Two years ago we decided that trying to do three families (often more!) in two completely opposite ends of the state for Thanksgiving was ridiculous. We couldn't leave until Wednesday night and then we always had to come back Saturday to avoid the rush of traffic on Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was crazy and too much with little ones. So last year we spent several days just in Atlanta at Thanksgiving and this year we spent several days just in Tifton. (And if I can talk everyone into it I'm throwing MY HOUSE into the rotation next year because little ones do not travel well nor do they sleep well in foreign lands. And I hate to pack.)
Anyway, we had a marvelous Thanksgiving!
We arrived in Tifton on Wednesday night and just went straight to Eddie's mom and dad's house. We camped at their house which we hadn't done since Will was born. (And by camped I just mean slept, if you know me at all you didn't even wonder.)
Thursday was LOTS of fun. Some got up and went to KMart at 6AM. Not me. I am a cyber shopper, not a Thanksgiving craziness shopper. :) The rest of us got up and had a leisurely breakfast and then spent time playing at Grandmama and Granddaddy's before lunch.
I tried my best to pass on the legacy of watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to the boys. Much like many other traditions of mine, my boys do not care for parade watching. *sigh*
James preferred, instead, to go outside and ride Parker's four wheeler. This thing could FLY. He laughed and laughed and laughed as he rode.
Then he walked {Sweet} Dixie. (Our family dog at Mom's is also Dixie. She's been dubbed {Mean} Dixie. I hate it and wish I could say it was just old age, but alas, she has never been friendly to those outside her inner circle.)
James is going through a stage in life where he doesn't want me to take his picture. Often, they turn out like the one above. He was walking BACKWARDS to get away from my camera.
Look at that CURL! Sadly, it only lasted until his next bath. Will's hair will very likely never be curly and wavy like James'.
Lunch was delicious! Everyone ate and ate and ate some more! James decided he was tired and needed a nap during dessert but was unable to sleep for thinking about the chocolate pie so he got back up and continued to eat. Ha!
Mid-afternoon after we realized that the only person napping would be Eddie, we headed to Cacky and Poppy's to visit with them a bit earlier than we planned. We had fun and Will took a nap, but James still insisted he wasn't sleepy. (Thankfully, we've learned that as long as Will has a full tummy and a paci, he'll pretty much fall asleep anywhere. Much like his daddy!)
We had supper with Cacky and Poppy and it did NOT disappoint. Yum, yum, yum! I ate way, WAY too much and loved every bite.
Because someone did not take a nap all day long, he fell asleep AT THE TABLE. Anna put him down on a pallet in the living room and we let him nap a little bit before we decided we should probably wake him up.
This was Lance's idea of babysitting. I thought it was pretty ingenious myself!
We had a fire outside in Mom's fire pit after dinner. We roasted marshmallows and both boys thought it was fun to sit outside. It was COLD, but so much fun that I see us doing this a lot in our future. (We have a fire pit, too, that we've hardly ever used!)
When we left Cacky's to go back to Grandmama's, we drove through the park. It was BEAUTIFUL with all the lights on. They've added a lot since the last time we went. Funny story, as we drove through we pointed out Santa and his reindeer and James told us that he didn't have his reindeer anymore because Memo had shot all of them. :O Memo has been DEER hunting lately and James has seen pictures of the dead deer. We never thought that it would be lost in translation. We think he's teasing us, though, because when we say, "No! Memo shot white-tailed deer, not REINDEER...they're different!" He grins and shakes his head and says, "No. *sigh* They were real reindeer." Hopefully we won't have therapy for this. Ha!
Friday morning we got up (again, some earlier than others for Black Friday shopping) and went to Mom's for lunch. I stuffed myself again and didn't even need supper Friday night! I took some pictures of Anna and Lance before lunch for a Christmas card. Will played. James slept in random places again since he "wasn't tired."
Finally, we headed back to Grandmama's for one last meal. I didn't eat, but the others in my crew did! I'm not sure how....We also played in the backyard some more and Will enjoyed the baby carrier.
The best decision we made was to come home on Friday night. It was WONDERFUL to have a whole weekend here after the holiday. Thanks SO MUCH to our mamas who cooked fantastic meals. And to those others who helped. :) We enjoyed the time we spent!
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