Thanksgiving Part 3

This post is only a little overdue...

I love to go to Ann Arbor. Mike's Dad lives relatively close to our alma mater so we can usually meet up with him and find fun things to do as a family while we are visiting.

It was FREEZING!!! Although the day before, we were walking around without jackets, the cold blew in and it was very typical Michigan weather - translation: BAD WORDS COLD!!!! All I could think as we walked ran to the Diag to take some pictures was, "no wonder why I never made it to my classes!" {shhhh, don't tell my boys that!} But, I was determined to take a picture of my little Class of 2026 UofM-er on the M so I can compare it on his first day of college in ten years - eek!!!

We met Mike's Dad for lunch at Cottage Inn Pizza (YUM!!) and then headed to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. We were met with some snow as we left our lunch! Charlie was thrilled but Henry, my little TX-born baby, was confused and kept saying "it's poking me!!" Ha ha!

I have never been to the Hands-On Museum before but Charlie is certainly a future engineer so science museums are always a big hit! If you're in Ann Arbor with kids and looking for something to do (and you don't have tickets to a football game), I recommend it for sure!

Everything that is built must be knocked down! Toddler rule.

Henry was in love with this thing. I'm not exactly sure what science-y principle it taught - gravity? maybe. - but Henry found a yellow ball and would have been happy to not see anything else in the museum beyond this.

I loved this bubble pulley. Lots of kids were trying to get the bubble above their heads. I knew Charlie would be able to do it!! And after a kid in line popped his first try, he was totally successful!! (And he's so gorgeous, too! I love that I'm raising a really handsome smartie-pants - just like his Dad!)

I just loved these quotes that were written on the walls at the museum.

When we got back to Mike's mom's house in Birmingham later that day, the kids all played a round of the "pillow game" with their Uncle Chris. I've never had the opportunity to watch what goes on during the pillow game before. Apparently, they just all toss a bunch of pillows at each other and this adds up to kid heaven.

Thanksgiving Part 2

Our Thanksgiving Day was certainly a day to be thankful for! The house was full of family, my mother-in-law was cooking a feast and the weather was warm and sunny!

We spent the morning being lazy, drinking up our Starbucks, and reading the Black Friday ads. After pulling ourselves together for the afternoon, the big kids begged to go back to Booth Park to slide down the hill -- and who could deny them when it was 67 degrees on Thanksgiving Day -- in Michigan!!

Who loves their Grammy!?!?!? {And who loves this light!?!?! I DO!!}

And since the mommies are never in the pictures... Carol and I were there, too! {Isn't Mike's sister gorgeous??}

And then it was time to give the tire swing some love.

It was just so gorgeous out that none of us were ready to go home so Charlie asked to go see the waterfall at Quarton Lake, so we did! At that point, my new DSLR was feeling a bit too heavy so I moved to instagram photos!

After all the fresh air, I tried to get my family dressed and out the door for a photo shoot for our holiday cards. We had to wake Henry up from his nap so he was a disaster. And then my husband dragged a baseball bat and balls out with us so you can imagine how interested they were in taking pictures... Luckily, I managed to bribe Henry to stop the tears and even convinced him to smile for a shot that was card worthy. But here's an outtake:

And then it was time for our family to come together and eat a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. My mother-in-law did it all, y'all. She's amazing. And a great cook! That being said, Henry still insisted on eating Cheerios...