little laughs, little adventures: a little late: Thanksgiving

Before I start I need to recap the EPIC adventures that we've had over the holidays. We got to be with family and really what more can you ask for during the holidays. I will have to break this up over several posts because will it was that EPIC. First up: Thanksgiving.

I should preface our road trip to South Bend, IN, that just the week before we already had a road trip down to Winston-Salem, NC. Both trips took us roughly 12 hrs. Our IN trip was broken up into two legs though so that was much nicer. Now with two children, both under the age of 4 this was quite a feat but I learned a few things.

I don't have to pack their whole play room and craft supplies to keep them occupied (well, at least my kids don't).
All they need is a couple of good books and a DVD player and a working car outlet.
Keep an empty water bottle for emergencies. I think you know what I mean ~_^

Anyhow, the kids did great on our first leg of our trip to IN. We got to stop by Aunt Hilary and Uncle Dalin's house for a breather and got to stay the night. Oliver and cousin Cal just had a ball playing. I would say together which they did in the morning but at night Oliver was just glad to be out of the car and when he saw some trains spread across the floor no one could really distract him. It was so much fun to see them. Madeline loved seeing baby cousin Maggie. She kept pointing and wanting to see her. I think Mads was trying to decide if she was a doll or if she was real because she was smaller than herself. I love it when cousins can get together. In the morning we said our goodbyes and headed off to the Indiana Becks, all of us very eager to get out of the car by the time we arrived. When we got there we were greeted with some good ol' fashion Beck bear hugs. Family sure is great. We got to see cousin Colin get baptized! Boy they grow fast. The first time I met him I'm pretty sure he was younger than Oliver is now. I tell ya, don't blink! Before you know it they're moving out going to college and doing grown up things. GAH! Alrighty, back to Thanksgiving. We had many fun turkey festivities, turkey hats and place-mats and definitely LOTS of cooking and baking. Sleeping arrangements were quite fun as well. Gamma and Gampa Beck, Uncle Stephen and Aunt Den Den, and Weston and I and Mads all slept downstairs in the basement. I wish I had taken a picture. It was quite a barracks chamber. And how can I forget the Kinect game awesomeness. It's a lot of fun to watch grown ups play but it's even more fun to watch the little ones play all together. The way they come up with some of their moves to complete the tasks is hilarious. Again another missed photo opportunity but we were just having way too much fun to stop. I am incredibly thankful for have such a wonderful family outside my own.