Mardi Gras Madness

Mardi Gras 2009 saw Dallas' first parade and her first trip to the ER in an ambulance!!! I kid you not. We went to a Saturday parade and she had a blast. Dallas learned how to say "Throw me something mister" and caught quite a few beads and other trinkets. We also took her to the fair and she got to ride and eat cotton candy and popcorn. Just try and take it away from her once she tasted it!!! Fat Tuesday was another adventure. We went back to the same spot as before. My parents had their RV parked out there all week end so we had a place to chill in between parades. I was standing with Dallas on the parade route along with my parents and nephew. John had to go back to work so he wasn't with us. The last float of the first parade had just pulled up beside us. One of the riders threw me a huge bag of beads for Dallas!!! I was so excited because I had never caught an entire bag of beads before. I was holding Dallas in my arms and all of a sudden I see a large hard plastic bucket come sailing off the top level of the float right at us. I tried to deflect the bucket with one arm but I couldn't. It sailed right into the top of her head while I was holding her!!! Dallas started screaming and I started cursing like a sailor. I was furious and freaked out at the same time. My Mom saw the incident and she picked up the bucket and ran with me back to the RV. I just sat there and rocked Dallas in my arms while trying to figure out how bad she was injured. The bucket hadn't split her head thank goodness. The sheriff showed up to see what happened and took the bucket to go find the float. Here come the medics and we decided that she needed to go to the ER as there was a ridge in her head and the front was swollen. So Dallas and I got hauled off the parade route in an ambulance with the sirens going!!! By this time, Dallas had stopped crying and was loving the ambulance ride. The doctor said she would be fine. She had a red stripe on her scalp where the ridge of the bucket hit but no concussion. Her head was very sore and swollen and she was tired. We had to get back to the parade route because that is where I had parked. We get back and the parades are over. Dallas got lots of sympathy beads and trinkets from people who saw what happened. According to the witnesses, it was a freak accident. When the guy went to throw some beads, they snagged the bucket so the bucket went flying along with the beads. Five days later, she still has a slight ridge in the top of her head but she acts fine. The Mardi Gras Association delivered roses to the house along with more beads than she can ever play with. These photos were taken at the Saturday parade. BTW, we don't live in New Orleans so I have never questioned taking her to a parade. Next year she will have a helmet on!!!