It was Thanksgiving week and we have a lot to be thankful for! The boys skipped school on Tuesday and we jumped in the car and headed to Galena, Illinois. We decided to break our drive to St. Louis in half, and Galena had a pool with a good waterslide. Last year, when Christine and I went to Dubuque for Abby’s baby shower, we also went to Galena, which has the best bakery in the whole world and a whole street of cute shops. I was very excited to return to such a cute town! We got to the hotel in the afternoon and immediately headed for the pool. We swam until dinner and then again until bedtime. On Wednesday, Nate and the boys went swimming all morning, and I went to the bakery and did a little bit of Christmas shopping.
We got back in the car and headed to Kara and Jud’s house in St. Louis, arriving just before dinnertime. The boys were SO excited to be able to play with their little cousin. We spent time crafting, playing, eating, drinking and enjoying being together. Grandma Renee had several fun crafts for the boys.
Thursday was Thanksgiving and Kara had the most gorgeous table, amazing food, and it was a great day! KT got to experience a traditional American Thanksgiving meal. Afterwards, we played the “dice game” and everyone got to open a gift. The boys were absolutely thrilled!
On Friday we went to the Transportation Museum and walked through old trains, saw model trains, and many other transportation related fun. Afterwards, we took some pictures in front of the Arch.
In the afternoon, we opened early Christmas presents which was a very fun kickoff to the holiday season! Everyone welcomed KT into the family and I think he was a little overwhelmed to be included. Based on some of his stories and things he’s said, I am getting the sense that his life in Japan is a bit more formal than our lives here. He asked me when the boys will stop getting Christmas presents (for him, it was 8). So he seemed genuinely touched to receive gifts and be part of everything. I really appreciated everyone including him and I am glad he was able to be with us for our trip.
Our trip was so great, but for me, my mom was the MVP of Thanksgiving. Not only did she stay at our house and watch the dogs, she also cleaned my house, even scrubbing the inside of my refrigerator. I was so grateful to be able to take a fun trip and not worry about the puppies, and also come home to a clean house!
The trip was much too short and drove home on Saturday. Xander was very sad that we don’t live closer to Baby Nell and complained for the first hour of the drive home. We powered through the entire 8.5 hours and even though it was a long day in the car, it wasn’t bad. The boys napped, watched movies and were mostly patient. Sunday has been a day of playing with Sam and Abby, a day for video games (KT is very patient with the boys and they all played together for over an hour this afternoon), a day for grocery shopping, laundry and snuggling puppies.
After a fun week, we’re back to regularly scheduled programming!