Celebrating Mardi Gras Away from the Big Easy

We missed being at the parades this year for Mardi Gras. To celebrate away from the Big Easy we baked king cakes for our neighbors (and of course saved one for our family) and brought them some Mardi Gras beads. Mark and I are getting pretty good at baking king cakes, although they can't quite compare to my favorite Gambino's Bakery king cake.

It was dance night for Brooke and Anna and Anna had a report due in school the next day, so I didn't have time to make a New Orleans main dish for dinner. A couple of nights later I made shrimp creole. We were sorely disappointed in the shrimp. I should have known it wouldn't compare to the flavor and freshness of New Orleans shrimp, but these shrimp were flavorless and gritty with every bite. Mark and I couldn't eat more than a few bites. Anna had seconds and thirds because the girl LOVES shrimp. I guess she even likes sandy shrimp.

Mark's mom hosted a cute little Valentine's party for the grandkids the night before Valentine's Day. We had dinner and decorated Valentine cookies. Sue had decorated the table so cute for V-day. If you're wondering if Brooke still belongs to our family, I am thinking the reason she is not in any pictures is because any chance she gets, she sneaks up to the computer to do Webkinz or, her new favorite, Zoo Tycoon. She is obsessed with computer/video games. Hmmmm. . . I wonder where she gets that??

I always seem to post a picture of Mark and Garrett. Probably because Garrett mostly wants to be held, so that's the best way to get a shot of him. He's looking like such a big boy!! He's got a little George Clooney hair thing going on here for some reason. Must have been the snow storm which hit about two hours before and made the roads really difficult to maneuver. It was coming down hard and fast and covered you with snow if you were out in it for a minute or two. The girls walked home from school and were white from head to toe.