Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful time up in Baltimore for Thanksgiving. Luckily, the 12 hour drive wasn't even that bad for us. Kaitlyn and Lauren loved getting some new movies and opening up their backpacks to new books. Anything to keep them occupied for a few minutes, so they aren't watching movies the entire ride. Alexa did get a little sick of the car seat, but one of us sat next to her to keep her occupied. Our stops always worked to make her happier as well, even if they were longer than necessary.

The girls all loved meeting their new cousin Sawyer and seeing their grandparents, Erin and Mark. Lauren really wanted to play with Sawyer, but since she had a cold, she was only allowed to touch her feet. This wasn't very much fun until Erin took off her socks.

Alexa had the challenge of learning how to navigate a step down into the family room. It only took 1 big fall and 1 catch for her to learn by Sunday morning, so that was pretty good. She did sit down about 2 or 3 feet before the step and slid over, but whatever works.

Kaitlyn and Lauren love going to their grandparents' house because there are all different toys and books. They have tons of Berenstain Bears books, which are always wonderful to read, except when you have a sore throat and it hurts to read out loud, which I had. They also have lots of My Little Ponies, tons of Legos, an old Fisher Price cash register and other assorted toys that we don't have at home.

We were also lucky enough to be there to be a part of our niece

Sawyer's baptism, which was good since we are her godparents. She was a wonderful girl and almost seemed to enjoy the water being poured on her head. My dad had the job of following Alexa around to keep her entertained. Lauren would go from my lap to following Alexa and back because she can't sit still for very long.

Monday we took Kaitlyn and Lauren to the Baltimore Aquarium, which was lots of fun. We had been twice this past summer, so Kaitlyn loved telling her daddy what and where everything was. Their favorite, secret spot was the top floor where it is like a jungle with all different types of animals.

Tuesday I took Kaitlyn to see High School Musical 3, which she loved. At least she isn't afraid of movies anymore. Katie and Alicia drove in town that afternoon, so we were all thrilled to see them.

Wednesday Kaitlyn and I went flower girl dress shopping with Katie, Alicia and my mom. Kaitlyn was in heaven trying on all different kinds of dresses. Katie definitely played it up for her, so she felt like a princess. She also felt so grown-up and actually liked shopping after that. Bill had a fun time of taking Lauren and Alexa out to do something. He took them to McDonald's for lunch, but there wasn't a playground there. It was too cold for the playground, so he took them to the movie theater to play with the games in the lobby. Lauren was loving it until he said it was time to go. At least he won her a stuffed Batman, but it wasn't much consolation when he was dragging her out the door. That evening Ryan flew and Michelle drove in town, so more excitement. So we now officially had a full house.

Thursday was a wonderful Thanksgiving with amazing food. We loved seeing my Uncle Don, Aunt Janese, cousin Lauren, Uncle Jack, Aunt Patty, cousin Kim, her husband Justin and their new baby Ashley. It is always fun to see more family since we don't always get to very often.

Friday was a great day for me to go shoe shopping with my mom and sisters at 7am and then off to Target for some of their great deals. I did do a little more shopping later that morning as well. Always good to get some shopping in without the girls since it is always more productive.

Saturday was our drive back. This trip only took 11 hours because Bill was really hoping to watch the GT-UGA football game on our DVR before anyone told him what happened. Luckily, we saw Tech pull off the big win, so it was a great way to end our week.