New Orleans Easter

We had the BEST Easter!! No church for us–we went to the Easter parade in the French Quarter led by an 80-year-old Bourbon Street Stripper! It was a whole lot more fun than church, and more representative of the beginning of Spring–beauty, fertility, life, fun, babies, treasures, joy… 
Let’s back up a bit. The weather has been so perfectly gorgeous that we ran very late yesterday and our egg dying turned into a bit of a frenzy. That didn’t stop George from doing some very fancy eggs. I found one egg this morning upon which he had written in white crayon: Daddy loves scotch. Annabelle was elated to wake up and find a trail of half eaten carrots leading from the bedroom to the living room where a very hungry Easter bunny had left her and Henry baskets of goodies.
In addition, the Spring fairy had come and redecorated the Winter fairy house into a spring fairy house complete with a baby bunny.
George had gone to great lengths to hide the eggs, but Henry and Annabelle haven’t quite reached the stage where they cared to look for them, so George found them all. The crowning point of our day was our visit to the French Quarter. My friend Cathy (who says yes to attending every marvelous New Orleans event with me) came with her camera, spreading her light and joy and art and carrying the little diva–Annabelle–(because she insisted on wearing her pink sparkly shoes she can’t walk in) all over the streets.
I was trying to decide if it was worth the effort to go to the parade until I found out who was leading the parade. A parade lead by a Bourbon Street stripper–show me the way! Of course, she was so old and her float went by so fast, I barely got a glimpse of her–she’s a piece of living history!
But You haven’t seen dancing until you see the New Orleans majorettes!! Is there anything better than sassy sparkly baton twirlers with pompom boots and gravity-defying hairdos and enough attitude to light up 100 floats??
Henry was the most thrilled to see Winnie the Pooh on one of the floats, and Annabelle came away covered in beads, her hands filled with stuffed animals and flowers. As the brass band played New Orleans music and the sun shone down on Bourbon Street, I looked at all the people around me wearing fairy wings, boas, pirate costumes, and bunny ears–and no one looking out of place or even odd, and I thought: we can never leave here!
This amazing magical city is like no other. The streets of the Quarter are just stunningly beautiful and oozing character and culture and history.
I watched Annabelle and Henry turn somersaults in the Jackson Square park, the  spires of the St. Louis cathedral behind them, and it was all so perfect, so right. Annabelle did dance after dance, followed closely by Henry who mimics everything she does. I watched her kick up her bare feet and roll in the emerald grass. Then she took her sweater off and threw it across the park, and I felt so happy that the kids get to spend their most formative years in this city of magic.
New Orleans, with your boas and masks and your cocktails and your dancing and your beignets, your streets filled with music and artists and beauty, I love you! The perfect Easter!