Ryan's Big Birthday Surprise!

I am the WORST at keeping secrets! 

I usually get a present for someone and want to tell them immediately! So when Ryan's sister and Brother-in-law proposed the idea of coming to Louisiana to surprise Ryan for his birthday, I knew I had my work cut out for me! They booked their tickets during New Years so I have been keeping this secret for a while!!  I am so glad it is finally out!

They flew in on Friday and I had a "girls night" alibi so that I had a reason to be out and about without Ryan. It wasn't exactly a lie since there really was a girls night and I just left around 9pm to pick up our surprise guests at the airport! 

All week I had been sneakily cleaning the apartment and on Friday Ryan had to be left to his own devices while I was out. I am going to be real with you all - he was alone 3 hours and I was so nervous he was going to innocently make a mess of the apartment! LOL #Boyswillbeboys 

For the record - he didn't!!!

After getting his sister and BIL at the airport we drove to our apartment. I had them hide outside the door and when I entered the apartment I told Ryan I had a surprise for him - then they walked in! 

HE WAS SO SURPRISED! 

Like mouth open, in awe, surprised! I still can't believe we pulled it off!! 

Since it was pretty late, we let the shock/surprise wear off and went to bed. Saturday we had a full day planned! Ryan's sister and BIL are training for the Boston Marathon so they had to do a 13 mile run in the morning. We recommended the LSU lakes since they are so scenic! After their run we went to our favorite breakfast place: Franks, and loaded up on buttery Louisiana biscuits! 

The entire afternoon was dedicated to New Orleans! We drove in and spent the day exploring the French Quarter and doing all things touristy for them! For Christmas Ryan and I got everyone in his family Varsity Sports shirts and they brought theirs down so we decided to all match!

Just two Shooshans hanging out at Shushans!

 

They insisted on touching the Mississippi River even though we highly recommended they didn't... it's just gross! But good news they didn't grow any weird body parts! LOL

We went to Cafe Du Mode to get some beignets and successfully got confectionery sugar everywhere! That's a win-win in my book!

So totally random and funny story. We were sitting and hanging out and saw this little green frog. He was so brave and hopped over to Ryan's sister. Then, surprising all of us, he boldly jumped right into her hair!!! What was he thinking!? Silly little tree frog! 

For those not local to Louisiana - Mardi Gras is a big deal here. It is a full month affair and parades happen every weekend leading up to actual Mardi Gras (I broke down Mardi Gras in three parts which you can check out here, here and here). I had looked up the schedule for the parades and there was one that Saturday (Krewe Du Vieux) so that was high priority for our plans! Little did I know that this parade was 100% R-rated! 

 

I wont get too detailed into it... I'll just leave this picture here and let you imagine the rest!

 

Just a couple of kids getting lost in a massive Mardi Gras crowd! 

 

After the parade we did the Bourbon street thing! 

 

 Hurricanes Check! Grenades Check!

 Sunday we got up and drove to Oak Alley Plantation. Ryan and I have toured a lot of plantations since we have moved to Louisiana and Oak Alley is by far our favorite! I mean - just look at how beautiful it is!

 

We also really love the breakfast they serve! 

We toured the house and wandered the grounds. It was a perfect day and we enjoyed exploring and relaxing by the oaks! 

 

This is my favorite picture of my future brother in law, lounging on a Spanish Oak sipping on a Mint Julep! So picturesque!

We later drove back to Baton Rouge and bought a southern feast for dinner! Crawfish and Jambalaya! We ate the crawfish on our porch enjoying the good weather and just hung out! After dinner we played a round of our favorite game: Castles of the Mad King Ludwig. It was a perfect way to end the weekend!  

Can't wait to be part of this family! 

I still can't believe we pulled off such an awesome surprise weekend for Ryan! His actual birthday is on Friday so we are celebrating all week!