A Thanksgiving Adventure

  For Thanksgiving, we took a bit of a road trip over the mountains.  Henry had a  Great-Grandfather, a Great Grandmother and a few Great Aunts and Uncles to meet.  To facilitate these meetings, we made our first stop in Walla Walla--the town so nice, they named it twice.  Great Grandpa kindly kept us at his house for the night.  We were served coffee and cookies at one Aunt's house, a delicious elk stew at another Aunt's house and had a fun time playing at Great Grandma's place in between.  In addition to all these relatives Henry hadn't seen before, we managed to sneak in a visit with Grandpa and Grandma Idaho who were in town for Thanksgiving dinner.  Phew--that was a lot of loving in a few short hours!  Good thing Henry has enough cheek to go around. 
Thanksgiving morning we packed up and headed to Coeur d'Alene to this delicious morsel's house.

 Oh boy do I love that kid.  He has the best smile!  He's quite a talker and is starting to be quite a mover as well. 

 Right now they get along pretty well--but that there basket of toys will witness a fight or two someday, I'm willing to bet.

 Aunt Emily and Grandma had been hard at work in the kitchen all morning and we settled in to eat, eat, eat.  Of course, I have no pictures of the delicious spread or the pretty table.  I ate enough for a family of five.  We relaxed and enjoyed some football after all the eating.

 The next day we decided we'd better be semi-active.  We packed up and headed to the Tubb's Trail on the edge of Lake Coeur d'Alene.  Doesn't Henry look thrilled to be hiking?  I turned him around just after this picture was taken and he crashed for a 3 hour nap.  It was cold that day.  While we were walking through the trees it didn't feel too bad, though.

 The kids soon shed their coats--cuz they're crazy like that.  Look at my good little girl representin' my Dawgs on Apple Cup day.  Go Dawgs!

 This was back when we still barked for Sark. 

 Running around in the fresh air and throwing rocks into the water--just what kids love.

 Nora never asked to be carried...for once.  Well, she didn't until we made it to down town Coeur d'Alene and it started snowing and we all suddenly felt very, very cold.

 We wolfed down a yummy hamburger lunch to replace all those calories we accidentally lost--wouldn't want to lose too many calories, ya know!

 Then it was off to the water park at Triple Play.  The Moms and the Grandma sat up on the balcony and watched the Dads, Grandpa and kids play in the pools and on the slides. 

  That's where I got this shot of my boy from the last post.  It was very, very warm inside.  Especially when you are not swimming.  Oliver and Henry were sweaty messes.  I was glad to get the chance to keep Henry in just a onesie.  It's easier to pinch all his rolls that way.

We packed up and headed for home Saturday evening to avoid the rush and the possibility of snow on Sunday afternoon.  It was a quick trip, but we were able to pack a lot in.  And now Ezra's birthday and Christmas are a mere hop, skip and jump away. 
The kids made their thankful lists in the car this year and I meant to take a picture of them to post....those lists might have gotten thrown away when the car was cleaned out after we returned home.  I'll be real sad if they did, because I love being able to look back at all the thankful lists as the years go by.  Hopefully I can find them and get them documented! 
Thanks to Grandpa Mac, Aunt Marianne, Aunt Lynn and Uncle Ted, Grandma Froese, Grandpa and Grandma Idaho, Uncle Jacob and Aunt Emily and Oliver and Grandpa and Grandma Tractor for all the hospitality and fun times!!!!