thanksgiving

I have been so busy sending out Christmas cards, decorating, shopping, and catching up from being gone, that I haven't had the chance to sit down and blog about our Thanksgiving. It was wonderful!! We were gone for a whole week - and spent nights in three different places - but the kids did great.

We left that Saturday morning and drove to Auburn (with a pit stop at Lane Packing) to take Hannah and Joseph to their first game at Jordan-Hare. 

We did Tiger Walk and saw the cheerleaders, dance team and band at the alumni tent:

The game was a little chilly, rained off and on, but we had a blast! Thankfully, our seats were lower level and close to the overhang. We actually didn't get that wet. Hannah and Joseph cheered their little heads off… 

Sunday morning we drove over to Atlanta to attend worship at Passion City Church - something Joe and I have wanted to do for a long time. Louie Giglio is the pastor and he lead 7:22 at North Point on Tuesday nights back when I was in college. Amazing. 

Chloe Puppy-the-Monkey and Raffie navigated us through the ATL…and, later on, I obliged when Joseph wanted to take pictures.

We spent Sunday with my sweet friend (and sorority big sis) Julie and her precious family. So much fun to catch up and watch our children play together. They had a ball! {I cannot believe I didn't take a single picture. So sad!!!}

On Monday we had breakfast with Auntie Jen and her girls. We got to see their new house and play for a little bit. {Again, no pictures. Shame on me!} 

We left Atlanta in our rear-view and headed to Highlands and the beautiful mountains of North Carolina where we spent the week. I don't think I've ever used the words "Thanksgiving" and "relaxing" in the same sentence, but boy was it! We lounged in front of the fire, played games, snacked, strolled around downtown, slept in (well, I did), took long bubble baths, and watched movies. It. was. wonderful.

Meme joined us for a few nights and we met Aunt Kristie, Aunt Trudie, Uncle Marc and Jackson for pizza one night.

Sour lemon faces:

The kids' first time watching Home Alone was priceless. They laughed hysterically.

And we woke up to a white Thanksgiving Day!

We bundled up and went to church, then threw snowballs at each other and made a little (tiny) snowman.

Thanksgiving dinner was just us four. We had smoked turkey, squash casserole, butter beans, sweet potato casserole, salad, rolls and of course cranberry sauce out of a can. Delish!

We packed up (quite a process) and headed back towards reality. First a photo op with our little snowman:

He lost some of his size as the temperature rose above freezing on Friday, but we still needed to document the experience of building a Thanksgiving snowman.

On our way down the mountain, we stopped at the tubing slope where our cousins work for lunch at Annie's Cafe. Aunt Trudie hooked us up with free passes so Hannah could take a couple trips down the slope.

I went with her the first time down and it was a blast - much faster than I thought it would be. Joe filmed from afar (first video, that's Hannah and me on the right), and then after lunch he took Monkey down. Such a cutie, that girl.

There is a little slope/mound for smaller children and for those that want to practice. They both enjoyed that, though Joseph was a little hesitant at first. He felt safe enough with Daddy.

What a super fun way to end a great week! 

field trips…atlanta…anniversary

Last Tuesday, Joseph's class went to the firehouse. Parents join their kids at the preschool and we all walk together a couple of blocks away to the Sandersville fire department. We did this twice with Hannah (3- and 4-year-olds go) and it was finally Joseph's turn.

Unlike a lot of the other children, he loved when the fireman got all dressed up in his gear.

He wasn't sure about me putting him on the truck, but he did find the big hoses fascinating.

He also really liked his fire badge sticker.

On Wednesday, Hannah had her first "real" field trip: Tour of Big Machines. She boarded a school bus at 8:30…

Tongue hanging out, as is typical of Hannah (and Michael Jordan).

I could just stop right there. I think that might have been her favorite part. But the rest of the day was pretty cool, too. She had a tour of emergency vehicles outside of the hospital.

"Hi, my name is Hannah," she is saying to the officer in that photo on the left.

She got to climb in the back of the police car and through an ambulance.

...possibly the same ambulance her daddy rode in last July.

She met Smokey Bear and got a picture with her class in front of the fire truck.

They watched a helicopter land and even got to sit inside!

Pretty awesome. I haven't ever been in an helicopter, but my daughter has!

The kids boarded the bus again and headed to Washington EMC (electric membership corporation). They learned all about electricity and what the EMC does. They also got to see some lightning…

…and the highest bucket truck.

Then they rode the bus to the park for a picnic lunch and playtime before ending their day. I had fun, too, and was glad to get to tag along.

Thursday afternoon… Sometimes I can't help but taking pictures of Hannah when she comes into the room dressed like this:

Cowboy boots and gloves, microphone and lantern. All the essentials. She helped her brother get ready and they were off to "free their friends". I'm not quite sure where these friends were, but it was quite an adventure.

It was very entertaining as I listened to them make their way around the house in imaginary land.

Friday morning, I agreed to let Joseph come out of his room earlier than usual, as long as he was quiet while I had my devotion time. But, how sweet is he - sitting next to me on the sofa in the playroom eating his "yucky charms"?

I love that kid.

Friday was a school holiday so we took full advantage and planned a fun couple of days in Atlanta. Chloe Puppy the Monkey drove part of the way:

We started the day at Scott Antique Market. My main mission was to find something bronze to buy my Honey for our anniversary, as 8 is the year of bronze. Unfortunately other than a few horse statues, which I would love but he would not, there was nothing. Boo.

Still, we had a good time, and the kids were mostly agreeable and happy. We went from there to downtown, where the boys dropped off the girls at Philips Arena. I surprised this cutie with tickets to Disney on Ice - FROZEN!

My favorite part of the experience was watching her, full of wonder and awe, watch the show. It was her first of the sort and she loved it. As she does every time we watch the movie, she sang along. She also belted out "Let the storm rage onnnnnn!" You probably know the ending of Elsa's "Let it Go".

I'm not sure if she was unaware or just unconcerned with the fact that she was singing very loud. I'm sure there were a few other little girls in the audience doing the same thing. The lady in front of her enjoyed it, though.

It was a great show. Looking forward to more Disney on Ice events in our future!

We stayed at the Hilton downtown amidst Chicago Bear country. The Bears were playing the Falcons on Sunday and, apparently, it was the team hotel. Lots of orange and blue. Hannah and Joseph were most excited about the elevators - that were on the outside of the building and ascended very fast. They might've fought over who was going to push the buttons a time or two.

This is when the trip went downhill.

Joseph did not sleep well and woke up again and again with stomach cramps. He got sick at breakfast Saturday morning and was miserable most of the day. We went to the Tech game with the intention of leaving at halftime. Joseph mostly just wanted to be held.

Hannah, dressed in her fancy new GT outfit, was ready to cheer on the Jackets.

But when we got to the game it was a different story. It was sunny and hot. Sunnier and hotter than the forecast said it was going to be. We sun screened the kids and sat, sweating in the heat, until they couldn't take any more. It wasn't half-way through the first quarter.

I left Joe to watch the game (our seats were really good) and listened to whining and crying underneath. It became ridiculous. My view:

I sat against the concrete wall in the concourse, watching the TV screens. Hannah calmed down and Joseph crashed in my arms. I figured maybe I could carry my sleeping child and get to watch the rest of the first half with him asleep. And I did!

And, thankfully, we got some cloud cover and it wasn't so brutal. Hannah rallied and had a good time. Joseph woke up just before the clock expired at the half. We decided to call it a day and headed for the car. We were almost there when the sky opened up. Rain, rain, and more rain. Seriously, we go from sun screen and sweat to being soaked in the rain.

We ate lunch at Moe's just off campus before driving home. This little guy crashed again almost as soon as we sat down.

On his snack cup of yucky charms.

He slept almost the entire way home… Hannah got carsick…

What a day.

We listened to football on the radio. Duke won and the Jackets got their first loss of the season. Auburn lost to Mississippi State, their first loss of the season. Our well-planned, quick trip to Atlanta was hijacked by the stomach bug. I didn't find a bronze gift. It rained.

But we made it home safe and sound. And we got to spend time together. And Frozen was fun.

Today is our anniversary. Look at us then…

Eight years.

What a ride it's been. Happy anniversary Joseph Alexander Buck, IV! I love you forever.