Grandpa Kurk's Visit (Thanksgiving Week 2014)

We have had a lot of fun lately.  There were some things I really wanted to write about, like our family date night to dinner and a haunted house.  We also really enjoyed some other fun Fall activities, like our annual trip to Bowles Farm.  There was an amazing performance at the kids' school featuring Suna, the Artist in Residence from Uganda.   And, then there is the everyday stuff of watching Luke turn from a tiny baby into a bigger baby with a personality all his own.  But, I am giving up.  None of that is going to be memorialized in the blog.  I am starting fresh and writing about the most recent thing that happened--a visit from Grandpa Kurk.

He flew in late last Sunday.  The kids had their Fall Festival on Monday, so we sent them to school. Thomas had to work, so Kurk and I met him for lunch at Panera and then went grocery shopping (thrilling for Kurk, I'm sure).  It was a pretty calm, uneventful day.  Well, except my Dad was having heart surgery in Florida, which made me a bit anxious and nervous.  Fortunately, he is doing well. Tuesday, we kept the kids out of school and went to Washington's birth place, always a fun drive and outing. Wednesday, the kids were out of school, but Thomas had to work again.  I did some Thanksgiving cleaning and preparation and we went out to Chick-Fil-A for dinner.  Apparently Thanksgiving Eve is the one day of the year the place isn't packed.  Hopefully, we can remember that.

While at Panera, we discovered that Luke REALLY likes pickles.  He cried when it was time to go and we tried to take the pickle from him.

Thanksgiving Day was fun.  We got up early and Thomas and I worked in the kitchen.  As is our tradition, we watched the Macy's Parade (on a delay, because there are way too many commercials), but the kids weren't that interested this year.  They mostly played in the basement.  We had our friends and neighbors, the Hoopers, and Joey, my friend from work, over.  Joey came over last Thanksgiving and I am sorry that she will be moving next year and this was her last Thanksgiving with us. Thomas made his famous garlic smashed potatoes and a delicious pumpkin cake.  I did the turkey, stuffing, cranberry 'salad,' and an apple pie.  The Hoopers brought a ton of food and Joey brought cookies and a really delicious butternut squash dish.  We could have easily fed another 10 people. In fact, we are just now starting to run out of leftovers and we have had turkey for the past 6 out of 8 lunches/dinners.  Fortunately, Thanksgiving is Thomas' favorite holiday and neither of us are complaining.  The food was great and the company even better. Definitely, the recipe for a successful holiday.

Since the sales started Thanksgiving night, Thomas and I decided to go out after the kids were in bed. I needed a new coat and got one at J.C. Penney.  Then, we went to Target and didn't buy much of anything, but still managed to spend a ton of money.  We are exactly the suckers they are marketing to!  It was really nice to have Kurk to stay home with the kids, otherwise, it isn't possible for the two of us to just go out like that.  

Friday, we were going to go to St Mary's City, but it was just too cold.  We ended up buying a Christmas tree instead and decorating it.  It is so fun to go through all our ornaments and the memories attached to so many of them.  The kids each have their special ornaments that they like to put on the tree.  When we were done, Anna wanted us to hold hands and sing Christmas carols, so we did.  It was fun and a memory I will cherish.  The kids are just so sweet and find so much pleasure in simple things.  Luke made some good progress on crawling, mainly because he really wanted to get to the ornament boxes we kept (meanly) moving out of his path.

Luke searching for his first Christmas tree

With the finished product

Saturday, we (well, Thomas and Kurk) put up the outside lights.  We went out to dinner and then surprised the kids with a trip to Flat Iron Farms.  Kurk treated them to pony rides and we had a great time walking around the antique area and seeing the animals and lights.

Luke helping Daddy with the lights

Kara with the 1951 Ambulance

Today, Kurk had to fly home.  His flight didn't leave until 3:40 and it was at Reagan, so we decided to squeeze in a trip to Mount Vernon.  After we strapped Luke into his stroller, we called for the girls, who were playing in the grass in front of the car.  Kara ran into the parking lot and almost got hit by a car.  Naturally, we yelled at her to stop and then reminded her about being cautious in parking lots. Whenever she gets embarrassed, she covers it with a tantrum.  And, apparently, she was really embarrassed.  She refused to walk, so I carried her, crying, in front of all the tourists.  At one point, I told her that George Washington would be sad to see her acting this way, to which she loudly responded, "I don't care.  I don't care about George Washington... or the Revolutionary War."  This amused the  school group we were passing.  Unfortunately, their chuckles and stares only made Kara madder.  She refused to do the house tour.  Anna didn't want to go without her, so the girls sat outside while the boys, including Luke, saw the house. The positive was that I got some nice pictures of Anna.  Kara kept wandering away (but, not too far) and a security guard must have thought I was a neglectful mother, because he followed her and stayed within a few feet of her (she was mostly sitting on a bench, so I know he wasn't worried about her doing something she wasn't supposed to). For the record, I also kept a close eye on her, I just did it from a distance.  She was wearing a neon jacket and I made sure to always keep her in my line of vision.  Finally, her mood improved and we were able to enjoy walking the grounds.  Then, Thomas chose to race the kids and Kara ran right into him, causing her to fall on the ground.  Once again, there were a few smiles from strangers and she got embarrassed.  We were able to cajole her out of that potential tantrum with the promise of lunch, but it was a rough outing for our little Kare Bear.

One of my fun pictures of just Anna

And, here she is right on the center front steps

Another family shot with Kurk

The site of the racing injury.  It is amazing to see how much land surrounds Mount Vernon.

After that interesting visit, it was on to the airport and guess what we passed?  A Krispy Kreme!!  A dozen (well, minus a couple) of Christmas donuts are now sitting on our counter.

To pass the time on the drive home, we played the "guessing game," which is a common car game.  One person asks a question and declares a prize (a high five, a hug, the choice of what to watch during nightly television, etc.) and the others in the car have to guess.  Questions are usually very random, for example, "what color am I thinking of" or "who is my favorite friend at school," and it is a game the kids generally love.  The other favorite Wilson car activity (because we are mean and only let them watch a movie if the drive is more than 3 hours) is using Rhapsody and going around the car and letting each person choose a song to play.  We can count always count on Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, and Weird Al getting playtime. 

And, I am now all caught up on my blog!