Thanksgiving

So I just realized that Google isn't going to let me post any more pictures for free, so while Kip and I try to figure out if we can get around that, it seems the perfect time to put up a post about Thanksgiving, since I have managed not to see any of the pictures we took from that time (though I have seen a few my sisters took).

We picked the kids up from school on Wednesday. In Evansville I notice that there's this sort of down-homey thing where they never give you days off of school for travel. I think they assume everyone has family in town. For example, once when I asked my babysitter if all her aunts/uncles were local, she said, "Oh, no, my aunt (one aunt) lives in Vincennes (a city 1 hour from here)." So, yes, 8 hours to West Virginia is apparently something the locals haven't considered. Anyway, we headed over to my sister, Katie's house and got there around 10:00. Which means we made great time and that our kids were really good on the drive. Really. It was nice.

We got settled in and got to sleeping. Mark woke up several times in the night bothered by the sounds of the basement (furnaces, water through pipes and whatnot).

The next day was Thanksgiving. My sisters did a turkey trot and then the kids did a turkey sprint. I just showed up sleepy and un-showered.

We made our meal, which was delicious. The weather was great that day, so the kids spent approximately 12 hours on the trampoline and then ate outside, giving the adults about 6 1/2 minutes of grown-up time to eat alone. It was nice.

The next couple nights, Emma slept badly. I mention it because it was really the biggest downer of the trip for me. Our kids were pretty good during the day and everyone was having a great time. But one of those nights Emma was up every 30 minutes or so, and it hurt.

We spent Friday doing some preventative lice shampooing after discovering that my niece had gotten a treat from her school. The girls had all been sleeping on the floor together so we washed all their hair. It wasn't so bad and while we all wondered why something has to happen every time we get together, I think we were also all glad that everyone wasn't barfing all over the place.

The grown ups spent time talking, playing "Just Dance" or whatever that Wii game is called and preparing food for the masses (and also some treats for ourselves). What will we do when our children are teenagers. I vote that one of us become independently wealthy so we can hire a cook. I'll even volunteer to be the wealthy one, if it would help and all, so if a ridiculously rich and elderly neighbor who secretly loves me would like to die and leave me a fortune, that would be just great, thanks.

The kids played Just Dance and jumped on the trampoline even when it got cold and played video games. The girls prepared a Thanksgiving play, which was super cute. The boys used the forbidden word "poop" as much as they could get away with.

It was a good time. I realized how grateful I am for my family, and Kip's family. We've spent Thanksgiving with both and it's always such a great experience. This year, I just happened to stumble upon a couple of articles about how to get through Thanksgiving with your completely whacked family and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief that--lice scare or no--we all love each other and have good times together. Now if someone could just write an article about how to get through Thanksgiving with your 10-year-old and 2-year-old who take turns waking you up all night, that would be something I could use.

The drive home went great as well.

Thanks for hosting Katie, and maybe one day in three years or so your house will again be clean.