Thanksgiving 2012

***I just tried to download the cute pictures from my camera that I took of the kids today in their turkey attire and as I deleted them off my camera the photo program on my computer froze and I lost all of them. I'm so disappointed right now because they were all so cute and we had a rare opportunity to have some family shots, too. :-(  Thank goodness for my camera phone so I at least have a few to share from today, even if the quality isn't good.***

I have loved having the kids home from school this week. Yesterday we went to the zoo and the kids had so much fun running around with their maps and pointing us in the right direction.  Hudson seemed in awe of all of the animals. He loves animals and loves reading about them everyday in his books.  I could see him making the connection between the pictures in his books and the real live animals.  The petting zoo was by far his favorite part of the day.  He LOVED getting to get up close and personal.  He would run from one group of animals to the next, point at them, look at me and smile before heading to the next group.

Roaring like the lions. 

After the zoo I took the girls up to Gigi and Papa's house for a sleep over.  They got to go to the mall yesterday afternoon and somehow talked Gigi into letting them create a teddy bear at Build-a-Bear and they also rode the train, the carousel and made notes in the American Girl store for things they would like to add to their Christmas list.

We spent most of our Thanksgiving day at Gigi and Papa's house and enjoyed a delicious meal.  Handley had been referring to our Thanksgiving meal as a feast all week so she was excited when it was finally time for us to feast.  It wouldn't be a holiday without some sort of excitement.  Hudson was sure to provide that to us when he pushed the baby gate loose that was at the top of the steps on the deck.  We were all out there while the kids played and next thing I knew he was falling down the steps.  I don't think I've ever moved so fast as I ran to get to him.  Thank goodness it's only about 5-6 steps from the top to the bottom or it could have been a lot worse.  He had a huge goose egg on his forehead, but as the day went on, it went down and he seemed to be feeling fine.

Tonight we made our way to Macy's at Lenox for the lighting of the Christmas tree. I love traditions and this is such a fun one we do.  They have performers, singers, they light the giant tree and end it with a big firework show.  We met Jen/Justen/Parker and Trey/Stefanie there, too.  The "Macy's cheerleaders" opened the show and the girls were loving seeing all of the flips, twists, and stunts.  Next, were a few singers, including the country star, Trace Atkins, and Santa himself even made an appearance.  Harper had been asking me if Santa would be there and I told her no.  Well, seeing him took her off guard because as Handley was screaming, "THERE IS SANTA!!!!" Harper was bursting into tears.  I'm really hoping that when we go see him in a few weeks she will warm up to the idea of sitting on his lap.  Hudson was in awe of the fireworks (his first time seeing them) and kept saying, "more, more" as soon as they were over.

As if all of that excitement wasn't enough, when we got home we discovered that Elfie, our Elf on the Shelf, was back.  :-)  Let the Christmas season begin!