Thanksgiving

This year, Thanksgiving was a little bit different because I actually had to do some cooking.  Nothing makes you feel like a “real” grown up like holiday responsibilities! We got together at Papa and Kaye’s house and enjoyed good quality time with the family.  It’s rare we are all home at the same time, so Thanksgiving and Christmas are pretty special.

Tyler just adores his Papa. 
He went straight to him the minute we got there.  :)

 

My pretty girl!

 

The next two pictures make me laugh.  We took about ten of these, and almost all were identical except for Tyler and Caroline.  Nine out of ten he was looking straight at the camera (like the one below), then on the tenth, we finally get Caroline to put down the chapstick and smile and he decides he’s done.  Story of my life!

Later that day, we tried our best to get a shot for the Christmas card.  Not sure just yet if it’s worthy… we have a lot to live up to from last year!  What do you guys think?

Aside from Turkey Day festivities, we spent a lot of our three days relaxing at the lake.  Granna and Pa let Tyler and Caroline take over their golf cart, so about half our time was spent “driving.”  They are currently obsessed with being behind the wheel of anything, whether it’s one of our cars or the “big bus” (Granna and Pa also have an RV… they are full of fun!).  Mom offered to let us bring the golf cart back to Columbia with us because they loved it THAT much, but I’m afraid I’d never get anything done again because they’d be fighting to play in it ALL.THE.TIME.  Besides, we need to save something for Granna to do with them at her house, right? :)

Froggy & Ladybug before going to the park (via golf cart, of course :) -

(They're really going to get me for all these kissy pictures I post one day, huh?  Sorry kids!)

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

281

281… That’s the number of photos I took in just one afternoon at the park.

You see why blogging is such a hard job for me?  Who has time to write anything when you have 281 photos to sort through?  I just can’t help myself though.  I have two little people that constantly remind me to step back and enjoy the ride when I’m feeling overwhelmed.   Not only do I want to remember every last second of their childhood when I’m old and gray (which is creeping up on me… gray hair shouldn’t happen to blondies this early in life!), but sometimes it hits me that they are growing up SO fast and they might not look the same tomorrow.  Therefore, I need 281 pictures within one hour to remember them just like this.  :)

In true fashion, we decided to up and leave Columbia for 48 hours.  I packed up the kids and the dog and headed to Greenville, hoping for a fun day that would be capped off with a visit with Mickey and Minnie at Chick Fil A.  (I wasn’t the only one who had that idea, but more on that later).  We were able to leave town early enough that we made it just in time for lunch, so like any good mother would do, I found a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut drive-thru.  Loaded with personal pan pizzas and chicken soft tacos, we took off to Cleveland Park (connects to Falls Park from the October post) and had ourselves a picnic.




(side note:  this is lemonade… I may live in the south, but I do not condone sodas for two year olds.)

After lunch, we walked over to the playground.  It’s amazing how much they enjoyed this “new” park… I suppose the same ol’ one we go to every day gets boring after a while.

“Hmmm, leaves… What can we do with these?”

 

THROW THEM!!!!

When the leaves lost their luster, it was time to run and jump some more.







And last on our park agenda:  Connor’s turn!




He had so much fun that his “joker face” came out, which reminds us that he’s part pug.  :)



After three hours of play, it was almost time to head over to Chick Fil A to meet Mickey & Minnie.  We had a little time to kill, so we went to the Williams’ to wait it out.  I should have known better, but I assumed getting there right at 5:30 when the event started would be perfect.  Here’s how that worked out for me…



SLAMMED.  Shoulder-to-shoulder, standing-room-only.  If you think I’m crazy enough to try that mess with two tired toddlers you can think again.  So instead, we ordered Chinese take-out and headed back to the lake!

All in all, a wonderful day (worth much more than 281 pictures! :).