A wedding, an engagement and gators, oh my!

We arrived via Southwest (note: we will check in early from now on if we ever fly SWA again, they have open seating and Kieran was positioned in the middle seat next to a very large man for the flight down) on Thursday morning. A quick trip to the hotel and I was off to the bridal luncheon with my cousin Katie and my aunt Cathy. Kieran had lunch with my dad, step-mom, Jason and Ashley. The bridal luncheon was very nice -- another lesson was learned: shrimp in the south are not "ready to eat." You must pop off their heads, tails and peel them (& their little "leg" looking things) before you can eat them and it kinda grossed me out. That night was the bachelor and bachelorette parties, respectively. I have no idea what the boys did, but us girls rode around on a Party Bus, singing and dancing until the wee hours of the morning. I was asleep by 3 am, long before Kieran came back. me, Katie and Ashley on the party bus! Friday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We forgot the camera in the hotel room. No pictures from that night. Saturday evening was the wedding. Saturday day, we walked around the French Quarter and took a carriage ride to the St. Louis Cemetery (photos below). Grandma & my cousin, Andy.

The bride, Maggie, and her father, entering the church.

Candid shot at the reception. I think Kieran was taking the picture. No one was paying attention.

Grandma & Maggie's brother, Peter, tearing up the dance floor.

On our way to the cemetery....

A couple voodoo tombs -- the one below is reportedly where Marie Laveau, a famous voodoo priestess who lived in New Orleans, is buried.

More tombs... very interesting part of our tour, I wish I could have stayed longer and seen more. Some of the tombs were from the 1700s and many were sunken into the ground. Everyone (almost everyone) is "buried" above ground due to the water table in New Orleans.

On Sunday, we went on a swamp tour -- we were able to see alligators, learn about the swamps and even hold a baby (2 year old) female alligator...

Cue the "Jaws" music... here come the gators!

Kieran holding the gator...

Grandma holding the gator....

I held the gator....

Jason held the gator....

...and sported a "croc-hawk," per our tour guide. There are only gators there, no crocodiles.

Walking along the riverwalk....

Bourbon Street, during the day...still smelly, less salacious.

Thanks to the internet, I found out where Brad & Angelina live when they are in New Orleans. This is their house in the French Quarter. There are many cameras, I'm sure they captured me walking back and forth. It was shuttered, even though Brad was filming in New Orleans... apparently he and Angelina had a mini-getaway that weekend and he was coming back alone later that day to film. Thank you, internet, for allowing me to stalk my fave movie star.

The "Engagement Dinner".... Jason had been planning on proposing to Ashley and decided to do it in New Orleans, but not until after the wedding festivities, he's not a thunder stealer. So once we met up at Midway in Chicago, Ashley was on another flight to New Orleans, and Jason gave me the ring for safe keeping and so Ash wouldn't find it before the proposal. He decided Sunday night at dinner and he wanted me and Kieran there for it (so sweet of him)...

Before the engagement...

Action shots... hard to tell, but he did get on one knee...

It really was a sweet moment and I'm glad I was able to witness it first hand (like I said, I'm a nosy broad)...

All in all, it was an awesome time -- seeing family I don't get to see that often, hanging out in an amazing city, and vacationing with my love (if only for a long weekend)...