Daniel, the little rascal, keeps getting into the cat food!
For Thanksgiving this year we went up to my brother Sean's house in Connecticut. I thought it was very fitting to celebrate Thanksgiving in New England, in the heart of the area where the colonists experienced harsh winters and abundant blessings.
Nathan had the entire week off, so we decided to head up on Tuesday. My parents drove up from South Carolina Monday afternoon and we caravanned up together. Aside from needing to make a gazillion pit stops for David in the first three hours, the trip went pretty smoothly...until we got to New York City. We hit it at 4 pm, took the upper level of the George Washington bridge which has all the commercial traffic (read: lots of big trucks), and got lost in Harlem of all places, during rush hour. By the time we got straightened out, we'd missed our exit for the parkway to take us to Connecticut, so we ended up staying on I-95 for a long time. Meanwhile, my parents got off on the right exit, but got on the next parkway going the wrong way, so we were both lost in different places. Somehow we still managed to pull up in front of Sean's at the same time they did, albeit about and hour and a half later than we'd planned.
The next morning we took the kids to Stepping Stones Children's Museum. They had a blast, especially with the water room. That afternoon Sean and Nathan made the pumpkin pie. Mmm. Well done, boys!
David getting outfitted with a water apron
David and Anne Elyse
Clockwise: Daniel, Anne Elyse, random girl, David
Daniel in his water apron
Daniel and Anne Elyse
Thanksgiving itself was wonderful, of course. Kudos to Jenny for planning and executing a beautiful spread. Daniel and Anne Elyse napped during dinner, so we had a relatively calm meal. That night we sat around the piano and sang songs with the kids. David, our "sing 10 songs with me" kid, was beside himself with glee.
David and Annie hanging out on the couch...
Mom and Dad left early Friday morning to be back in SC in time for some meetings Saturday evening. Nathan and Sean braved the Black Friday mobs so Nathan could get a Wii. Around lunch time we went Duckpin Bowling.
I've never Duckpin bowled before. Duckpin balls are just a little bit bigger than a grapefruit, and the pins are squattier. It was really fun, and I must say, preferable to 10-pin bowling, a sport which Sean teases that the ball bowls me, not the other way around. *sigh* He's quite right, unfortunately. lol.
Sean and Nathan bowling
Jenny, Sean, and Nathan
Even David could manage these balls!
After one game the little kids were quite ready for lunch and naps, so we swung by Star Pizza in Hamden and got some very, very tasty pizza for lunch. It's a good thing Star Pizza is NOT within a 15 mile radius of us, because we would patronize it far too frequently! That evening Sean and Jenny battled Nathan on the Wii. It was very amusing to watch petite Jenny take on Nathan in a virtual boxing match.
We left early Saturday morning and had a very smooth and fast trip home. I noticed on the way that Daniel's right ear was draining goop again (second infection this month. good grief!), and we all had bad colds so we decided to spare our ward and stayed home from church Sunday. It was very nice to just hang out and recover from our long travels, as well.
Thanks for having us, Sean and Jenny! It was a real slice.
