Thanksgiving 2011

This year it was time for Thanksgiving in Pinopolis.  My brother and his family came down from Canada (and my other brother and I (and our families) made the long trip from Charleston).  The boys are always so excited to see their cousins.  It’s so great to see how they all just kind of pick up where the left off and they are great buddies.  Sadly we only all get together about once a year, but we try to make the most of the time we have!

It’s so funny how much time the children spent on iPads, iPhones and laptop computers.  My how times have changed!

We had two 14 pound-ish turkeys (and organic at that…ha ha). Because that’s what eight adults and six children need – two pounds of turkey each.  :)

While waiting for dinner, the kids were entertained by rides on the golf cart…

Instead of taking a picture before we ate, I only took a picture afterwards.  There was a little bit left…

After dinner, we headed outside to ride bikes, play and make room for dessert…

And then it was time for the dessert that has become a much-expected and thoroughly enjoyed tradition….Taffy’s Banana Cake (yes, it deserves caps as a proper noun).  I scream, you scream, we all scream for BANANA CAKE!!!!

Yum, yum…it’s so delicious.  I could almost eat this picture. 

It took a serious amount of marching to work that off.  Ha ha.

Soon it was time for a bedtime story… and Thomas was able to read the stories to his cousins.

The next morning it was the day of the Carolina/Clemson football game.  We didn’t go, but we prepared to watch it that night (after the kiddos were in bed).  But to get in the spirit, I pulled out some old pom-poms I had saved from past football games years and years ago (the small free kind they used to hand out regularly).  I never dreamed those would be such a hit (and a source for distress!), but the kids had fun with them.

After everyone got dressed, it was time for more outdoor play.  It was a beautiful weekend.

Parker & Katherine decided to try and let go of the training wheels and ride on two tires.  They both had success!

Sweet Lauren cheered from the sidelines…

The boys were dressed and ready in support of the Gamecocks (and they won, for the third year in a row…by the way). 

Katherine was working hard on that bike riding!

Parker finally managed to look at the camera…

It was a great weekend, but the time passed far too quickly – as usual.  The boys can’t wait to get together with all of their cousins again.  Perhaps we need to get passports for the boys and head to Canada (though let’s wait for the snowy season to end first!).