Mardi gras...le Carnaval

This weekend Katie came to visit us as we celebrated Mardi gras! Alan doesn't have class on Fridays so he was able to take Katie around town and they were able to do some fun things. They went to the arch...

and then toured the brewery...

and that night we took Katie to The Hill for a yummy Italian dinner.

It was really cold on Saturday morning so we all bundled up and took the metro downtown and then rode shuttles to Soulard where all the Mardi gras festivities were going on.

We went to the Grand Parade first and got lots of fun beads that people on the floats were throwing to the crowds.

The theme of Mardi gras this year was "Celebrate American Treasures"

Route 66 float

New Orleans float

After the parade, we hit the streets of Soulard

View of one of the streets...it was packed!

We had a great lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Union Station on our way home.

We did some shopping around town late afternoon and then went home for dinner and a movie. Katie went to church with us Sunday morning and then headed back to Knoxville after lunch with us. All in all, it was a super fun weekend and we are so glad she came and had the best time!