The kids slept over at Gram and Pap's house on Fri. night but I had to work at the Y till 8pm, so Mike and I didn't really get a date out of it. On Saturday we met them for breakfast and then surprised the kids by taking them to a horse farm where Smarty Jones is now living. He is an amazing race horse and won 2 of the 3 triple crown races. Connor absolutely loves horses, so he was in heaven. We walked around the rest of the stables and met some of the other horses. Connor didn't want to leave.
One of the best activities in fall!
I hosted my book club the night before Thanksgiving, and Hayden hosted his own kids book club to talk about the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. Harrison, Zane, Katie Coats and Jordan Ohl were there, and Mike organized the discussion and a few games that were book related. The kids had so much fun they kept asking what the next book would be and where they would have it!
We also really enjoyed our book club too. It was just Jamie, Sue and I, but we had some great discussion on the book East of Eden. It's based on the story of Cain and Abel.
Thanksgiving morning was the Turkey Trot. When we woke up it was rainy and really cold. I was ready to just hang out on the couch and watch the parade, but Hayden suggested we should go.
I'm so glad we did. We had a lot of fun and got a little exercise before the big dinner. Connor and Serena were warm and dry inside the stroller. They loved it too.
We went to my Aunt Wanda and Uncle Bob's house for a yummy meal, catch up, and play the Wii.
Once we came home that evening, I dropped everyone off and went over to Toys R Us to wait in line. I was one of the first 50 and made some new friends while waiting. By the time the store opened at 10pm, the line stretched down past Ollies and down to Kohls at the mall! I got all that I wanted and got out by 11:30 to go over to Target and begin waiting again. I met a nice couple that taught me a lot about electronics while we waited for 4 more hours. But when it opened, I grabbed what I needed, checked out and was out the door at 4:15, on my way home to my warm bed. To me, it's worth it to save so much money and have a better Christmas for my family!
The rest of Fri. and Sat was spent putting up decorations, baking, watching Christmas movies, and relaxing.
Everyone was off school on Mon. as well for the first day of hunting season, so we took advantage and went down to DC for the day. We took the kids to the Air and Space Museum until they got bored, then over to the museum of Natural History to look at the dinosaurs and cool rocks. Then we took the train up to IKEA for a yummy cheap dinner and shopping, then over to the Temple to see the lights...except the lights weren't getting turned on until Wed. Bummer! But we did get to see all the nativities from around the world inside the visitor's center.
Riding on the train-kids LOVE that!
We ate lunch outside-the squirrels were getting a little too friendly!
Excitement at the Air and Space museum.
Look closely at the tree-it's not real, it's made out of metal! It was very cool.
So Serena has taken an interest in my camera lately, and these are just 2 examples of the things she likes to take pictures of!
