thanksgiving

i was trying to go back to sleep after putting the turkey in the oven and listening to my sleeping family (all four kids were sleeping in our room to free up some beds/bedrooms) and thinking how much i have to be thankful for in my life - in this room.  it was a great way to start my day.

yesterday i baked muffins for breakfast so i just had to put things out this morning instead of cooking.  my plan was for us to eat by 2pm but our turkey did not have a tag and i wasn't too sure how much it weighed which makes figuring out the cooking time a little more challenging.  i am happy to report that i managed to get everything ready and hot at the same time.  the meal itself isn't that difficult, it is the timing of having it all ready at the same time.

matt decided buffet style would be easiest since we weren't all at the same table.  the picture shows most of our spread.

our family tradition since moving to ohio is to go to the christmas tree festival after dinner on thanksgiving.  we were excited to be able to share this with our guests!  the trees are decorated and donated to be sold as a fundraiser for akron children's hospital.  our tradition has also become taking pictures with our favorite trees.  i tend to favor the unconventional 'trees'.

apparently, the kids are not allowed to like the same tree and madelyn can only be photographed alone - or so madelyn explained to me.

mason settled for the next tree instead.

this one was pretty awesome.  it is made of shoes worn by lebron james with an autographed ball on top.

maddux chose this orange one - of course.

madelyn had a lot of "favorites"

we are getting braver about going places without a stroller.  manning thinks it is pretty great, but we did end up holding him most of the time for the safety of the trees.

this one was another group favorite.  there is even a sled (a little behind mason) 

this was my favorite.

around this time maddux and mason started taking pictures for me.  we have pictures pretty much of every single tree from this point on, but i will spare you all of them.

uncle derek photo bombing maddux' picture... 

...so maddux took one of himself.

another one of madelyn's favorites - bubble guppies.

 after seeing all of the trees, we stopped by for a picture with santa.  maddux was playing shy.

we tried for a few pictures into getting him to look and then santa insisted that i get in the picture too, but manning was done.

 next stop - face/hand painting!

we think that it is a super fun way to walk off some thanksgiving dinner and kick off christmas.  love.