A Very Merry Thanksgiving

Want to know the best part of our Thanksgiving weekend? Travis had FOUR DAYS OFF IN A ROW. That has got to be a record. Aside from when he asks off for Christmas. Psh.

This year, Ariel and Robert volunteered to have Thanksgiving at their house. In the past, we have always done it at our place. It was nice to take a step back and actually enjoy the day, as opposed to running around like a madman trying to have 10 dishes hot at the same time. Ha.

Wednesday, I got out of work early and took advantage of that child-free time to do what food preparation that I was in charge of. When I got up Thursday, all I had to do was throw the prepared green bean casserole in the oven and bake the rolls. After that, we had a few hours of chaos before we were able to relax a little. We decided to stay the night at Ariel's since Aiden's bedtime is 7:30. I didn't want to worry about running home to get him in bed on time, so we just packed ourselves up for a couple days "away".

Of course, that's not as simple as it once was. We have to pack our own overnight bags, Aiden's overnight bags (which include extra clothes, PJ's, sheets, blankets, Mr. Lion, food, toys, etc.), the travel crib, Callaway's food, Callaway, plus the food I was in charge of making for Thanksgiving. Puts a pinch in my shoulders just thinking about it again.

In the end, we didn't forget anything. THANK GOODNESS. We got to their house before Aiden's nap time so we could help out with anything they needed before all the guests arrived. They ended up cooking TWO turkeys. They invited eight people besides themselves, but that is still a LOT of turkey.

Here's Ariel's thinking: Robert and Mike wanted to fry a turkey for the first time in their entire lives. Since that very well could end in disaster, Ariel wanted to roast a turkey as a back-up.

Thankfully, there was no disaster. Mike thoroughly enjoyed injecting the turkeys with cajun marinade. He brought an extra turkey to fry for his girlfriend's family too.

The boys all stood around and stared for a good 10 minutes as the first turkey settled into the fryer.

The meal turned out great! Thank you Ariel and Robert!! (Pictured below: Wendy, Mike, Jenna, Ariel and Robert.)


We took in as many Thanksgiving-orphans as we could find. Jenna included!



The nice thing about having a bunch of people around is Aiden finds lots of people to entertain him. Brandon (on the couch behind him) read Aiden several books before passing into a tryptophan-induced coma.

After dinner, Travis fell asleep on the couch. Sadly, he was sick for the majority of the weekend. In a way, it's nice that this sickness fell on days he already had off, but then again, it would have been nice to have him around a little more.

The rest of us retired outside for the remainder of the evening. We just chatted it up for a while, but then Jenna had to head home. After a bit, we decided to play some games. We started with a round of Apples to Apples (I really need to get that game!), then took a break for dessert. After pie, we headed back outside for a game of Taboo. Ugh, it was so much fun!

Yes, I am wearing a Snuggie in this photo. It is literally a square blanket with sleeves. So strange. A cold front came in while we were outside playing Taboo, but we were having too much fun to take the time to move inside. Ariel's friends Tara and Kevin came just as we were sitting down for dinner, so they didn't eat with us. But they did stick around for leftovers and games! It was a blast.

Tara's birthday was at midnight, so we sang her happy birthday before they headed out to the bars. Ariel and Robert stayed up to watch a movie and I went to bed.

The next morning, we ate cinnamon rolls and lounged on the couch ALL DAY. Seriously. We came down at 8 to feed Aiden breakfast and Travis was astounded when I came back into the living room at 11 with Aiden's lunch. He could not comprehend that he had just sat on the couch for four hours. It was awesome. We watched Shaun of the Dead, ate leftovers, watched a Law and Order: SVU marathon and ate more leftovers. I'm pretty sure that it's been years since I did that much sitting all at once.


But! It was worth it! We had a great time with friends and family. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday!