More Road Trip Memories from Thanksgiving

We also had a chance to spend a little bit of time (though not as much as we would have liked) with YaYa, Sir, Auntie Jess Jess, Great Aunt Diane and even Great Grammie.  Sir got a new hip so our rowdy family had to let him get better.  Saige was a little bit upset with her beloved Sir because she couldnʻt sit with him but he still managed to aggravate her enough that now, over a month later, she is holding a grudge.  Any of you that know Saige, know that her favorite baby is "baby boy" and Sir decided to take baby boy and not give him back.  This resulted in tears.    Thatʻs okay though, she had plenty of fun with Auntie Jess Jess, as did Dayton and Addley.  In fact, Addley learned a new cheer and lately has been walking around singing it "rah rah rie, kick him in the knee".  They all got to spend an entire day together at the New Orleans Zoo on Black Friday so I had the whole day to shop!

Addley is quite fond of Great Grammie and likes to follow her around.  I think itʻs because she likes to give her the things she wants.  Iʻve decided that Addley has inherited Great Grammieʻs eyes.

I was hoping to get a picture of the kids with their beautiful Auntie Jess Jess but Addley was refusing to go near her.  I think Addley might have been scared of how tall Jess Jess was in her boots.  At least I managed to get a cute picture of the older two.  I wished she lived closer, sheʻs the best Aunt ever (you are too Aunt Sannie, but you live even further!)

Hereʻs YaYa, Dayton, Saige and new hip Sir starting to decorate the fabulous Novosel fiber optic tree!

Auntie Jess Jess and Saige making it look beautiful.  

Oh, and I did manage to get a picture of new hip Sir admiring his most fabulous tree.  Donʻt you think he should have decorated his walker?

Giving Thanks for Family Time

For Thanksgiving last year (it seems so strange to say that) we took our first road trip with the kids and drove back "home" to Louisiana.  Having lived in Hawaii since the kids were babies, they grew up without family road trips.  The closest thing to a road trip was driving around the island which really only took a few hours depending on traffic.  Not even worth putting a DVD on in the car!  So, needless to say, the kids were super excited about our road trip.  It took us 8 hours with one potty/gas (as in fill up the car) stop and one Waffle House stop.  I was pretty impressed that they all behaved fairly well having never been strapped down for such a long time.  We spent our week at Grandpa and Mom Moms house and it was a jam packed week full of fun activities.  One of the most memorable was our fishing day.  Each of the kids had a turn to ride in the boat (sort of). Dayton got to actually go out fishing in the boat, Saige got to do a circle in the water in the boat, and Addley got to sit in the boat pulled up on shore (poor third child).  Then they all went fishing off the banks and had a turn learning how to use a rod.  Surprisingly, Saige was the one that enjoyed it the most and actually caught 2 fish!!  Dayton didnʻt have the patience to stand there and watch the bobber.  He was more interested in seeing how far he could sink into the mud on the banks (what a typical boy).  The highlight for him was when he had a turn driving the golf cart.  I think Grandpa had fun too, though he claims it was a very quiet day for the fish.  It was probably me that had the most fun because I just love to document special moments with family.  Here are some of my snapshots.

End Of Year Update

It has been brought to my attention that my children are still asleep on my blog.  So I thought I had better give an update since not only is 2011 over, but we also woke up in Nashville Tennessee.  Life is a bit of a blur from August 2011 onwards.  The Cliff Notes version is this (the full length version is highly entertaining):  Dayton started first grade on August 1st in Hawaii, our house was packed and sent to sea on August 10th, we arrived in Nashville on August 12th, we stayed in a hotel with both dogs for a week, moved to a one bedroom apartment for a week, moved to a 2 bedroom apartment for a few months, Dayton restarted first grade the end of August, Saige started PreK the end of August, we house hunted for 2 months and finally found and bought a house, moved into that house on October 16th, our belongings arrived from Hawaii on October 18th and my baby boy turned 6 on October 18th.  I unpacked my camera on the same day.  (Let me take a breath)  We spent the remainder of October trying to get settled and went back to Louisiana to visit family for Thanksgiving.  From Thanksgiving onward was preparation for Christmas and now it is 2012.  Ta-da!  You are all caught up in case youʻve been wondering....Happy New Year and hope to see you all soon!