Happy Thanksgiving!
We’ve had an amazing, crazy, busy day. Our morning Tai Chi ended up being cancelled while I took care of Jayden when he woke up; and Mom and Dad were soon busy with Ethan and Ehlana when they joined the early morning baby adventure. With everything else we’ve done today; I’m fairly sure that we more than made up for the missed exercise even after counting in the Thanksgiving dinner.
The weather was beautiful, though it took a while for it to warm up this morning. Since working our way through breakfast, cleaning up, and taking turns getting ready for the day while taking care of the younger kids took several hours; the cooler morning temperatures didn’t get in the way of the fun. Dawn and I spent a fair bit of the morning working as junior babysitters for Jayden, Ethan, and Ehlana while entertaining Jaimie and Kaitlyn too. Mom, Dad, Aunt Alison, and Uncle Blaine were mostly keeping busy in the kitchen; Chris and Martin got up long enough to eat their way through a few plates of food before going back upstairs to have a nap; and Violet was off to meet up with Dillon as soon as she’d eaten and gotten ready for the day.
The rest of the family began dropping in by eleven o’clock; and once we had grandparent support; Dawn and I were set free to play. Since Chris and Martin were still catching up on the sleep they’d missed during their nearly all-night gaming session; we were able to hang out in the lounge and play with Jaimie and Kaitlyn until lunchtime. Violet and Dillon joined us for lunch, but they’d be having dinner with his family after flipping a coin to decide which family would get them for the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals this year.
Chris and Martin came to life in time for lunch; and the start of the first football game of the day. With most of the boys happily immersed in watching football after lunch; Dawn and I were ready to get far away from that action; so we took Jaimie and Kaitlyn with us; met up with Rowen and a couple of her cousins; and went to the park to play for a couple of hours. There were a lot of kids at the park; including Rebecca, Jenny, and some of their cousins. We stopped by the football field to visit with them while they watched the pick-up football game; but didn’t stay long before moving on to the playground after Jaimie and Kaitlyn’s obvious boredom gave us an easy out to escape the girl chat.
We played at the park for a bit over an hour until Mom and Aunt Alison came over with Jayden and the twins; mostly so they could get out of the house for a little break from the work in the kitchen. Rowen, Dawn, and I took the three babies on the swings and slides for a while, and then we all headed for home. Rowen and her cousins stopped in long enough for warm-up snacks and drinks, and then needed to head over to her house while Dawn and I went up to the lounge to play with Jaimie and Kaitlyn until dinnertime.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that this is just the second Thanksgiving holiday for Mom and I with our new family, and while a lot of things were the same; there have been some changes for me too. For me, I think the biggest change is that I’m definitely one of ‘the kids’ now, and that puts me a bit on the edges of what’s going on with the adults. That mostly meant that I didn’t get to spend much time just visiting with Aunt Grace, Mark, or the rest of my grown-up cousins. The good news there is that Ethan and Ehlana were usually near Mom and Dad; and they’ll be able to give me the weekend highlights on Sunday.
Mom, Aunt Leanne, and their kitchen helpers put on another amazing holiday dinner. Jaimie and Kaitlyn kept Dawn and I busy and entertained while we ate; and one really great thing about being in the kids group was when we were sent up to my lounge after dinner to play and stay out of the way while the major dining room and kitchen cleanup was in progress. There were exemptions from the work crew for Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Aunt Alison; but Chris and Martin were drafted; and I wasn’t sure if they were more upset about the work or that they missed the end of the second football game. (The Cowboys edged the Dolphins by just one point)
Most of the girls eventually joined us in the lounge for a chick flick while the boys watched yet more football; and then it was time for a long round of goodnight hugs and kisses before Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne took their guests home; the parents and grandparents were busy with getting Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Jayden, and the twins into their beds or cribs; and Dawn and I were able to get ready for bed too. Dawn’s already sleeping, and Chris and Martin have taken over the lounge to watch the rest of the last football game before moving on to some video gaming action. I need to wrap this up and get some sleep too. Today has been an amazing, whirlwind of fun, and with the big, town-wide sales and the breakfast buffet at the Inn in the morning; tomorrow is sure to be another one of those best-ever kind of days!