This is about a week late, but life is busy. Anna asked me to write, which was a good reminder.
Over Thanksgiving we went to Uncle Brian’s in Fredericksburg, VA. We went on the Sunday before and stayed through the Saturday morning. Over the course of the week, my entire family was there, as was our cousins from Winston Salem (Pat, Joan, Tommy, Michelle, Chris).
On Monday, Anna and I took the kids to DC by ourselves. We went to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. We also walked on the national park by the Washington Monument, drove by the White House, illegally parked at the Lincoln Monument and walked up to that briefly, and drove by the Capital. Our biggest mistake was that we forgot a stroller, but other than that, it was a smooth day. That said, if you have young kids in DC, don’t forget the stroller.
At the Natural History museum, some of the highlights were watching a Tarantula get fed a cricket (and being very glad Izzy and/or Joe didn’t break out in a coughing fit), the Megladon Shark image, the elephant in the lobby, and the fish tank. Izzy and Joe didn’t love the fact that the dinosaurs were just fossils, and Izzy had to take a break towards the end. In the gift shop, my idea was to purchase gems (the gems were my favorite part and I remember those rocks as a kid), Anna thought it was crazy, but that’s what we did. Izzy took one of her rocks to school today as our secret.
At the Air and Space museum, Chris K. joined us, and the highlight for Joe was not the air or the space, it was the Car exhibit. He went through it 3 times, initially, then when we were in the moon section, then when we went back downstairs. He just loves the cars. And when asked what his favorite part of the day was the next day, he emphatically shouted “CARS!”. Izzy didn’t respond anything when asked what her favorite part was…That said, when asked what her favorite part of the week was, Izzy responded “Aunt Joan”. Her and Aunt Joan spent a lot of time doing puzzles.
After the museums, we went to Jack’s apartment to meet up with him and Uncle P. We then went to dinner with Chris, Nettie, and Lily at Clyde’s where Jack works 1x a week. Was nice to see Georgetown and were Jack lives/works. The food was fabulous, that was my favorite part of the day. Jack recommended the catfish, and he was correct. I raved about it the next day. Sauce/mixture of ingredients (was kind of like a creole) was just great.
Those puzzles I mentioned were part of “Thanksgiving” gifts that were brought from both Noni/Baba and Aunt Joan/Uncle Pat. I didn’t know that Thanksgiving gifts were a thing, they were great and the kids loved them, but I just didn’t know that was done these days, so I asked if they could be Christmas presents. I was politely told no. One of Joe’s presents was a stomp rocket, which he had loved at the GiGi’s Fall Festival. He still loved it. Was fun to watch him and Izzy play with that. Things, things, things.
The Thanksgiving food (and really the whole week of food) was great. Not much else to say there. Specialty cocktails from Angie were a hit. Hannaibi was played a lot, and Luke/Tommy/I had a perfect game of 25, my first one of those!
On Saturday we went to Anna’s families Thanksgiving. That was a great time as well. Izzy and Joe love playing with their cousins. Joe played football with Max/Harrison/Me/Caroline/Papa – he really likes to tackle. And run the wrong way with the ball. Izzy fed the horses apples, which she loved. She also gave them lots of kisses. Izzy and Mathias also loved the gator. We didn’t let Joe go because he was being mean, he would have loved it too. More shouts of “faster, faster”. Lastly, we got to take the leftover key lime cake….for the win.
Last note – Joe has this hair twirl obsession. With Anna and with himself. I’m worried he’s going to pull all his hair out. We’ll see how long it lasts.
Lots of things to be thankful for, and lots of things that I missed here I’m sure. Very Blessed.