Saturday night we were back on St. Charles for more (dry but cold) parades and let me tell you, it was a blast! Two of the girls who are on EFCA Crisis Response staff on the northshore made a sign that read, "Our first Mardi Gras" and attached a box to the bottom and affixed the whole deal to a broom handle. They got more beads than they could carry. Some float riders even made a game of it as they tried to rip the box from the sign by hurling beads at them. And these weren't just a few strings of beads, these were entire bags of beads.

Sunday after church we went back out to see Davonte, one of the guys from the neighborhood, march. There were two parades which lasted about two hours. There were quite a few kids from the neighborhood, staff and church members that came out and we had a lot of fun. Sherlise, pictured with me above, is a master bead catcher and got me some really cool ones. As you can see, I came back with a ton of them which are now hanging from every available surface in my camper. I must say, it is very festive!

On another note (Yay!) my mom will be here tomorrow afternoon! I am so excited to welcome her to the city I love so much and cannot wait to show her all that I have been doing these last four months. We'll tour work sites and the neighborhood, she'll get to take part in Super Friday and we'll probably do some shopping as well. I am also excited to take her to some of the parades, three of which take place on my birthday. :)