A New England Thanksgiving.

We have been friends with the Gibson family for the last SIX years. They moved to Ann Arbor the same week we did in 2005. They lived close by and there little 18 month girl Eden became one of Charlie’s first friends. Six years later Matt finished his degree a month after Seth and they took off for Boston (with three additional kids) while we came to Maryland. Since we are both far from family it seemed perfect to spend Thanksgiving together. They also are renting a house about five minutes from my aunt and uncle in the town of Natick.

We new the drive would be long but when you add that with Thanksgiving traffic (and the wicked toll booths) we snailed our way there. Thankfully our kids were angels so it wasn’t so bad. I don’t remember the last time Seth and I “talked” that much to each other. The boys were in heaven in the back with the DVD player and Lucy was pleasant the whole way playing with toys and napping.

The Gibsons were wonderful hosts! The kids all went wild when we arrived and had a great time playing together. Thanksgiving was relaxing on our ends. Kirsten did all the work with the Turkey and we helped with sides. Kirsten’s sweet potatoes and the lemon grilled broccoli were my favorites!

                        The kids were in charge of making the “fluff” salad               Thanksgiving morning Matt led the kids in exercise TV

All of the goods!

The best parts of Thanksgiving: napping, walks, and dessert time!

 

The day after Thanksgiving we took a trip to Plymouth (Plimoth) to see some recreated English colonies and Native American settlements.

The Wampanoag Indians (the girl in the middle is roasting a turkey and the one on the end is in a loin cloth)

Claire, Matthew, Eden, Charlie and Sam in a Wampanoag canoe  and a family picture with two grumpy boys                                                       

The town of Plimoth! Eden and Sam were talking to “William Bradford”

This is darling baby Owen and Kirsten

This is the Mayflower 2! We had to race to get there before we lost all of our light but by the time we got off the boat it was too dark to get any views from the shore. It was actually a lot smaller than what I imagined. I’m so grateful I wasn’t one of the 100 in the bottom level on my way to the new English colonies (I wouldn’t have made it).

The night before we left we spent the evening with my Aunt Jane, Uncle Joe, and cousin Brendon. They took us to Kelly’s for dinner where Charlie at the best Hot Dog of his entire life. After we returned from our trip we asked him what his favorite part was and he exclaimed, “the hotdog from Kelly’s. The restaurant was next to a furniture store that puts on a Mardi Gras show every 30 min. It was really entertaining and the kids loved it. I guess furniture buying and stage singing mix. They took us back to their home and we visited for a while and the kids played with her amazing play mobile pirate ship. Lucy loved her talking doll and of course their cats!   In the morning my aunt and cousin came to the 9am ward with us since we needed to get on the road (there ward didn’t start until 1pm).

I loved the Gibson’s charming New England home (I took this as we were driving out of town)!