So first things first, I apparently have not done my parental duty (or at least read enough books on the topic to spur conversation) with the girls to have taught them what a turkey is, by name anyway. They still call them Gobbles or Gobblers. But, it's cute, at least for now, so I'm sold. In addition, I have not exactly had the serious conversation about what being thankful is, and what we should be thankful for, hence the turkey posters they made at school. Once again, cute, and albeit true, I wouldn't have minded "mommy" up there or, you know, "i'm thankful for the precious time I have as a child and don't have to worry about much more than if I'm getting cake and what kind of frosting it may have etc."
I on the other hand can indeed be thankful for many many things in general, but I will focus on this weekend for now. From the gracious couple (who had never met us) that invited us into their home for Thanksgiving, the highway angels that opened the gates to a very quick drive to Pittsburgh on Friday (4 hours, which is what it was supposed to take, and it even included 2 stops), Dave's Aunt and Uncle who bravely let us set up camp, or you could say circus, in their home for a few days, to my neighbor Allison (in Baltimore, but is from Pitt and just happened to be in town the same time) who created a great bar-hopping itinerary for us when I snuck out on Saturday night. I was thankful for my husband who slept on the side of the bed closest to where our kids were sleeping (so he was the default getter-upper in the middle of the night), and thankful for his cousin Caroline who not only offered to bring (both) the girls to the bathroom for a #2 adventure (that ended with very vocal proclamations of "I went POOP in the potty!") but also purchased us some fabulous macaroons from her bakery (which unfortunately are not being shared with our offspring- sorry Caroline, we just can't do it, they are too good...the macaroons I mean). I am thankful for Aunt Terry who greeted us with great food, wine, and conversation. I am thankful for Uncle Steve who invited the hubs to Bud's basement bar two days in a row, so 1) I could get some good girls gossip in with the ladies and 2) could 'sneak' out the second night for a slice of Pitts nightlife. I am not so thankful for our drive back (7.5 hours, including same 2 stops) but am thankful for the peace in the back two car seats (relative peace anyway) considering the circumstances.
So a brief recap of our Thanksgiving weekend extravaganza:
- We spent Thanksgiving Day at a friend of a friend. They lived in a beautiful historic home in Mount Vernon and had a 4 year old that the girls had a great time 'chillin' with
- We left for Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon to spend some time with Dave's fam. The girls didn't miss a beat from the last time we were there in September, they made themselves right at home!
- Terry brought all 4 of us to the Science Center where we hung out and played, fixed stuff at the space station, played with robots, and looked at a mini-Pittsburgh with working trains, and rivers, and boats, and houses who's lights came on when it got 'dark' every 10 minutes or so to simulate evening- it was very impressive and I wanted to go in and 'play' with it as much as my kids
- I was able to hang out with my neighbor in Charm City who is from Pittsburgh and was back for Thanksgiving. We went a few different places in South Side, the first equipping me with a variety of toys including a glowing fish, plastic dinosaurs, and a candy necklace (and no, it was not a rave)
- We had a great french toast breakfast on Sunday and hit the road (after several hours of 'pretending we are going to leave')
- We actually did leave finally and got stuck in massive turnpike traffic, but hey it gave us time to digest our weekend, along with lots of random road snacks
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| Watching the robot |
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| A view of the train exhibit |
So now we are back. I am extending my weekend as long as I can; tomorrow begins a long two weeks for me before our next journey to the land of saints and minny apples.
PS. As for the Pittsboogers, we tried to 'amp' up the weekend a bit prior to departure so we talked about going to Pittsburgh etc... so of course when they heard that term they turned it into a new thing, they are 3, need I say more?
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