The Year of Three Thanksgivings

Mr. R. and I have a favorite Christmas movie called Four Christmases. The premise is a couple goes home for the Holidays and spends Christmas day visiting their four immediate families. Our Thanksgiving was similar in that we had three Thanksgivings over the course of two days. And we somehow made room in our bellies for the amazing eats at each one. 

Thanksgiving #1: Mom's House on Thanksgiving Eve

 

 Thanksgiving #2: Lunch at Betty and Dan's, Mr. R. is still raving about Betty's Mac and Cheese and her dry jello salad. P.S. Miss Kate, Pip misses you!

Thanksgiving #3: Mike (Mr. R.'s brother) and Jason cooked a phenomenal meal including a 29 pound turkey!  Pip ate her weight in roasted butternut squash and cornbread. 

Corson Park

Corson Park is my childhood park. It's where I fed the ducks, it's where I played on the swings, it's where I learned how to cross the monkey bars. Mr. R. and I actually took our engagement pictures there back in 2005.

  Last Wednesday I introduced Pip to the park that I hold so close to my heart. And I hope that once day she will remember it fondly too. Her favorite park of any playground is still the swings. She is at the point where she knows to pump her legs!

And she squeal and claps when you push her higher. And let me tell you, sister wants to go higher. She was also a big fan of crunching and jumping in the leaves.

  It's a childhood memory I had taken for granted and forgotten, but as a Florida kid, she had never jumped in a lead pile before. She loved to listen for the crackle as she jumped and rolled through the leaf piles. Fall is our new fave. 

Family Dinner

There is nothing like a family dinner. I love the hugs when you walk in the door. I love multiple conversation happening at once. I love catching up. I love watching my daughter interact with the people who love her so much. I love a full dining room table. I love laughing until my cheeks hurt. I love introducing my husband to new faces. I love meeting the people that my siblings love. I love that my family is expanding. I love passing plates, opening another bottle of wine because we don't have to work tomorro. I love letting Pip stay up past her bedtime justthisonce.... I love that Toby is teaching her about tractors. I love that Pip confuses my face with my sisters'. I love that she gave out kisses and hugs with abandon. I am very very thankful for family. 

Under the Sea @ Adventure Aquarium

 Pip has recently discovered the Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo. She watches the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel every morning at 7AM. And being the marketing genius that Disney is, they promote Disney princess movies during commercial breaks. Pip has fallen in love with Sebastian the crab and will stop in her tracks if you even dare to hum the first few bars of the song under the sea. 

 We thought the Aquarium would be a big hit with out water girl. And she could not contain herself once she discovered Crush, the turtle from Nemo, lived on the third floor. His statue was right next Nemo's (the clown fish) tank. 

 We walked under a clear tunnel filled with sharks, we met Nemo, we waved at sea horses, touched sting rays, (they feel silky smooth), and pet two adolescent nurse sharks. Pip quacked and mimicked penguins. She seriously does the cutest penguin walk. 

 Fish are friends, not food!

 Lobsters! The tank contained five, but we could only spot three. It is amazing how well they can use their shell to camouflage among the rocks in their tank. 

 And the highlight of our visit... Pip saw a hippo up close and personal. The hippo, named Jerry according to one of the school children standing next to us, actually put his face next to Piper's. She was amazed and actually cried when we left. 

 Adventure Aquarium, you rocked out socks last Tuesday and we will totally be back. 

#DC

So I am late to the instagram party. I have had instagram on my iphone since 2010, but I don't really ever use it and if I do use it I forgot to post the pictures I do take. I do however follow a few of my favorite real life and blogger friends. And by follow I mean stalk their lives through the lens of their smartphone. 

What I love about instragram is that the pictures take center stage and most people just give a quick comment about who, what or where the action is taking place. I also love the creative tags people use when documenting their photos. A tag is simply the # symbol followed by a word or short phrase, i.e. #longexplanationforasimpletopic

If I used instagram properly and was uber creative and witty with my tags, this is what you would have seen last Monday on our day trip to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Dulles, VA and Monuments in Washington, DC.

 #Friendlyskiesjustgotcuter

 #apollocapsule

#toosmall

 #shuttlediscovery

 #lesspowerfulthananipad

 #biga$$engines

 #helicoptershopping

 #momcarr

 #mlkmonument

 #hero

 #Capitol Pip

 #vampirehuntermemorial

 #reunitedanditfeelssogood

 #vampirehunter

 #3monumentsonepicture