So Young Now...

THANKSGIVING FUN!

I am thankful for a lot of things on Thanksgiving, but I do try to think about these things year-round and not just on one day. One minor thing I was thankful about this year was that I was able to make Thanksgiving a completely stress-free holiday! No cooking, no cleaning! All I had to do was get up, and drive to Philly for a parade!

I try to get to the parade every year --- citing the reason that the kids will love it and remember it forever. But if I'm being honest, I go because I love it! My excitement builds as I hear the music of marching bands, and as I see my first float come around the bend! I love being out and about where there are people and action. I really do enjoy it more when the kids are enjoying it with me, but I also know that if the kids didn't want to go, I would probably force them anyway! We saw some favorite characters today! Jack was too young to remember the parade last year, but he jumped right into it like an old pro.

No one was scared by the scary dinosaur, but then again, we didn't get too close to that one! (Nicole was also very happy that she didn't see any clowns this year---she still has heebie jeebies from the one last year that rode over to her on a unicycle and took the cell phone from her ear and started talking to grandma in the middle of Nicole's conversation!)

When the parade was over, we drove back home, rested up got dressed and drove back into Philly for a nice dinner out! (Yes, we did plan this in advance!) We were hoping for a nice relaxing dinner out with Grandma and Grandpa Bill, but the kids were not very well-behaved at all---they had colds and were overtired, and they all kept us on our toes the entire meal. Stress-free, yes, but relaxing no!

I'd like to continue this parade tradition every year, but I really don't know whether I will ever be able to see the parade and cook a big Thanksgiving meal on the same day! Sounds like too much stress on my stress-free holiday!