This is Laura’s Christmas list for Santa. Note how the double star means that she is “dying to get it.” Good thing that Santa already thinks she has been a great girl this year…
Saturday Family Night
We took advantage of a night at home over Thanksgiving weekend. We started out at Shakespeare’s South for great pizza. It is always a fun time at Shakespeare’s!
After dinner, we headed to the Candy Cane Crib. I love this place!
The family who owns the house was actually outside this year. They generally hang out in the driveway on weekends to say hi to everyone who comes by. They were nice enough to take our picture, and, of course, the kids each got a Candy Cane.
Then, we headed to the Magic Tree. Will Treelighter is still working on the tree. The official lighting ceremony is December 3. Normally, it would be completed by now, but with all the weird weather we had this past summer and fall, the tree was not ready for wrapping and lighting until recently. We were actually stunned to see the row of light box storage…
Even incomplete, the Magic Tree is beautiful! We will be back to see the finished product soon!
St. Louis!
The Kassels were slow to get up this morning, but the kids were excited to discover that Chippy returned overnight! Welcome back to our Elf!
After a slow morning, we finally managed to get ourselves moving. We all headed to St. Louis for some fun. Originally, we were going to visit the St. Louis Arch, but we changed our plans because of the rain. Instead, we spent the afternoon at the St. Louis City Museum with tunnels, slides, shows, and fun. The kids all had a great time climbing around on everything. Will and John hung out together…
…and the girls all hung out together.
Even the adults got in on the fun action. Everyone traipsed to the top of the museum for a trip down the ten-story slide.
The City Museum proved to be the right choice for everyone and we all had a great time! We spent the rest of the evening hanging out in Jim and Jill’s hotel room at the Westin where we ate pizza from Pi Pizzeria. It wasn’t the same as Giordano’s, but it was still decent pizza. The Kassels finally headed back for Columbia about 10 pm. It was hard to say goodbye, but we had a fun Thanksgiving with family. The kids were obviously tired as both of them fell asleep within five minutes of getting in the truck. Here’s Laura…
…and John.
What a great Thanksgiving! Thanks to the BlumeNation and Dave, Kristena, and kids for all the fun. We love you!
Thanksgiving!
What a great, fun day! Despite lots of food prep, it was still an easy, relaxed day with great family. I made sure to take my traditional Thanksgiving picture of the kids.
And I also snapped a great picture of Laura with her handsome Daddy.
Everyone arrived shortly before noon for a day of family, fun, football, and food. We spent the day taking the “usual” pictures, laughing, eating and just being together. Exactly as Thanksgiving should be.
The kids had a great time and, for me, it was especially great to see the older cousins spend lots of time with the younger cousins. Will and John played the day away while the older girls hung out with Laura and Addyson.
Us adults had lots of fun as well talking about old times, new times, and fun times. The turkey (and the rest of the food) was amazing! Andy outdid himself this year.
We ended the day watching our beloved Chicago Bears put a hurt on the Green Bay Packers. It doesn’t get any better than that! Happy Thanksgiving!
Let Thanksgiving with Family Begin!
Despite an extremely early start to our day (4:00 am to get the Beef Brisket on the smoker)…
…and cleaning, cooking, baking, and prepping food most of the day…
…it was all worth it when Jim, Jill, and the kids arrived followed shortly thereafter by Dave, Kristena, and the kids! Family! Let our Thanksgiving holiday officially begin!
Sleepover!
Love short school weeks. It is sleepover time!
Goodbye to the Elmo Chair
Today was the end of an era and yet another reminder that the kids are growing up. Today, I took the Elmo chair to Goodwill for donation. We bought that chair for Laura when she wasn’t even a year old. She, and then John, loved that chair. It got many, many hours of use and was the kids’ family room “recliner.” While cleaning out the kids’ room this past weekend, I decided it was time for the Elmo chair to be donated. It had been doing nothing but holding Laura’s Lalaloopsy dolls for the past two years. When I dropped it off at Goodwill, the woman who took the donation was excited to see it. She said, “I wonder if they will let me tag it and buy that. That would be a great Christmas present for my daughter!” I hope that they do let her buy it and that her daughter gets many hours of enjoyment just like our kids did.
Thank you Elmo for lots of sleeps, pictures, and fun. Here is to hoping you land in someone else’s family who will love you as much as Laura and John did!
