here in Richmond. Yes, this year we decided not to travel for Thanksgiving. It was a bittersweet decision. Although we enjoy the time we spend with our families, we were looking forward to spending some quiet time at home. During the weeks leading up to the big day, Samuel was filled with excitement again over yet another holiday. He never was really quite sure what you did on Thanksgiving. He said he just couldn't remember exactly what we did last year. I tried to make it sound as exciting as I could...you eat turkey and watch football and most importantly DAD is off for FOUR whole days. Samuel was most excited about that. He kept reminding Bubby religiously that Dad was going to be off for FOUR days! He was so excited about it all that I hoped it wouldn't be let down for him. He looked forward to the food he would eat but said he wasn't quite sure what turkey tasted like (although he has eaten it many times in the past!) Bubby wasn't as excited about the day. I think that idea that Dad would be home was exciting but the whole eating thing wasn't much to anticipate unless we would eat at Chick Fil A for Thanksgiving. Now I think this was the first year that the boys really got the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians (or Native Americans to be PC). Samuel really wanted to be an Indian and have a shield and teepee. Benjamin studied the story at school and was able to point to various pictures that described the story. He proudly wore his Indian hat home from school...which I might add was the cutest thing to see getting off that bus.
Well..the day arrived. I cooked a lot of food with Brian's help (He's wonderful!). Samuel patiently waited to see just what all the fuss was about. We watched the parade. (Which was interesting to the kids when they saw the characters they recognized!) Even Gracie got excited when she saw ELMO! Then the time came to eat. Gracie had been recovering from some virus and honestly I don't think she ate one thing! ( Bless her heart...she was really not feeling well all weekend and was really clingy and fussy.) We made some chicken and french fries for the Bubster and of course the fries and chicken were too mushy so he didn't really eat! Well by this time Mom was too frustrated with the eating antics of these picky eaters to really enjoy eating any of her food. BUT...thankfully Dad enjoyed every bite of his meal (both first and second helpings!) and Samuel was pleasantly surprised that the food was good and that this Thanksgiving day just might turn out okay!
We spent the rest of the holiday weekend eating, watching movies, playing, watching football, doing yardwork and even took a trip down to the James River to walk around on the trails (and take our Christmas pictures). It was a very quiet uneventful weekend. Gracie finally started feeling better on Sunday night. Samuel got some quality "dad" time with watching LOTS of football and Bubby had fun just hanging out without having school! SO all in all I think it turned out okay and hopefully we will get the chance again one year. 
