Thanksgiving

We went to my mom's house for Thanksgiving lunch. She sang at the 10a mass and my dad was slated to work today, so lunch was at 1p so he could hang with us before having to leave at 2:30. This was, by far, one of the best Thanksgivings I have been to in the past four years/since having kids. What helped was that the kids were more self-sufficient in finding things to entertain them. They hovered around the kitchen a bit, but were able to play with toys in the living room as well as downstairs where the Penepacker girls were hanging out. Kind-hearted Rory was also playing with them so that was a bonus. I was able to help out in the kitchen with the food prep. Assembling the kids' lunch was not as nerve-wracking because we were able to accommodate their diets better. Ronin had plain mashed potatoes and loved it. Nikko scarfed down the buttery and creamy mashed potatoes. Audrey ate the mac cheese. And when the kids were finished, they went off to play with their cousins, still coming back to bug me now and again, but for the most part I was allowed to eat without anyone in my lap. Nikko waited around for strawberry cake and the others munched on shrimp chips. No meltdowns. Loved it.

We drove down to the other set of in-laws and arrived by 6p. My SIL has a new raised-ranch style house and it was very spacious. My kids were afraid of their dog Chase but thankfully were not debilitated like last time. Ronin was attached to Rex's Buzz Lightyear, Audrey was attached to a Jessie doll, and Nikko was carrying around a Toy Story 3 DVD cover. The most interesting part of the evening was after Maya finished entertaining the room with the karaoke machine. Audrey came up to grab the microphone and started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. That inspired Ronin to grab the mike from her and sing the same song. What was also great was that Nikko grabbed the mike from Ronin and sang TTLS, garbled but distinctly TTLS. It was awesome! All three kids were hamming it up and TTLS became the song that would never end. We did diaper changes before leaving. This was the only part of the night that Nikko fell apart. He was holding a boat bath toy and a little plastic dog, which I made him bade farewell as we stood in the foyer to leave. Nikko protested loudly and was resisting leaving. I had to literally haul him outside from under his arms, sliding the toys to my SIL to put them far away. Nikko cried and wailed, but after putting on Toy Story 2 in the car he was more compliant.