Fall Back: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving means one thing: stuffing your face full of awesome food.

Okay, Thanksgiving means two things: stuffing your face full of awesome food AND family.

We got to do both for your Second Thanksgiving.

We had three turkeys; one with your Godparents, the Nodelands, and the Shields. One with an entire branch of the Roomiani/Powell/Zaehler/Weinstein/Cantrell Family tree. And a smaller one (dinner, not turkey) with the Weinsteins and Helfords.

Food was had by all; naps were had by all; fun was had by all.

Trips to the arboretum with Aunt Rebekka, playing chase with Kaelyn, and going to the playground with Pops and more...this was the week for family fun!

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

ROAD TRIP!

You probably won't remember it, but we just took a major road trip down to McAllen Texas for our friends' wedding. We not only got to see the bride and groom, Selina and Andres, but a couple of other old freinds from college...and you made some new friends too. So: we drove for 5 hours. You slept for some, ate for some and watched some Baby Einstein on a jerry rigged ipad. Our first stop for the night was San Antonio, Texas where we met up with Maya and Peyman and their sweet daughter, Sara, who's about a year older than you. She liked you a lot and called you "boy" (I was "boy daddy" and your Mom was "boy mommy," of course). We had dinner with them on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, and then a nice walk along the river. The next morning before heading on our way, we HAD to show you the Alamo! Again, probably won't be rembmerin' the old Alamo...but we had a nice brief visit at the landmark.

Then we jumped in the car and drove for another 5 hours or so. But, part of the fun of road trips is the journey, not the destination. You seemed to have fun letting the wind run through your hair on the highway! You even clapped some more!

Then we arrived in McAllen and the real fun began. You hung out with Sara some more, got to go swimming in a real pool (and actually enjoyed it), you got to get all dressed up...and then dressed down. You got to play with a super cool big boy, Andres' nephew, Gael, who said your name was "poo poo", which made you laugh really hard! You got to dance with Mommy and Daddy and Sara and her Mommy, Maya, and Daddy, Peyman. You and Mommy observed a butterfly! You got to pose for pictures with the Groom and Best Man and, all in all, have a great time!

















It was sad to leave our old and new friends after such a fun time, but we had to hit the road back to Dallas.

But first, we stopped in Austin for the night and got to celebrate your Cousin Kaelyn's second birthday with her. She was happy to see you, as were her parents, and she spent a good part of the night popping out of a tent to tickle/tackle you!




You seemed to have a great time too!



And then the next morning, we hit the road one last time, and landed in Dallas in enough time for you to have another great day of crawling around and playing.

The road trip was fantastic, and you saw lots of new things and good friends and family. But, as they say, it was good to be on solid ground again.

So, like I said, you might not remember your trip to the Alamo and waaaaaaay beyond, but your Mom and I will.

p.s. no one in the family has been in a car for more than 45 minutes at a time since then. That's the sign of a good road trip.