Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! We’ve had a lovely — and busy — Thanksgiving weekend celebrating the holiday with family and then getting our tree and decoration up to kick off the Christmas season.
We spent Thursday morning watching the Macy’s Day parade while having some quiche for breakfast before starting to get our food together for Thanksgiving dinner. Hannah and Aaron spent their time decorating the bunch of balloons we blew up for her birthday and turning them into a bizarre cast of characters to play with.
The weather was nice enough for a walk to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, during which time Hannah found a spare tire she decided to claim for herself. My dad carved the turkey while my mom made Waldorf salad (along with olives, pickles and cranberry sauce served in antique cut glass). Vivian and I brought the stuffing, potatoes, and green bean casserole. Uncle Jonny joined the lot of us as we stuffed ourselves and had pie before sitting around watching a “virtual” (i.e. prerecorded video) of the tree-lighting at Union Station. Nothing can compare to the real thing, of course, but it was better than having it cancelled completely.
Then on Friday we wasted no time getting ready for the Christmas season and headed off to Santa’s Woods to pick out a Christmas tree. It was lovely weather for a stroll through the tree farm to find the perfect fir for our living room. We wound up picking a 6½ foot tree that Hannah and Aaron seemed to like best. They were amused at some of other trees being spray-painted various colors, we but kept ours all natural.
We stuck around a little while afterward to have some hot cocoa, let the kids roam around a bit, and say hello to the reindeer (Twinkle and Mr. Noodle). Then we got the tree tied to the roof of our CR-V and drove it on back to Bellevue, where I carried it inside and we spent the evening cutting it loose and stringing some lights. Aaron in particular seemed to enjoy putting the glowing strands on carefully before we had some pizza for dinner and called it a night.
The Christmas decorating continued the next day, as the whole family set about putting ornaments on the tree. I played Christmas music all the while via our Sonos as the tree slowly got dressed, and then I went outside to put up the lights on the house as well as our snowman.
The kids and I spent the afternoon at my parents’ house watching Alabama completely roll over Auburn during the Iron Bowl. Hannah and Aaron came along to play a bit in the backyard, rolling the tire Hannah found and spying on the neighbors. I brought some chips and salsa while my dad made some chicken wings. I don’t watch my football myself, but it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday.
We returned home to see our house lit up in all its festive glory, and I was quite happy to see everything seemed to work after the sun went down. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving (and lots of leftovers)!
Let the Christmas Season begin!