Our Trip to Upland for Thanksgiving

Samantha: 90 Months, Week 1
Aedan: 55 Months, Week 3
Owen: 14 Months, Week 1

As the beginning of this week started, we were all looking forward to Thanksgiving, having a short week of school and work, and getting out of town to visit Ben's family in Upland. On Sunday we had church and small group at our house. We had a new family come and our neighbor as well, and it was really nice. The kids did a good job playing downstairs so that the adults could talk, and we had some really good discussion about the first session of the video series called "Not a Fan."  It's been a little bit of a struggle to get a good group going, but I feel like we have a really solid group now with the families involved, and I hope that it can continue, and that we can grow and learn together.

Since the kids helped me decorate the tree on Saturday, I worked on Saturday night and Sunday to get the rest of the Christmas decorations put up so I could get all the big boxes put away. We also worked on getting laundry done so that we could get packed and ready for our trip. Our plan was to leave after Samantha had her special Thanksgiving lunch at school on Tuesday so that way Owen could nap in the car, and we could get to Upland earlier that night.

Here are some pictures and videos I took of Owen that morning as we got laundry done and hung out around the house. I had the camera pointed so that he could see himself, and I got some pretty cute pictures of my little guy who is now 14 months old.

Here is Owen learning how to make his farm make noise by pushing the button.

I like to watch videos of our kids just acting like themselves, and this video shows just that. Owen dancing to the music, banging on things with hammers, trying to hit me with his hammer, knocking things over, and making lots of fun noises. You can also see towards the end of the video when he makes this little face where he tucks his top lip around his teeth and sticks out his bottom teeth. I love this little guy and all his rambunctious toddler-ness!

We then moved on to playing the music on the digital piano so that he could dance. I love how he just shakes his hips back and forth.

And here's more dancing, with stepping back and forth, almost like he's a duck waddling, as well as his little teeth thing that he does and his cute noises.

These videos were all just too cute not to just include them all.

On days that we just spend time at home, I have more time to make lunch, and Monday was one of those days. I made mac and cheese, a definite favorite of the boys, and when Owen eats mac and cheese, it makes sense to just take his clothes off because he gets so messy. I love these pictures of my little guy. He is so happy, and he thoroughly enjoyed his mac and cheese for lunch.

Here's my other big boy that I get to spend time with every day, wearing his most recent favorite shirt. I'm not quite sure why he likes it so much, as I don't think white it the most flattering color on most people, but as soon as it's clean, he chooses to wear it again.

Look at this grin, this face, and those dimples! Oh man, he's a cutie. This might be one of my favorite pictures of him. He is just such a precious gift from God.

Here are the best lunch dates I could ask for. I love these silly boys and these days that we get to spend together.

As I was putting Samantha to bed that night, I tried to capture Owen's silly act that he does only in Samantha's room at bed time. He walks around shaking his head and falling down on the floor, which then makes Samantha and I laugh, and then he will get up and do it again. He definitely loves making people laugh, and it was all well and good until he whacked his head on the corner of her closet door and started crying. Then, he had to come over and get some hugs and snuggles from me before feeling better.

Here are our Christmas decorations, stockings, and Christmas tree all set up. I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. I love the lights, the treats, the special family time, and the coziness of our home when decorated. I know we got up our decorations before Thanksgiving, but with being out of town for all of Thanksgiving break, I didn't want to wait another two weeks before getting everything put up. I don't mind having everything up longer, even if it's too early for Ben.

After the kids were in bed that night, we decided to try out our fireplace with the wood that we had delivered the previous day. (We decided to buy two cords of wood this year so we can have more fires, and just have all the wood stored in our shed outside.) Our living room is even more cozy with a fire blazing in the fireplace.

Monday night and Tuesday morning, Ben and I made a list of any last minute things to pack, and we got several bags packed up that night. I was really excited about getting out of town. We hadn't been outside of Sault Ste. Marie, other than going to Canada, since Labor Day weekend. I was looking forward to the break, to having Ben around more, and to being with the kids without having to go to school and other activities. I was just hoping that Owen would sleep okay there because he has been doing so much better at home. In fact, he slept through the night again Sunday into Monday. I hoped that going somewhere wouldn't throw off his sleep routine. However, we did decide to switch the sleeping arrangements around a little bit. Aedan hasn't been as keen on staying in the play room because it's too dark, so we decided to put Owen in his pack and play in that room instead because having it be darker would actually be better for him and more like his room at home. When it was just our family in Upland, Samantha and Aedan could share a room, with Aedan sleeping on the floor on the air mattress, and then when Alaina came to stay, Aedan could move into our room, and Samantha and Alaina could share a room.

Ben and I made plans to do things while we were in Upland since we would actually be near a big city. We planned to go to the Indianapolis Zoo on Wednesday and the Children's Museum on Saturday with the Chagdes' from Oxford. I really miss being able to do stuff like that with the kids. It's interesting because I have talked to them about places like that that we have gone to before, and they have no recollection of what our life was like before in Bloomington and Oxford, and that kind of made me sad that all their memories will just be from up here in the U.P. where there is nothing much to do and we are far away from any bigger city and any family and friends that know us. When I get caught up in the busyness of our daily life, I don't think much about where we live, but when I think about how far we have to drive to see family and how isolated the U.P. is, sometimes my heart feels sad and I wish that we could be somewhere different, somewhere closer to a bigger city, and somewhere closer to family.

It was really hard to keep Owen awake until we crossed the bridge. He was just so tired that eventually Ben just had to let him fall asleep. I was just worried about him waking up when we went through the tollbooth. He ended up staying asleep, luckily, but he didn't sleep for much longer after that, waking up after only about half an hour. However, Ben did get these pictures of the kids and Izzy that afternoon as we crossed the Mackinac Bridge. We decided to bring Izzy with us this time since we were only going to Upland. This was her first trip out of Michigan and in the car with us for this long. She was a little hyper and annoying at the beginning, but then she settled down easily and slept on her bed on the front seat of the car.

While Owen napped, we let Samantha and Aedan play on their LeapPads with their headphones on so they wouldn't bother Owen. They are more than happy to play on their LeapPads, as we only let them play on special occasions like this.

Here's Owen fast asleep in his car seat. He feel asleep pretty easily, but he didn't stay asleep for very long, which made the rest of the trip a little more difficult. 

Ben did a good job of playing with Owen and interacting with him until we stopped for a bathroom break and let everyone stretch their legs for awhile. Then, we drove a little farther and stopped at Chipotle in Lansing for dinner. We let the big kids watch a movie in the car after dinner, and we attempted to get Owen to go to sleep after a little while. However, it was hard to get him to fall asleep in the car again. You could tell that he was just tired of being in the car. He was tired, but didn't want to be stuck in his car seat anymore. I tried crawling in the front seat and leaving him alone to see if he would fall asleep, but that wasn't working. Ben and I both tried to rock his car seat back and forth to help him fall asleep, and then finally after Ben rocked him for awhile, he fell asleep. Once the movie was over, I quietly climbed in the back and told the big kids to close their eyes and go to sleep as well. We didn't arrive in Upland until around 9:00, and luckily everyone was asleep for the last hour or so of our trip. I'm glad that our kids have finally gotten to the point where they can handle this drive a lot better now. And it will only get easier with Owen as he gets older and can play more in the car with Samantha and Aedan, or even will be amused with watching a show. Then, at some point, Ben and I won't have to sit in the back seat anymore! We can both sit in the front and actually talk to each other during a long car trip. It's funny how you look forward to these little milestones when you have kids. :)

All the kids were super excited to get to Upland, and we weren't sure how Izzy would do in a new place. She barked at Ema and Papa quite a bit, and I don't know if she was just too excited or because she hadn't gone to the bathroom enough, but she peed on the floor a little, which she has never done before. Ben and I took a few minutes to bring everything inside and get bedrooms set up while the kids hung out with Ema and Papa for awhile. Luckily, Owen went back to sleep pretty easily in his pack and play. Then, he woke up just once at 5:00. I nursed him and held him for about 45 minutes to make sure he was back to sleep before laying him back down, and then he ended up sleeping in until about 8:30, which was really good, and I was glad that he had a pretty good night considering we were sleeping in a whole new place.

On Wednesday, we decided to go to the Indianapolis Zoo, and Ema and Papa decided to come along as well. Since Owen slept in that morning, we got a later start than we wanted, but the kids were all very excited. We hadn't been to the Indianapolis Zoo in a long time, even though we took Samantha there all the time when she was little and we lived in Bloomington. We started off in the Ocean area where we saw fish, sting rays, and small sharks. Here is Owen looking at everything around him. He didn't really know what was going on, but he was very interested.

It was so fun to take the kids to the zoo and see how interested they were in each exhibit. In the past they would rush from one place to another, but that day we had to move them along because they were so interested in looking at one thing for a long time. Samantha really enjoyed being able to read the signs and learn more about the animals that we were seeing. She even asked the zookeepers questions every once in awhile to learn even more.

Owen didn't want to stay in his stroller for very long, so I let him out so he could explore a little. I helped him climb up into this bubble that gave him a close up view of the fish tank.

I also convinced Samantha and Aedan to sit up in the bubble with Owen for a sibling picture. I think these pictures turned out really well. I love these three kiddos, and I'm so glad we were able spend this time together doing something really fun.

After attempting to pet some sharks in the petting area and not being able to reach any, we moved on to the seahorses, and I had to post these adorable pictures of Aedan holding Ema's hand, and Samantha looking at the seahorses with Ema and Papa, explaining that she thought the seahorse was pregnant because of it's big tummy.

And here is a picture Ben took of Owen and me.

One of the kids' favorite places was watching this sea lion swim around in circles. We later found out that he was the sea lion that lost one of his eyes in an accident, and then lost sight in his other eye as well, so he swims around this familiar path because of that.

When Samantha was little, one of her favorite areas was the penguins. They have penguins on both sides with a tunnel underneath the floor connecting them both. We all stood there for quite awhile watching the penguins, and Samantha wanted me to take her picture in front of them.

We wanted to see the lights that they had up for Christmas, but they didn't officially start yet. However, we saw a lot of the lights around the zoo, and some of them were even turned on. Here are the kids posing as peacocks.

This orangutan center was just being built when we were moving away from Bloomington, so I was excited to see the inside. I have always found orangutans interesting and funny looking animals. They had a mom, dad, and "toddler" in the exhibit, and it was fun to watch the "toddler" climb around, swing from the ropes, and go over to bother his mom in the hammock, just like a human toddler.

They had a special area for this orangutan, and I saw Samantha looking straight at him through the glass with her hand touching in the same place as his hand. It was so cute, and it just made me wonder what the orangutan was thinking when looking right at Samantha like that.

We then stopped and got some lunch at the cafe before seeing the lions and bears in the forest exhibit area. Then, we went to watch the 2:00 dolphin show. At that point Owen was getting very tired and he wasn't in the mood to be contained on someone's lap. Samantha and Aedan wanted to sit in the front in the splash zone, so Ben sat down there with them while I held Owen, walked around with him, and tried to keep him occupied for the show.  Owen enjoyed watching the show when the dolphins were actually swimming around and jumping, but he lost interest in the in between time.

There was still more of the zoo that we wanted to see, so I strapped Owen into Ergo as we walked around the plains area where we saw zebras and everyone's favorite, rhinos that were rolling around in the mud and running around their exhibit. One of Samantha's favorite animals is a cheetah, so she enjoyed watching the cheetahs as well. However, as we were walking around in the plains area, Aedan was starting to get tired of walking, and Owen was falling asleep in the Ergo, which at that point we didn't really want him to do since we were almost ready to leave and would have liked for him to sleep in the car. So, we made our way back through the zoo and headed for the car.

We let the kids take turns riding in the car with Ema and Papa. Aedan rode down to Indy with them, and he requested that Ema sit in the back seat with him, so of course she obliged. He wanted her to be able to play with him and read to him. On the way home, we figured Aedan might fall asleep in the car, so we decided it would be better for him to ride with us in the afternoon, and Samantha rode with Ema and Papa on the way back. I'm sure she talked their ear off, and it was fun for them to have special one-on-one time together. Owen was asleep in the Ergo as we got out to the car, but of course woke up when I put him in his car seat. He did end up falling back asleep, but only slept for about half an hour again before waking up and talking. I had to crawl in the back and try to play with him and keep him quiet so that Aedan could keep sleeping in the back.

That evening after dinner, Samantha and Aedan offered to help Ema make pie crusts for the pecan and pumpkin pie that we would have for Thanksgiving. They were very excited about helping her roll out the dough, and she is so patient with them in including them in baking in the kitchen. You can tell Aedan is excited by his voice and his hand motions about rolling out the dough nice and flat. I love this first video because you can see Owen just running around in circles, squealing and having a good time, with Izzy following close behind.

Here are the kids taking their turns rolling out the dough.

Owen was just having a blast running around and playing at Ema and Papa's house. Here is Papa playing peekaboo with Owen.

It was getting close to bedtime, so Owen was getting a little rough and slaphappy, and whenever anyone is being silly and wrestling, Izzy can't help but join in.

After a long day out at the zoo and Owen only sleeping half an hour in the car, he slept all the way through the night on Wednesday into Thursday, even sleeping in that morning. I was so glad for the night of uninterrupted sleep, and I was so glad that he was doing such a good job there. It made me feel like we could finally travel places and still have a baby that would sleep. It was such a relief to me and made our whole trip even more enjoyable. I feel like he's finally starting to turn a corner with that and do better, even in different environments.

Thursday the 22nd was Thanksgiving, and we just had a great family day spending time together with Ema and Papa. It was really nice for the kids to have this one-on-one attention from them and not have any other family there. They just soaked up their love, and it made my heart so happy to see our kids so treasured and treated so special.

After breakfast that morning, Ema got out her sugar cookies that she had pre-made in anticipation of our arrival, so the kids could decorate them to look like turkeys. We dyed some icing brown, and both Samantha and Aedan helped spread the icing on the cookies. Then, Aedan was in charge of adding four feathers on each cookie while Samantha helped put the nose and legs on the turkeys. They had a blast decorating these cookies, and they turned out so cute and unique.

We had such a nice, relaxing morning together, and I decided the kids might enjoy watching some of the Thanksgiving Day parade. Here are all three of my little loves sitting together. I love that Aedan is leaning on his hands the same way that Samantha is, and Owen is happily sitting in between Aedan's legs, and Aedan doesn't seem to mind one bit. I love these moments. I love having all my family together.

(Who knew Aedan's tush could be a good pillow?!)

Before it was time for lunch, Aedan and Owen wanted to go outside and play. They loved that there wasn't snow on the ground like at our house, and Aedan wanted to play baseball with Ema. (Samantha was inside talking to Uncle Timmy on the phone.) Aedan is copying Ema and chanting, "We need a pitcher, not a glass of water." He was doing really well hitting the ball, even if he is chopping the bat more than swinging. It made me think that maybe we need to continue that boy in tee-ball come summertime. :)

After having a delicious meal of turkey, potato casserole, green beans, and pie for dessert. Samantha and Aedan were playing this face game with Ema where they used stickers to make a face, and then Samantha and Aedan took turns judging who got first, second, and third place. It was cute because almost every time (except for when I took the video), Aedan picked Samantha as first place, and Samantha picked Aedan as first place. I love watching these kids grow up, and it's amazing to think about all the memories we've had in Upland, coming to visit from the time they were babies.

Aedan has always had a special bond with Ema, ever since he was a baby. He prefers her over anyone when we are all together, and we always joke about how he is her little shadow. He will just walk around the house saying, "Ema? Where are you?" He would always choose her to put him to bed and to sit next to him at the table. I think it's super cute, and I know Ema will take his undivided attention for as long as he is willing to give it. I have to admit that it makes me sad to think about this little boy not being this way with his Ema for the rest of his life. I took these videos of Aedan and Ema just playing together to document their interaction, and to get a recording of Aedan's little voice. Some day that voice will change, and I love listening to his little preschool voice and way of saying things.

Samantha and Alaina decided to put on a little performance for us that night, singing songs and dancing, using music played on Alexa. They are cute together, but man, it's amazing how big they are getting. Time just goes by so quickly, but I am so glad that Alaina was able to come down on Thanksgiving night to spend time with us. We haven't seen as much of her lately as we would like to.

Samantha and Alaina often get matching pajamas from Ema and Papa, and Samantha made sure to tell Alaina to bring her nightgown so that they could match, and they decided to wear it on the first night together. We moved Aedan's mattress into our room, and Samantha offered to let Alaina sleep in the bed, and she slept on an air mattress on the floor in the same room. Aedan and Owen both have Batman pajamas, so I decided to dress them the same as well so everyone would have a twin. Aedan was getting tired and wasn't in the mood for a picture (which is why he is sitting grumpily off to the side), but here are all the cousins together nonetheless. :)

Friday was another day we just had plans to spend time in Upland, letting all the cousins get some good playtime in together. Ben was a good sport in letting all the big kids rid on him like a horse. They love to rough house with him, and he is usually a willing participant.

Ben and I decided to go out on a little date that afternoon. Having a Chuy's 45 minutes away is just too hard to pass up, so after getting Owen down for his nap, we headed out to Fishers for some yummy Tex-Mex. Chuy's is by-far my favorite restaurant, and it was fun to escape from the kids for a few hours where Ben and I could talk, hang out, eat good food, and just relax and enjoy each other's company.

That evening after dinner we packed the kids up and drove to Marion to see the Walkway of Lights. We had Ema and Papa pile into our car, and Aedan sat on Ema's lap while Owen sat on my lap in the front so that he could see the lights, too. I love this video that Ben took at the beginning of the lights because Aedan is just doing a running commentary for us of everything he sees. You can tell he was comfortable and enjoying himself because he isn't always this talkative. I love seeing his personality come out more and more. Preschool has been really good for him in that regard. Samantha, Alaina, and Papa were sitting in the backseat and were more quiet observers. Owen was interested for a little while, but then he just kept trying to get off my lap (probably because it was already approaching his bedtime).

Before paying and entering, they had the 12 Days of Christmas in lights, and we continued with the tradition of singing through the song as we passed by the lights. Ben and I led it off, but Samantha was joining right in from the back seat. We were out of breath by the end of the song!

It didn't take too long to drive through and see all the lights, and all the kids did a great job keeping Owen entertained on the drive home so that he wouldn't fall asleep and wouldn't get too grumpy. Owen did pretty well overnight, waking up around 6:00, but I was able to go downstairs and get him back to sleep and he slept in until about 8:00. I am trying to not nurse him as much during the night anymore because I know he doesn't need it. I want to encourage him to sleep through the night, so I am trying to wean him off of thinking he needs that. I also have sent Ben into his room a few times instead of me, as another way to break the habit of him needing me in the middle of the night.

On Saturday we had plans with good friends of ours from Oxford. We were going to meet up at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis, and I was excited for another fun day with our family and friends. We got there later than we wanted to, around 11:00, but it worked out really well. We were able to get in, get tickets, and go down the slide once before our friends arrived at the museum. Aedan and I rode down first. (When Ema is not around, I am usually his first choice.) Then, Samantha raced Daddy and Owen. Owen thought it was pretty fun to ride down the slide, and you can tell by Samantha's face that she thought it was pretty great, too.

From there, we started in the super hero special exhibit and tried to keep up with our kids while also trying to catch up with our friends. We tried to get together the previous Christmas in Chicago, but it ended up not working out, so it had been awhile since we'd seen each other. Here we are in the super hero area.

Samantha, Aedan, and Isaac all got on these turtles and wanted to hop from one to another, but they didn't know how to do that with someone already on the next one, so I suggested that they all jump at the same time, and this is what followed. They were having so much fun together. The kids were all a bit shy at first because they didn't really remember each other, but it didn't take long for them to warm up to each other.

We then went to the dinosaur area where the kids had the most fun digging for dinosaur bones. This is a great picture of all five of them in action. I'm so glad that Samantha isn't too old to enjoy stuff like this yet. We were having so much fun, and it made me really miss this museum and being able to do stuff like this with the kids. These are such good experiences for them.

And here are the kids dressing up like dinosaurs and sitting in nests with their eggs.

We got in line for the Yule Slide again too, since our friends weren't with us before. I didn't get a video of Owen last time, so I made sure to have a camera ready this time. He was definitely having a blast with all these new experiences.

After going down the slide, we went to the Jolly Days area where the kids had more fun participating in pretend play like ice fishing, ice skating, grooming reindeer, and climbing in an ice fort.

Samantha wanted me to take her picture with all the fish she caught. This big girl makes me so happy. I love her so much. I love her imaginative, playful spirit, and I am really enjoying all this extra time with her around over this break from school. I certainly miss her when she's at school, and I was so happy to be with her more.

Aedan and Owen both enjoyed grooming the reindeer the best. Aedan even laid on the floor in order to get the long hair underneath brushed. Owen is obsessed with brushes as it is, so he loved being able to reach the bin of brushes for the reindeer. It was so great having all of these interactive exhibits for even Owen to enjoy. The kids were having so much fun, that we had to suggest it was time to move on since it was already after 2:00.

Here is a video of all three kids taking very good care of their reindeer.

Before Owen and Anna got too tired that afternoon, we decided to go to the Playscape where there would be a lot of things geared toward their age. Samantha and Isaac were technically too old to go in there to play, so they got Helper name tags, and Samantha took her role as Helper very seriously. She followed Owen around, making sure he was okay, and interacting with him so kindly. I was so proud of her for how great of a big sister she is and how big of a heart she has for other people. Owen found the Lily Pad climbing area and immediately started climbing up (because we all know how much he likes climbing on things). I was with him trying to help him, and Samantha immediately came over and said, "It's okay, I got this mom. I am his Helper." She followed Owen all over the inside of the climber, pushing him up when he couldn't do it on his own, and helping him find his way back down. By the time they got out, she was hot and sweaty! Owen was so proud of himself and was having a great time.

Here's another example of how attentive Samantha was to being Owen's Helper. She asked if she would be allowed in the baby area, if she promised to help him, and I said yes. And boy, did she live up to her promise. She followed him around everywhere he went, played with him, and helped him when he kept purposely going down a curvy ramp and falling down. All the helping she was doing gave me a good chance to talk to my friend, Stephanie, and it was like no time had passed from the last time we had talked. It's rare for me to find a friend like that, and we were able to really talk about how life was for us, talking about some hard issues in life after having our last babies. Our conversation never felt awkward or forced, and it was so good for my soul to talk to someone who knew me like that. I have been longing for a deep friendship, and I haven't found that yet in Sault Ste. Marie. I was so glad to be able to reconnect with Stephanie, and I pray that we can keep in contact more often in between the times that we get to see each other.

After the Playscape, we rode on the Carousel. This was Owen's first time riding on a Carousel, and I think he enjoyed it, even though you can't tell from the pictures and video because it was well past his nap time, and he was definitely starting to fade.

Here are Isaac and Samantha sitting in the Indy car together. Great smiles, too!

And here's Aedan in the driver's seat as well. (Samantha and Isaac definitely hit it off more that day, and I hoped that Aedan didn't feel too left out.)

We went to a science area as our last thing but then forgot about the space area in the basement of the museum that we missed out on because we went right from the dinosaurs to eating lunch. Samantha was really sad when she remembered we hadn't been to the space area yet, so we compromised and told her we would go down there for a little while. It was already after 4:00, and Owen had not napped all day. (We hoped that he would take a good nap in the car on the way home.) He was doing pretty well though considering he had been active and playing all day. Here are Samantha and Aedan dressed up as astronauts. They have such great smiles in this picture, too. :)

After finally deciding to head out of the museum, we stopped for a little sweet snack and coffee for the adults before leaving for the day. We asked a man to take a group picture of us, and I was so glad we did. These pictures turned out great, and all the kids are even looking!

Leaving the museum that day was bittersweet. It was such a good day with good friends, and I knew we had to head back to Sault Ste. Marie the next day. Going out of town, being near family and friends, and going to a big city where there are so many more things to do, makes me feel sad sometimes. I miss living where we did in Oxford, and sometimes it's hard for me not to wish we lived back there again. Sometimes I wish our kids could see Ema and Papa more often like we did when we lived two hours or less away. And sometimes I wish I didn't feel so isolated in the U.P. and that we were closer to a big city that had zoos, museums, concerts, and family activities and events. I know that God has a reason for us to be in Sault Ste. Marie, but sometimes it's hard for me to accept and understand.

Owen was super tired and fell asleep almost instantly in the car, but like Wednesday, he only slept about half an hour before waking up and crying. Aedan also fell asleep in the car, as I know he wasn't sleeping as well on the air mattress in the room with other people, and was pretty tired himself. So again, I crawled in the back seat and tried to entertain Owen on the way home so he could stay relatively quiet while Aedan napped. Here's my sleepy little 4 year old boy after a fun and busy day at the Children's Museum.

Upon returning to Upland, Jeni was there for dinner and planned on taking Alaina back home that night. This was the only time we had to visit with Jeni, so we hung out in the dining room talking for awhile after dinner as the kids played for a little longer downstairs. However, we knew we needed to get our kids to bed after a long day and in preparation for the long drive back home the next day. We wanted to leave earlier than normal so that we could beat a snowstorm that was going to be going through lower Michigan, but none of us wanted to accept the fact that our Thanksgiving break was over already. It was so wonderful, but it went by way too fast. Ben and I knew we would have incredibly sad kids the next day. They sure do love this special time they get to spend with Ema and Papa, and I'm so glad we decided to make the trip down for Thanksgiving.

(Blog about November 18-24, 2018)