The Pet Parade and River the Raccoon

Our first "float" in the PAWS of NELA sponsored Pet Parade= SUCCESS! 

  We got to help sponsor a very decorated up Mardi Gras wagon today and host our little buddy "River the Raccoon". River was featured on this years limited edition Mardi Gras tee and he has been loved by many. 
It was so cool today to see people come up to his cage to take pics with him or hear people shout "Hey River" or "There is that famous Coon".

I got some giggles from seeing my buddy Julie Emory interact with River...

That little Coon was a champ. By the time the parade started, he was relaxed and taking a little siesta. Ha!! Completely understandable for this 10 month old toddler.

(Can you guys see him laying down in the above pic??)
  I tried to snap pics of people in our Mardi Gras shirts.

It is the best feeling in the world to see people out wearing your companies shirt design!! 

We had started a couple of weeks ago decorating up the wagon. Leslie bought and delivered it to me and I was in charge of decorations.

The plan was to have this base wagon and then an area on top for his cage to sit on. We wanted River to be high enough up so people could actually see him.  It worked out beautifully. 

Leslie came earlier today and we loaded up the wagon in the back of her truck.

P slipped River a marshmallow before the ride to the parade site. I was following behind she and River.

And truthfully, I was sweating it and praying that my little painted canvases weren't going to blow off. They were only attached by glue gun.
 We arrived and rushed to find the check in area for the Float competition.

P was in charge of picking up anything that fell....and quite a few koozies did! HAHA

When we were rolling in at noon, we get a big wave and smile from little Jill Keifenheim and Mrs K. Hey Ya'll!

Here was a pic of the judges for the competition.

We did not win, but it was all good. Cane's had some really nice prizes for the winners. I saw some really cute floats in line like this alligator one.  Folks went all out on this!! 

We then got lined up and in place for the parade to begin.

Luckily, we ended up next to Maggie & Jason Nelson and their two cute boys~ Asher and Trouper. Asher even helped up pass out koozies!!! Thank you!!

The nice peeps at The Corner Vet were in front of us. Love some Nicole West!!!

The parade started and I was amazed at how many people attended. It was packed! There were 6 of us passing out orange beads, koozies and stickers, and we sadly ran out about 3/4th's of the way in. I think we got too excited at the beginning and threw too much too soon. I felt bad when we were empty, but people seemed just as excited to see River in person on the route. Here were some pics I snapped on route.

Hey Lewis Family!! 

Hey Brewers!!! Hey Ward and Wren!!!

After it was over, P and I sat down and ate a bowl of gumbo and got to chat to our friend Erin for a second. 

We then headed home. Tired but happy. Good memories were made. 

 Poor Phoebe had been sick all night with a stomach bug and my mom was keeping her. Thanks Mom!! And  Brent was stuck working the Home Expo all day and missed out on the fun. 

Thanks again to Leslie, Jessica, Kathryn, and Breanne for all your help today (And Asher too!)

Love

Lissy

www.mrpstees.com 

P.S. Mark your calendars to attend the Junior League of Monroe Spring Market March 24th-26th. We have a bunch of new designs coming out and can't wait for you guys to see!!