Carnaval in San Francisco 2008

Fat Tuesday and Lent are long past when Carnaval happens in San Francisco. Memorial Day weekend is when we celebrate our "letting go of the flesh." It's either dramatically foggy and cold or sunny and hot, but this year brought a little humidity and overcast skies. We found a nice spot on a curb on Mission Street.

As you can see, Ezra sparkled, clad in his festive outfit. He liked to drum along with the many drumming contingents.

The Friday prior, The Chicken Coop had its own parade. The parade route was simply out the door, up the street and back for snacktime (these kids are always hungry).



Fortunately a couple of neighbors came out to join in our revelry. They were so darn cute!

Now, back to the big parade. As we watched dancers, drummers, fancy cars and floats, occasional pieces and full packages of candy pelted us in the head and the heads of our curious children. Realizing that for the past 5 months we have attended at least two birthdays a month and have managed to indulge in only a minimal amount of sugary treats, which took much consideration and strategic planning by Mommy and Momma, we were caught having to think fast while kids scattered for Red Vines and Jolly Ranchers. While Ezra pulled and tugged on the packaging, Momma was able to trade the Jolly Rancher for a stick of cheese, stomp the hard candies into the ground, and save the Red Vines for after dinner (at which he chose a scoop of ice cream over the twizzlers). We were pretty successful making it only a moderately sugar filled day.

We asked him later what his favorite thing about Carnaval was....to which he replied, "The treat trucks!"

Good news on the Equal Marriage Front! If all goes as planned, we anticipate an Oct. celebration!