And we're back again

We had a great Thanksgiving. We started the eating early with two Thanksgiving feasts at mine and Andy's school the week before. We had one on Thursday for our Tues/Thurs classes and one on Friday for our M/W/F classes. They were very nice. The school provides the turkey and gravy and the families bring all the sides. We had a great turn out and delicious food.

We then took off Friday after school for Tennessee. Our ultimate destination was Nashville to spend Thanksgiving with the Wilsons. However we drive right through my grandmother's home town. And Friday was Memaw's 85th birthday. We would not make it in time to celebrate until Saturday. With last minute packing and arranging care for all the animals, we did not get on the road until 4:45. I packed dinner for the kids so we really only stopped once for gas and restrooms and then one quick potty stop when we were almost there. Thinking we would be on the road by 3:45 we did not put Andy down for a nap and hoped he would sleep more in the car. He did not fall asleep until after 6 and slept until we stopped at 8:30. Then he was wired. He was awake and happy and loud until Chad finally removed everything from his reach and stopped answering him at 1 am. We got to our exit at 2:15, but got lost when google maps took us to Hamilton Ave instead of Hamilton Place. So it was 3:00 before we got into our hotel room. Andy was now awake and wired again. He was sleeping wide awake and wiggling with me and Gabi. I think he finally went to sleep at 5:00 only to be awake again by 7:00.

We spent Saturday with Memaw. My parents were in town wishing her happy birthday too. Pops took the kids down the street to the Fun Expedition as this has become a ritual when visiting Memaw. They rode go carts and played golf and laser tag. Then the played video games for awhile. Great fun. Evan was talking trash to Pops about "lasering him down" but in the end the older wiser man beat down the younger laser soldiers.

Sunday we drove on toward Nashville. It's about a 4.5 hour drive. But we switch to central time gaining an hour. We spent Sunday through Tuesday with Chad's father's mother and sisters. The children were spoiled by Granny and Aunt Lydia. They were treated to movies and milkshakes and a pick your own Christmas present trip to Toys R Us. We even visited the kids museum in town. The kids enjoyed their time with them and were very sad to move on.

Wednesday through Friday we spent with Chad's mother's parents and her brother's family. Grandmommy and Gaga provided a cozy home for us to spend a nice thanksgiving with family. We visited on Wednesday. Thursday was Grandmommy's birthday. We woke up and went to Thanksgiving meal at the house of an extended relative. I believe the head count for the meal was around 50. Everyone brought food and it was all delicious. But I didn't know many of the people there and so couldn't tell you who all we met. We then went back to the hotel for much needed naps. After that we let the kids swim in the hotel pool for a little while. We were then invited to Uncle Alan and Aunt Cathy's house for a birthday dinner for Grandmommy. We had soup and chili and hung out with family talking and watching football. It was a great evening. The kids had a blast spending time with their cousins Katie, Allison and Valerie. They talk about these cousins all the time and always have so much fun even though the girls are teenagers and older.





Friday Chad did his first ever black Friday shopping. He arrived at Best Buy at 2:30 am and found himself in line behind 200 other crazy people. He got great deals and saved over $500 on his purchases. He arrived back at the hotel about 5:45. We then slept a couple hours before hitting the stores again. It was fun to get in the crowds and find some deals. We then spent the rest of Friday hanging out with the Lincolns some more. What a great day.

Saturday as Evan once again cried it was time to leave. We got up at 4:30 and we were on the road by 5:20. We had over 800 miles to go to get all the way home. The kids were great, traffic wasn't too bad and we made great time. I drove for 3.5 hours and we stopped for a quick gas and go. Chad drove for close to 4 hours and we stopped for lunch. Then I drove the rest of the way home with one quick potty stop along the way. When we got off the turnpike at home Gabi was sniffling in the back. When we asked what was up she said she had to "go" really bad. We told her she had to speak up and not to worry everyone has to ask to go potty sometimes. To this Andy yelled "I do. I hafta go! I have poops. Daddy do you have poops? No just Pee-pees. OK, but I have poops!" This ended the trip on a fit of laughter. And we arrived home by 7:30.

We had a great time. But are now exhausted and need a vacation. Oh well, back to school and work today!