TORNADOS AND PARADES

Before I blog about our great weekend in Fairhope I want to let everyone know that we are all okay in Hattiesburg.  Hattiesburg was hit by a very large tornado yesterday but we are safe and sound and my mom's home came through without a scratch.  I wish I could say the same for the rest of my hometown.   My high school, another high school and the university here were all damaged and many homes and businesses were completely destroyed.   We have been through a lot of bad weather in Memphis but this was really the most scared I have been during a storm.  The tornado came within half a mile of our house so we were very lucky.

This weekend we traveled to Fairhope to visit Kenny's parents and had a great time!  On Friday night we were able to take Elle to one of their Mardi Gras parades.  We grabbed some dinner and then hit the streets for the floats to start strolling by.  This parade only had around 15-20 floats but they circle downtown Fairhope 3 times so it is a lot of fun and you catch a lot of cute things. The floats at this parade were also very ornate and were brightly lit so Elle loved them! I even found a little Mardi Gras inspired outfit for Elle for this parade.  I was going to put a yellow bow in her hair but just couldn't do it.  LSU colors! Blech!!!

Looking for the floats/choo choos six feet higher on Daddy's shoulders!

Even though Elle had a glo stick in her mouth we actually managed 

to get a decent family picture.  Such a rare occurrence!

Mrs. Ann (Gramma) with Mrs. Sarah the owner of the Cat's Meow.  Mrs. Ann works at the Cat's Meow in downtown Fairhope several nights a week for fun so stop by and say hi if you are ever there.  Mrs. Sarah and Elle had the best time dancing to all the marching bands during the parade.

Watching the huge spotlight at the beginning of the parade light up the sky.  

Elle and I watching the parade take its final loop.

Watching all the beads and goodies getting thrown!

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing.  Kenny and I found some time to go see Side Effects which we really enjoyed and had lunch at Thyme overlooking the bay.  Then Saturday night, Kenny's extended family came over for a cookout.  It was a fun weekend and Elle stayed up waaaaaaay past her bedtime both nights.  

Gramma and Elle.  Elle was all about her Gramma this trip. You can also see the cute new pair of Toms that Gramma got Elle this weekend.  She hasn't taken them off since we bought them in the store.  She slept in them on Sunday night.  Silly girl!

 On Sunday we went out for brunch and then headed home to Hattiesburg.  We arrived home just as the bad weather started.  I am glad we weren't on the road for all that tornado junk!