Thanksgiving 2011

I have been a little lazy about posting our Thanksgiving trip to San Diego. But my sister-in-law Wendy got hers up right away. So I pretty much just copied and pasted her blog and plan on making minor adjustments. I think I'm brilliant!

This ranks among the best Thanksgivings we've ever had! They're all good (how could a holiday centered around food be bad?), but this year was extra special. We got to go to San Diego to crash at Dave's sister Wendy and Paul's house. It was really awesome because Ryan and Liz got to come too (they've been in France for the last two years so it's the first time we're really been able to spend a good chunk of time with them.)

We got in Wednesday night, and the kids hit it off immediately. We were lucky that we have such great cousins. Owen was happy reading and drawing with Eva while Porter Ivy and Reese took advantage of every square inch in the apartment to leave toys around.

I lucked out and got to play with Amelia the whole weekend! She is so happy and smiley and I LOVE those chubby cheeks. I can't get enough of them!!!

While everyone else was busy making dinner, I took the kids to the park to play. I was so excited because they have trees there and the leaves are changing colors!! I had forgotten how beautiful the leaves can be! It was awesome because there were a ton of leaves on the ground. So we put them all in a pile and spent a ton of time jumping in the leaves. My kids LOVED it! They see it on the movies but never really get a chance to play in them.

Of course we can't be within 5 hours of a beach and not go. So Friday we hit the beach. Luckily it was only a 15 min drive and so AMAZING! We went to La Jolla Shores and let the kids run wild while the boys braved the freezing water to do some boogie boarding. Dave was a little disappointed that Beach Bumm Teresa didn't jump in the water...but I'm just not that crazy...the water was COLD! Porter couldn't get enough of it though. He spent the whole afternoon jumping in the waves. He would only come in to warm up when we yelled at him. Eva and Ivy were more sane, they were content to run away from the water and play in the sand. Dave was a super hero and got in the water to play with the kids and try his skills with a boogie board.

We went to Balboa Park to look at the trees and see Santa. They had the best Santa in the world. He was REAL! Eva didn't get a chance to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. She was in tears. So I whipped out my cell phone and called Santa on my phone. Eva asked if it was the REAL Santa and I told her it was the Santa that brought me my presents every year. So she was able to tell him what she wanted and to feel very special and loved.

OK so I didn't end up stealing EVERYTHING from Wendy's blog, but I'm glad she got me started. I love you all and am so grateful for the blessing of family and friends in my life!