Thanksgiving follies

What a busy holiday season we had! Haircuts, travel, lots and lots of snow (and really cold temperatures!), colds and flus, Christmas cookies – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Before we left for Thanksgiving, Olivia had her first professional hair cut! We must look nice for our visit with relatives, right?

She was NOT at all into the experience, particularly the cape, but with a little coaxing, lots of toys, a paci, and a kid movie, she warmed up to it.

We drove down to IL to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and relatives – our first long trip with the van. (Boy does the extra space help!!) We stopped in WI and visited with my Grandma Emily (other Grandma/ Great-Grandma was sick L) and the next day finished the journey down to Ted and Jan‘s house. Madeline remembered the house well, including what toys were available (princess guitar anyone?), so it was reassuring to see her settle in nicely. Thanksgiving day we were joined by Will and Valerie’s family, and finally Adam and Rebecca’s family a few days later. It made for a full house, but it was worth it to see all the cousins together. Adam and Rebecca (and kids) met Olivia for the first time, too!

 

Ted’s side of the family has a tradition where they get together the Saturday after Thanksgiving and all celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas together. “Thanks-mas” was well attended (50-something people – or did we break the 60-person-mark?), and was a great opportunity to catch up with some relatives we hadn’t seen in a while. Madeline loved playing with all the cousins and second-cousins, and the bouncy house was a favorite for all the kids! Great-Grandma had a special present for each of her great-grandkids (the girls still play with them a lot – thank you!!), and after much feasting (maybe a bit too much), a lot of talking (not enough, ultimately), and the Christmas story and carols, we headed back to Ted and Jan’s for a bit of rest.

Olivia really got into the food! She's a ham-and-cheese girl, apparently. :)

We spent several more days with Caleb’s family and had lots of activities to keep the kids entertained. We went with Valerie’s kids to the Children Museum, a cool place that had lots of places to explore (and, dare I say, places to learn?). They even had purple sand! Doesn’t that just say it all?

We took the kids (our girls and Adam and Rebecca’s two kids) to the mall in town and they rode the carousel. Rebecca was kind enough to help me with Madeline and Olivia, while “big kids” Kaiden and Risa enjoyed it on their own. Olivia took a little persuading at first, but once the ride began she enjoyed it just like everybody else.

And what trip to the mall is complete without a visit to SANTA? 

Kaiden felt he was a little too old for such things, and Olivia’s stranger-danger is still too strong to sit on Santa’s lap, but Madeline and Risa talked with him and told him their Christmas wishes. All-in-all, it was a fun trip!

Traveling still had its struggles, such as Olivia refusing to sleep in her pack ’n’ play, but that’s what big beds are for, right? After we had stayed for almost a week, we started the two-day journey back home. It was just in time for Caleb and the girls to come down with bad colds! Not fun, but at least we were already headed home.