Travel, Turkey, Family, and Fun!

We drove to Grandma and Grandpa R's house for the Thanksgiving holiday - Wednesday through Sunday. Some of Big J's extended family was there, too - Aunt B and Uncle J. It was a great visit, the weather was quite pleasant for the first half of our visit, and the kids had so much fun! I won't make (m)any comments about the holiday traffic, I'll just say that we are spoiled that the family usually comes to our house for the holidays, rubbernecking is not ok, and does everyone really have to pick the same time as us to drive home? We were also semi-unplugged during our visit - niiice! Yes, I missed my email, Facebook, and bloggy friends, but it wasn't all bad! We had lots of fun, as you will see. I tried really hard to pare down the photos and video for this post, and you should know that it was NOT easy. I ended up with lots of sweet, funny, cute shots of my kiddos - and the rest of the family, too! See....

Thanksgiving Day














That's Miss M serving herself before the meal was actually served. She was especially fond of the cranberry 'jelly'! Mister J enjoyed lots of good food, including pumpkin pie with whipped cream.


















On Thanksgiving afternoon, we went into 'the city' for a mouse hunt! The kids (with some help from Mom, Dad and Grandpa R) found 10 little bronze mice! I just couldn't resist showing you how many great pics I got of Mister J and Miss M together!







































That last one is Miss M, worn out after out the dozen-plus blocks of mouse hunting and walking about town, but before the walk back to where we started! There were lots more good pics, including one of the squirrel we quietly watched so it wouldn't scurry away. I am now convinced, these kids can listen to Mom, but still unsure why it isn't a daily habit....

The weather was still nice on Friday, so we played outside! Swinging, walking Aunt B's dog, riding the tricycle, playing hide-and-seek - we did it all. And, for the record, I will admit that Mister J outsmarted both his Mommy and Daddy. Special thanks to Uncle J for keeping Mister J's hiding place a secret - he will remember that for a long time!



Miss M seemed to finally get comfortable climbing the steps, and is maybe a little too confident now - from Mommy's perspective, at least!


















That evening, we went to see a local Christmas light display. We were able to walk through a portion of it, which the kids enjoyed more than the driving portion, I think. We also had some hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows. Miss M couldn't wait for her spot at the fire, so started eating hers plain!































The weather wasn't quite as nice on Saturday - it was downright COLD! But, in between sprinkles, the kids played outside with a whole team of adults to keep them company.



We had so much fun! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa R for feeding us, giving us a place to sleep, and keeping us entertained. Uncle J and Aunt B, we are glad you each made the trip - we enjoyed seeing you, and the kids enjoyed having you around to play with them. By the way, as parents, we enjoyed having 8 extra hands around - it's a treat we rarely get, so Thank You!!!!