Gobblers and Pittsboogers

(I am not purposefully calling our Pittsburgh family/ friends inappropriate names, please see below:))
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

Watching the robot

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?

Beauties and the Beasts

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in sunny Baltimore. We had quite the feast for our little family unit. Tonight was actually the first night that we did not have leftovers! I already miss the wild rice casserole that has been a staple in our family thanksgivings for as long as I can remember.

The first beast: This was the first time I have attempted to make an entire Turkey and it was exciting, nerve-racking , and a bit gross.

The whopping 9.9 pounder fit nicely in our mini fridge.

 So I made the glaze and officially bought the Turkey... 

but I just couldn't take out the innards myself- so Dave came in very handy.

After only 2 hours-It came out perfect!

The other beasts:
We went to the Maryland zoo for the first time (and the first time our little beauties have been to any zoo) on Saturday.

Checking out the giraffes and the cheetah

After taking a close look at the leopard we realized that our "Cheetah Lounge" 

should actually be the "Leopard Lounge"!

The lion came right up to the window to take a closer look.

The Maryland Zoo is really a city zoo and was only a few minutes away from our house. You would never have guessed we were in Baltimore proper once we got in however- it was really spacious and the habitats were quite nice. Next stop- the National Zoo in DC!

Happy Turkey (or Turduckin) Day! (And a special anniversary)

Stella and Lucy's first Thanksgiving was at our friends Tony and Michelle's house. I started getting ready at 1PM for a 7PM arrival date- good thing too! It's amazing how long it takes to bathe baby and parents, prep a casserole, put clothes on admist feeding and diapering babies as well.

We went to T & M's house last year as well. It was a memorable time of year because we found out the Sunday after Thanksgiving, 2009, that we were expecting! I couldn't believe it when I took the test- I took several actually:) The first test, the second blue line was kind of faint, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th got darker and darker. So I found a little plastic baby (courtesy of a box -1of 7 btw-that was kindly dropped off when my parents were visiting) that was part of a collection of mini toys that i had saved for whatever reason. Well, it worked out, I found it, and wrapped it up and gave it to Dave- Surprise!! It was hard not being able to tell anyone for 3 weeks (we figured it was worth doing it in person over Christmas when we were back in MN).

So, like 2009, I made Aunt Sandi's famous wild rice casserole for this year's festivities... sooo good. I used hot pork sausage instead of regular ps this year, which added a perfect kick. Our gracious hosts made a Turduckin, but I think they had a hard time finding the duck... so i think it ended up just being a Turkin.

It was a late Thanksgiving for us, but the girls were great and pretty much slept for a good chunk of time while we were there (with the exception of Stella taking a nice big crappola in her pretty dress:)) But, the triptophan must have made its trip through my system into the girls, because it was a long sleeping night for them. Gobble Gobble.