A Thanksgiving Report

I've fallen behind on posting--but it's been a busy few days preparing and celebrating Thanksgiving. We've had family in town and beautiful weather. 

We started our Thanksgiving with the Annual Turkey Chase in Bethesda held very close to our home. Megan, Ella, Samantha, Lucy and I ventured on the 2 miler. We tried to sustain a run for as long as possible, but there are simply too many walkers in the 2 miler to run for too long. It feels great to get some exercise in the cool air before you fill yourself on heavy, rich food. 

Ella told me that this was the last race she was doing this year. I told her that was fine--we'd start up again in January. :)

And a job well done celebrated by bunny ears and bagels. Two of Ella's good friends were on the course with us. 

The 2-mile team

 And the 10K team. Brian conquered the 10K and did great! 

And then the Thanksgiving festivities occurred at my parents' home. We were lucky to have both of my brothers named Andrew, along with their wives. Sarah won the award for being most willing to clean the turkey.

I agreed to sit at the kids' table with the girls, since they were feeling a little put out that they were at a kids table. We quickly deemed it to be the "vegetarian" table and prohibited all turkey from coming our direction. I will try to remember next year that my kids really do not like the Thanksgiving meal and will feed them before hand. I just need to be realistic about it--they won't eat it and who wants to fight over food consumption at Thanksgiving dinner? 

Chloe and Drew--we are so happy she puts up with him.

You know who that is

And I had to enlarge the following pictures so you can see how tolerant Drew is of three girls pounding on him. Perhaps after his football days it just feels like a good massage. They cannot get enough of wrestling their uncle--it's like they're deprived of physical contact at home. 

And Lucy finally warmed up to the other Andrew 

And got in a good nose honk, too. 

What good, tolerant and patient uncles my girls have. 

A funny find

This morning I opened Ella's bottom dresser drawer to put away some clothes and this is what I found:

The combination of the three made me chuckle. Perhaps I do have a Katniss in the making. And it's so Ella-esque that the book is bookmarked--I'm sure she wanted to pick up right where she left off in the archery skills section, or the section that teaches how to properly skin a deer. At least this leads me to believe that I'm not raising my girls to be delicate flowers--and that brings me great satisfaction. 

Unibrow alert

Today I reflect on a past conversation with my dear friend Anne, as we discussed the necessity of eyebrow waxing. And how I carried a unibrow way too long into my childhood. It was rather scarring. Anne mentioned if one of her children developed a unibrow, it would be mighty tempting to take matters into her own hands. Not that I would subject my almost 3 year old, but there might be some difficult decisions ahead. :)

This is the picture of a good sport.

Brian's cousin Megan, who is in DC for a semester program with BYU, spent the afternoon with us today. Having only met Megan's family once before, we have relished this time getting to know her. She is darling--smart, interesting, a master puzzle do-er and just goes with the flow around here. 

You know someone is really special when they sit on the floor and play ponies with two adoring little girls.

 She's definitely a keeper--just trying to figure out how to keep her in DC!

Eat your heart out Macy's!

Apparently living in Silver Spring for 6 years was not enough to know that there is a major Thanksgiving parade that runs through it every year. It may have actually not started until after we moved, but we discovered it this year and had a great time. It was like a little slice of the Macy's Parade...right here in Maryland. The wonderful farmers market featured chocolate croissants, which was a great way to start off the morning (though Samantha picked out an apple in lieu of a croissant--where did she come from?)

Friend Leslie and I navigated 6 children through the crowd--and thank goodness I went with her because she saved Lucy from getting squashed from a fire truck. This first picture makes me laugh:

a) Lucy's ensemble choice for the day is particularly poignant in the pictures. The leopard pants and striped hat are prime. b) Samantha grumpily hiding behind her friend Ethan when she saw the camera come out. It's like a visceral reaction. 

Lucy's outfit up close.

And 2 peas in a pod.

And for you locals, if you missed the televised broadcast today, don't worry it will be re-broadcast on Thanksgiving! Here's a preview: 

The Washington Redskins' very own marching band. Maybe they thought the horrific mascot would be slightly more fitting in a Thanksgiving parade?

 The parade featured about 10 Latin/South American dancing troops. They danced a lot in very intricate outfits, but I will say they all sort of started to look the same by the end. 

And in true Macy's fashion, no Thanksgiving parade is complete without Santa bringing up the rear. 

Between going to a Thanksgiving parade today, buying my pie ingredients, and ordering my chocolate turkeys for the Thanksgiving table on-line, I'm feeling downright festive! 

Welcome Weekend

Nothing pressing around here. Just ushering in the weekend with a stop at California Tortilla. Fridays are strictly non-cooking nights arounds here. That makes me happy.

Some day...

...I will feel lonely making dinner by myself. 

I will wish for the days when I had to step over my children and their blankies in order to navigate the kitchen. 

And someday I will miss the little hands insisting that they help with dinner, even though it takes me 3x as long to get dinner on. 

Someday, I will miss this, right?