Our Florida Thanksgiving

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend! My mom was in town and we had a great time taking her around to see the holiday sights. I'll tell you all about it soon, but for now, I still need to talk about our Thanksgiving Florida trip, starting with Thanksgiving itself!

Eric and I actually arrived in Florida on Wednesday night, and you know I was dreading that travel (out of JFK, the night before Thanksgiving, on a rainy night). Surprisingly, it was one of the smoothest flights we've been on in many moons. Penn Station was a hot mess when we were trying to get on the Long Island Railroad out to JFK (holy crowds, batman), but security/our terminal at JFK was fairly empty, our flight left early, we arrived a half hour early (when does that ever happen?!), and there was no real turbulence to speak of. We even were able to sit together, and in an exit row, no less! Luxury. Of course, then Eric made the mistake of mentioning how smooth everything went before we were actually in the car on our way home from the airport, all luggage in hand. He jinxed us, and after hanging out in baggage claim forever we realized that Eric's golf clubs had not made the flight. Hey, who are we to think our holiday travel would be totally smooth sailing? (The golf clubs did make it the next day, and were delivered to our house, so it all worked out.)

On Thanksgiving morning, we woke up rather early to do the St. Petersburg Times Turkey Trot. After our late arrival the night before, as soon as our alarm clock went off we decided this was actually a bad idea. But, we did it anyway. Eric and I met up with his sister Kelley and Phyllis and walked the one-mile "Gobbler" walk. It was a gorgeous morning, and once we were fully awake, it actually was a nice way to kick off the holiday. Also, it was possibly the only time I have ever done anything remotely resembling exercise on Thanksgiving. Go me!

Turkey Trot Lane

Kelley, Eric and Phyllis trotting like turkeys

Finish Line! Woohoo!

The group after our walk (yes, I totally bought myself a ridiculous Thanksgiving maternity shirt.)

After the Turkey Trot we went back to my dad's house to fix ourselves up a bit, then went over to Eric's grandmother's house for Thanksgiving #1, our meal with Eric's family plus my mom. I have to say, a highlight for me was seeing my mother-in-law Toni, whose face just lit up when she saw us and she immediately wanted to touch my belly. She was sweet and adorable and honestly, every single time I see her I'm so amazed and pleased at how far she has come since her stroke in 2009. She really seems better each time I see her. She is awesome.

I love this picture.

Awwww, mother and son!

Everyone contributed something to the dinner, and we had quite a delicious feast: turkey (duh), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, carrots and rolls. For dessert we had pumpkin pie, Crumbs cupcakes, birthday cake for Eric and Gramz, and cheesecake. Delicious!

Family around the table

The feast

Desserts

With my mom

After our first fabulous meal, we relaxed for a bit and visited with family and then went back to my dad's house for Thanksgiving #2, this time with my family. My grandmother was there, and we ate when my sister Heather got home from work. Yet another great feast with all the fixings!

Heather, my dad, Eric, and Grandma (oh, and our sweet old pup Lucy trying to get in on the action)

After dinner, we decorated our Christmas trees. It has always been a tradition in our house that after the Thanksgiving meal, the Christmas music goes on and the trees get decorated. That is one tradition that Eric and I have adopted as our own at our house, but it was so nice to be a part of it back at my family home this year. We always start with the "fun family tree" in our family room. This one has all the ornaments Heather and I made over the years, fun bulb/bubble/ice lights, and gold garland. This is the tree we always gather around to open presents on Christmas morning, and it is never complete without the giant felt Miss Piggy ornament placed front and center. Ah, tradition!

Time to get to work!

Grandma helped us sort through the ornaments

Heather is showing off that she has returned to bangs after many years, and I am ruining her picture.

Festive family time

Love these people.

After the family tree is done, we always move into the living room to decorate the crystal tree. This one has all white lights, icicles and all crystal ornaments (read: Heather and I did NOT get to help with this one when we were but wee lasses). The crystal tree fills our front window and is very elegant, if I do say so myself. The ornaments all have just as much meaning and as many memories behind them as the ones on the fun family tree, but this one is definitely the kind of tree you keep the babies (and dogs) admiring from afar.

It looks like there is quite the consultation going on over ornament placement

Heather got artsy with the icicles

My crystal ballerina!

With Heather and my dad

When the decorating is complete, we always just sit around and admire our handiwork for a while.

This year, Baby Girl started wiggling around as I sat and admired the tree, so Heather tried to feel her niece moving! No luck, but good effort.

That night my dad had to take my Grandmother back to her house, and while he was gone Heather, Eric and I watched the Lady Gaga Thanksgiving special on TV (random, yes?). Then we called it a night. What a great day!

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving just as much as we did!