Thanksgiving

I've really fallen behind here! I accidentally left my camera cord in CA over Christmas and thankfully my mom sent it to me so I can begin updating here again. Thanks Mom! :)

But it looks like I skipped Thanksgiving entirely...was the Christmas rush really that bad? Yes, I think it was. So here we go...
Setting off for Indiana, driving overnight. The boys are SO excited.

We enjoyed joining Lisa and her kids, plus Walt and Judy at the local nature center. Here the boys got to pet a tortoise.

Ronan is also being homeschooled this year, so it was fun to do a field trip together!

The kids learned about animal tracks and painted a plaster mold of one.

Almost all of the younger cousins enjoying time together at Chick fil A.

Play doh fun at Grandma & Grandpa's

Fun down in Ronan, Fiona, and Anika's basement "kid land"

The boys were chomping at the bit to drive those "dune buggies" around Gma & Gpa's backyard.

...It was COLD out there! But that didn't deter them, and Jim kindly watched them.

Grandma decided to let them open a present or two every so often so they could enjoy each gift and get to play with them while they were visiting. A good idea! They got these mix and match cars that were a big hit, and still are!

And this Hot Wheels track was also a great gift - it kept everyone occupied for hours.

Wade was really good at sending those cars down the track, wanting to do it for a long time.

Oh my goodness, GRANDPA was a BIG FAVORITE with Wade! Every night Wade wanted to cuddle with him before bed, and even fell asleep in his arms a few times! Look at his delighted grin!

Everyone was trying to get him to say "Grandma" but he only wanted to say "Grandpa." Wade slept in a pack-n-play in our room, and one night he woke up in the middle of the night and said, "Grandma! Said it! YAAAA!" and went back to sleep! It was so cute.

More Chick fil A fun...

Ronan shows G & W his guitar.

Thanksgiving! Alyssa shows us her cute turkey made out of fruit!

The kids' table! It's really fun that they're all the same ages.

The boys loved playing the piano.

Barnes Christmas in Lisa and Jeff's basement.

Fiona and Garrett.

Wade really took a liking to Uncle Tom. Just the other day he pointed him out in a family picture on his own saying "Uncle Tom."

Aaaannnnddd..... driving home, straight through, with the help of Chitos. Thank goodness for these salty little treats that kept Wade pretty sane.

When we got home we went right over to Lowe's to pick up our Christmas tree...we wanted to have as much time as possible to enjoy it before we hit the road for CA!