Gobble Gobble!

In preparation for my 3rd trimester discomfort we decided to make a big trip to see the family at Thanksgiving this year, and stay home for Christmas. All of our family is in the state, so it makes for a pretty convenient route. So last Friday we packed up our things and the dogs and headed west. The first stop was for a couple of nights at YaYa & B's to play with them and cousins Evan & Kate. They had big fun as usual and it was a nice way to kick off the big week. We dropped the dogs at the kennel in Nashville (our usuals in Knoxville were full) and continued westward to my family in Memphis.

We kicked off Turkey week with lunch of the bird and all the trimmings at BeeBe & PopPop's on Sunday afternoon. Miles is a fan of turkey and cranberries, but oddly refused to eat sweet potatoes all week (he loves them at Calypso.) We played trains and Miles napped in his cool new fire engine sleeping bag, then after a quick visit to Gee Gee Mama (my maternal grandma) it was over to Mimi's to crash.

Monday Mimi, Wayne, Miles and I played at the Children's Museum where he was really into the fire engine, the airplane cockpit and the mini-Kroger, complete with a mini-carts & working cash register (daddy had fun running that). Later we stopped by to see my paternal grandmother and entertain her for a little while.

Tuesday we went back to PopPop's for a true tourist must-see in Memphis: the Peabody ducks!! ( I have video for another post). I had never seen the spectacle either, so we parked it by the red carpet to take in the show. After a bite to eat we hopped on the Main Street Trolley for a loop around downtown. We made it a full Memphis day with a barbecue dinner, then turned it in.

Wednesday we took it a little easier, playing trains at Mimi and PawPaw's and chasing the cat around. We did trek out to ride the carousel at the mall, where we ran into Uncle Gus who was out shopping too. He had fun riding the "horse" with Miles, but I'm not sure if Miles was a huge fan of the ride. He clutched the pole the whole time! The first ride he wouldn't even sit on the animals, just rode in the sleigh with daddy and PawPaw.


Back at the house we got ready for the big Turkey dinner with Gee Gee Mama, Uncle Kiley and Aunt Megan. Miles had fun entertaining them all, and I think Kiley had a pretty fun time designing some innovative Thomas track layouts. Miles was much better at sharing the trains with the rest of the family than he is at home. We hear "NO daddy! Percy no go!" quite often when it's just the three of us.



Thanksgiving morning we hit the road back to Nashville - actually Leipers Fork - for a Thanksgiving day feast with uncle Shay's dad. PaPa Bill was very welcoming to extended family from all directions, Wayne and I think there were almost 30 people there! After another day of play with the cousins and YaYa & B (and a reunion with the pooper-doopers) we finally returned to the homestead on Saturday.

We had a fantastic time visiting everyone and Miles has already been asking "where's your suitcase?" - ready to pack and head back on the road! I don't know when we'll see all the family again, but hopefully a little event coming in, oh 90(!) days or so will garner a few visits to the Knoxville area. This week gave us something to be truly thankful for: being with all those we love the most and celebrating.

Gobble gobble, everybody!