November wrap up

Well, I've been a little quiet on here for good reason.  We've been busy having some major family time.  It was long overdue after about six weeks of extra work duties and opposite schedules for DH and me.  Just two days after LO's school feast we hit the road for our eight day Thanksgiving vacation.  We made it as far as Grams' house Friday and stayed until Sunday.  Grams treated us to grits and spaghetti carabonara like only she can make.  Gramps treated LO to some trumpet playing.  They even played a duet with LO on his uke.  On Saturday, while Grams and Gramps were at an appointment, LO and I took the boys to a local nature preserve.  It was such a treat.  There were many animals on the paths that were quite friendly.

Feeding the roosters, a kid (goat), and peacock

Little man on the trail

He was sick and exhausted.  The preserve was just what the doctor ordered to get us through the morning!

There were also more exotic animals in cages, many of which had tubes to allow visitors to feed them.  All total, we fed animal three heads of romaine, a pound of carrots, a bag of corn feed, and a bag of peanuts.  NB has been learning his animal sounds, so it was really fun for him to see the real animal and hear its sound.  The donkey "hee haw" and the goose "honk" were especially noteworthy.

Our stop at Grams' house gave us a little rest before we loaded the car back up for the rest of our little road trip.  We made it to Papa and Lah-oo's by mid-day, and got our sick little guys down for naps.  All-in-all sleep was hard to come by this trip with boys coughing and sniffing through the night.  We tried to make the best of it though.  Papa was sweet enough to have coffee ready our first few mornings, and kept us on a steady diet of "ginger juice" as LO called it.  The boys had fun just being somewhere new and having extra attention.

LO and Papa strumming "Hallelujah" on their ukes.  

LO and I checked out this dusting of snow on Papa's car Wednesday morning.   LO has seen snow twice before he turned one, but this is the first he remembers. 

There was a little more snow on the deck.  Da brought warm milk and hot oatmeal  out for breakfast.  I showed him how the hot food would melt rings into the snow, and we used the cold grill metal to cool the food. He thought it was really neat to eat the hot food outside. 

This is NB's first snow.  He was more interested in breakfast.

Touching the snow for the first time.  I think I was more excited than he was. 

Two sleepy boys.  One zoned into Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade for the first time, one looking to snuggle.

Just when the novelty of the place began to wear off, they woke to a dusting of snow on Wednesday morning, then Aunt Liz arrived from grad school and breathed life into the boys' routines.  

Aunt Liz to the rescue!

NB was fascinated by Papa's hat.

LO helping Papa with the bird...

and tasting the juicy fruits of his labor.

NB and LO's Thanksgiving plates.  The juiciest smoked turkey ever, roasted root vegetables, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, curried fruit, and (not pictured) roll and spinach salad.

We spent several mornings watching the sun rise from Papas's living room.

They were well enough by Friday to play with their buddies E and C form next door.  The weather finally improved a bit and E and LO were two peas in a pod riding their strider bikes all over and showing off for each other. By Saturday we were all ready for our own space and our own beds, but sad to leave family and friends behind.  To me that's the mark of a good trip.  The boys rode home better than usual and we made the trip in just over five hours including about an hour lunch break.  It was a much needed break from routine and we are ready to get the Christmas season started.  In fact, we got up the very next morning and headed out for our tree!