Post-Parade

After the ball, after the after-party, after the 4 hour nap... we all pried ourselves out of the Hilton and back to the Hill compound. (Called the compound because Laura and Justin bought the house next door to PD. In addition to those three, Casey {friend of family}, Andrew {Laura's brother} and Conrad {Chris' cousin} all live there too.)

Since there was still family that are "not from 'round here" Chris got some crawfish to introduce the Yankees to some Louisiana cuisine:

Even though we were all exhausted, we stayed up till past midnight, telling stories and jokes and passing a good time.

One of my favorite parts of spending time on the compound is finding gems from Chris' childhood laying around. Like this:

Something about this photo just makes me love my husband even more! He's lost the curly top, but has the same cheeks!

Thanks for indulging me with that personal interruption. :)

After another late night and short sleep, Chris and I took his cousins from Alaska to a Louisiana plantation and lunch. Where I had one of these:

There's nothing better than a Bloody Mary on a Monday. In fact, I'd really like to bring back the Monday afternoon cocktail hour... Stay tuned for that!

We were supposed to leave Baton Rouge sometime Monday afternoon. But that quickly turned into evening... then into night. We got home after midnight, but it was worth the last few moments with the family. It was a wonderful week bonding with Chris' immediate family and getting to know the extended family even better. I'm excited for the next time that we're all together again!