Thanksgiving Break

These were originally supposed to be about five individual posts, but somehow last week flew by, a calendar page turned, and now I'm about a week behind on this blog and nearly everything else I've needed to do.  Sometimes recap blog posts just have to be good enough.  

Early in November, Savannah made a list of all the things she wanted to do in Dallas before she left for BYU:  

It's been on our fridge for a month, so we decided to go on a few field trips over Thanksgiving Break.  

Monday: The Perot Museum

I love this place.  McKay and I had been there on a school field trip last year, but the girls had never been, so it was a fun adventure for them.  Oddly, it doesn't matter whether you're 10 or 45 when you're wandering around in a hands-on science museum.  We created our own bird, ran with dinosaurs, journeyed to the center of the earth, made a remote-control crane, and experienced an earthquake.  It was a pretty great day.  

Tuesday:  The Temple

Savannah and Megan both had to work on Tuesday, so while the other kids slept in, I stole a few hours in the morning and went to the Temple.  Perfect day.  Perfect decision.  

Wednesday:  The Dallas Zoo

This might have been my favorite thing we did all week.  The Dallas Zoo has two days annually when they offer $1 admission, and one of them happens to be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  As gorgeous as the weather was, we were all a little nervous that it might be really crowded, but we ventured out anyway and it wasn't crowded at all!  

And we fed giraffes!!    

These are the most amazing animals I have ever seen.  They were so tame and so huge and so drooly.  Their tongues are a mile long.  Each of their little faces (ok, giant faces) is totally unique and different.  And they each have their own individual personalities.  We hung out with these guys for a really long time and just let them eat cracker after cracker out of our hands.

Seriously AMAZING!

Thursday:  Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with our really good friends, the Kings.  Oh, I can't even tell you how much I love this family!  This is the second year we've spent Thanksgiving together, and it was just as fun this time around.  They are so patient with my experimental recipes and my lack of turkey experience.  They came early and stayed late.  We ate turkey, and pie...and more pie.  We played games, had a Mario Kart tournament, and we even fit in decorating gingerbread houses.  It was a really good day.  We are so grateful for the amazing people that surround us in both our neighborhood and in our ward.  This place has been such a huge blessing for us in every possible way, and we could not be more thankful to spend another Thanksgiving with these awesome people.    

Friday: Camping Trip

Friday was unexpectedly gorgeous, and no one was really interested in shopping, so Craig decided to take two of the kids camping.  They loved it.  The girls and I took advantage of a free TV and leftover pumpkin pie, stocked up on some extra large Diet DPs with coconut from Sonic, and had a Gilmore Girls marathon at home...until 2:00am!  Totally fun!  So girly.  When we couldn't keep our eyes open for one more episode, we all camped out in my bed and slept in the next morning until Craig and the other two kids came home and woke us up at 11:30.  Perfect weekend.  (I can't even remember the last time I slept in until 11:30!) 

Saturday:  Craig's Birthday
Craig came home from camping to find a fresh loaf of his favorite birthday treat ever...lemon poppy seed bread, and a pile of Christmas lights that needed to be put up outside.

He and the kids were so awesome to get all of that done.  We have visitors coming in this weekend so there was a little pressure to get Christmas up as soon as possible.  After the lights were up, we snuck out for a quick dinner to celebrate my favorite carnivore's 44th birthday.

What an amazing week we had during this Thanksgiving break, sprinkling a little busy in between some really lazy, really relaxing days, and making lasting memories with our kids.  And poof! in a blink it's December.  How grateful I am today and everyday for this family, for good friends, for the blessings we have in abundance, and for the upcoming Christmas season.  I love this time of year.  

Let the Christmas music begin...