Thanksgiving 2015

The Thanksgiving season kicked off with the annual Turkey Tango at school before the kids were off for vacation. To win the Turkey Tango, your entire grade has to be the loudest singers, "best dancers" and keep thier line as straight as possible.

Samantha takes this contest very seriously and really REALLY wanted to win. It also happened to be "Dress like an Era" day at school so she got to rock the Turkey Tango 80's style! Thatcher, on the other hand, wasn't so sure about the whole dancing thing BUT it ended up being a tie breaker between kindergarten and second grade for the winner and I noticed Thatcher pepped it up as soon as he realized he may have a chance to beat his sister. Sam's enthusiastic tangoing was enough to help her class win. There's always next year, Thatcher. 

Thatcher's performing was not quite finished much to his dismay. The kindergartners had their Thanksgiving Sing, entertaining all the parents by singing and reciting poems in English and Spanish about giving thanks and turkeys. Thatcher's in the back center next to McKenna, the tallest girl in kindergarten. 

Actual Thanksgiving was spent in Riverside. Lollipop made it along for the ride as far as Thousand Oaks where she got to spend T-day with her other grandparents. Thank you, Marilyn and Papa Ward!

Auntie Michele and her kids were visiting from Colorado. 

Samantha and Thatcher were beyond thrilled to be with their cousins. 

Thanksgiving dinner was at my Aunt and Uncle's house. They've got a pinball machine that was mind-blowing to my kids because you didn't have to put quarters in it. 

It was fun catching up with my Dad's family. 

There were lots of cousins and second cousins that my kids have never even met and many I hadn't seen in probably 10+ years!

Headed home stuffed from dinner. 

Lauren taught the kids what Snap Chatting was. 

I'm not sure how my kids are eating Pringles after all that food we just had ate. 

The guys.

The kids. 

We had quite the dance party.

Cousin Lauren knows every word to every song that is played currently on the radio. 

I actually think I THOUGHT I was videoing but unfortunately, I wasn't.

Michele and I took 400 photos like this. 

Todd and I were excited to catch our friend Colleen's newscast. She used to anchor here in Santa Barbara way back when, actually before I even knew her. We ended up randomly becoming friends and then soon after Colleen applied for one of the most coveted spots on a Los Angeles news station. At first she was a field anchor for ABC news and within a short time she was promoted to an official anchor behind the desk. The commute from SB to LA proved to be too much so she has since moved. 

Each time one of her newscasts came on (which was like four in a row!) we took selfies and sent them to her like dorks. 

Braids by Lauren. 

Getting ready to walk off some of the T-day damage. 

The "Whip/Nae Nae" song was on constant rotation with Thatcher, Sam and Lauren, hence the pose. 

And wow, cousin Dylan is tall all of a sudden! 

Thatcher loves his Poppy. 

Sammy loves her Lauren. 

A little workout at the park nearby my parent's house. 

Monkey bar races and a family grapevine. 

Jurupa Hills Golf Course, the course our family used to operate, now has Foot Golf which is basically a combo of soccer AND golf. 

I never knew how much taller I was than my mom. Or how short she is. ha ha

Birthday dinner for Sammy!

Birthday dessert and celebration at Farrell's!

Lauren had her birthday the week before so we were celebrating both birthdays.

Here's what a Farrell's celebration looks like nowadays and I have to say I was impressed that Samantha was able to bust out the Macarena. 

Sour carmel apple sundae, kind-of gross, kind-of good. 

Saying our goodbyes. 

Headed home to Santa Barbara with a birthday breakfast at Mimi's Cafe along the way. 

They even gave her CAKE for breakfast! 

A surprise stop at The Grove to spend her birthday money all in one swoop! 

Thatcher tried on American Girl Doll accessories to keep himself occupied. 

We weren't patient enough to wait in line for the real Santa at The Grove. 

Peering through the window was good enough this year for Thatcher. 

We made it home just in time for Sammy to FaceTime with her bestie Reese for her birthday. 

Listening to two 8-year-olds FaceTime is hysterical. "Reese, can you see this?!" And then every 30 seconds the reception would go out and then they would try and pick back up where they left off repeating what they had just said, talking over each other, over and over. 

Pretty cute to listen to these two girls that have known each other since they were months old! 

Not long ago they had "binkies" in their mouths ;) And now they are 8!!!

A late night movie for Samantha and her newest addition to her American Girl Doll collection.

And that's a wrap on T-day 2015!