirts worked. When one float passed, a gentleman threw us a football and then realized the boys were triplets. He quickly threw us a second football. When he tried to get the third out of his bag, the float was moving away so he just threw us the entire bag of footballs. They weren't throwing chicken flavored Ramen noodles like last year. 
Grandma helps rehydrate the boys one sip at a time.
Jared has a snack with Aunt Sue. 
Aunt Sue and Wesley play catch with cousin Taylor.
Once the boys were dressed for bed, the decided to put on their 'soon-to-be' infamous fireplace mantle routine! Andrew is a sucker for applause from an audience and will do anything to keep the cheers coming. Jared is our cautious soul but is still a sucker for applause. Wes is usually our confident and most aggressive spirit. However, on this night, he met his match... the fireplace. He watched Andrew jump for a few minutes and then attempted to get into the act. He climbed up on the fireplace with confidence, stood there for a second, bend over to jump and then froze! He could not build up the confidence to make the big leap. I did not get this moment on video but in this video, you can see that he needed a little push from his brother (Jared) to take the first jump. This video is almost 6 minutes but this session went on for close to 30 minutes. Also in this video, you can see the three bags of loot that we acquired at the parade. The bag that is moved in the video is full of beads - approx 30lbs of beads! I still wonder where this energy comes from...
Cousin Taylor pulls Andrew around while he enjoys his bedtime milk. Andrew's face is flush from spending the 30 minutes before this picture entertaining the family with his fireplace mantle routine.
Everyone got to ride in the plastic block bucket. Jared is happy that it is his turn. 
After our day of festivities, the boys headed off for bed. We would have to hit the road in the morning for Texas!
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