Thanksgiving 2016

Dear readers...i'm sorry for the sad state of posting around here lately. 

But, we've officially entered my favorite season and I plan to 

try to blog a bit more!  I always have four or five posts rolling

around in my head that I want to document - it's just I also love

watching tv, sleeping, and scrolling through social media. :)

The kick off to my beloved holiday season is usually

our turkey of the year lunch at work.  This event has been

going on since I started working in the Education department - 

and I've coordinated most years so that I can ensure

people will be bringing my favorite foods to the potluck. 

Seriously, my co-workers stop by my desk to run their

ideas by me (i.e. no, not just any mashed potatoes - they

have to be Bob Evan's brand and someone always

has to bring the buffalo chicken dip and queso appetizer). 

The premise of this lunch - is not just to gorge ourselves

with my favorite holiday foods - but also to celebrate

who was the biggest "turkey" - (read idiot) for the year. 

We nominate people all year long and then read the

nominations and vote. 

What do you call a table of turkeys?  

I don't know - but here we are!

Also, see that guy?  That's Tim. 

He's one of only two men in our department. 

Yikes! haha!

Do you see all that food?  

Gahh!  It was like crock pot central. 

And, I didn't hate it. 

My favorites were (my) sausage balls, 

mashed potatoes, kings Hawaiian rolls, 

and queso dip.  The best part - I wasn't 

even nominated this year!  Thank goodness!

(sidenote:  my co-worker did win though :)

Leading up to the actual Turkey day - my mom sent

a picture of the menu for the Station House's 

Thanksgiving dinner and asked what we thought.

The Station House is the restaurant on the 

property of where my Grandpa lives 

in St. Leonards. 

I was definitely thinking - that is the opposite of

where I want to be eating Thanksgiving dinner. 

But, I was sort of hoping that my sister would say

no to going there first. Turns out, she was totally

on board with going to this buffet...and so it was up

to me to voice my own opinion. Womp womp. 

Rather than be the only one spewing negativity - 

I decided just to try and go with the flow. 

And, you know what?  It wasn't terrible. 

My mom was NOT stressed in the slightest when 

we woke up on Thanksgiving. In fact, we all just

hung out in our pajamas, took Penny on a walk, 

watched some of the Macy's day parade, and I even 

had time to curl my hair! 

Also- there were no giant messes to clean up, 

or dishes to wash.  Instead, we all sat around

a big table, and a waitress took our drink order....

and we leisurely took our time (well, as much

as you can, with a three year old) - making it up 

to the actual buffet. 

All of the food was pretty good - though I like

the stuffing my sister makes better (because she

adds sausage) - and my mom said the pumpkin

pie was cold (but I don't like that anyway)!

Max even managed to eat quite a bit of ham, some 

pineapple, applesauce, and rolls! 

All in all - it wasn't nearly as bad (sorry mom) - as I 

thought it would be. Perhaps my gin and tonic 

helped with that? #verylikely

Best part - no mess or stress!

When we were finished, we just stood up, 

put on our coats, and left!

And, I managed to sneak in a little

Cloud/Hauck tradition - the butter turkey!

His head popped off a little while taking

him out of the package, but we were 

able to salvage it!  

After dinner (that happened at lunch time) concluded, 

we went back to Poppy's house...Max likes to jump

on the bed, and talk on his old school phone, and

dance to Lawrence Welk on Poppy's DVR. 

Once back at Mim's and Grandpa's we did manage

to play a new game - called "Pie Face". 

This game was wildly popular last year...but

we weren't quick enough to scoop it up

until 2016....so...better late than never, right?

Everyone was a little apprehensive - but

once you take some whip cream to the face....

you realize it's not so bad. In my case, 

every single time I used the spinner - I ended up

with pie in my face! Max was finally convinced

to do more than watch from our laps, with the 

promise of using "just the sponge" - and with a $10 bribe. 

We brought out round two of food - my mom

cooked a turkey breast, made sparkling applesauce, 

and even bought my beloved Bob Evan's 

mashed potatoes...and all this was totally

necessary because we needed sustenance 

for our late night shopping trip. 

#ohyeswedid

Our intent was just to go to Carters when it opened

at the Greene.  However, it didn't open until 11:00...

and so in order to stay awake - we made two 

more stops - Target and Michaels. 

I ended up buying some new games

and holiday DVD's for Max at Target...

where to be honest, the lines were not terrible. 

 

This Target also happens to have a Starbucks - so I was definitely

in favor of caffeination in the form of a skinny peppermint mocha. 

We did make it to Carters and waited with about 50 other crazy 

people in the cold...to try and win the $250 gift card. 

Alas, it was not meant to be - and we each only won

a $5 gift card...but it was still pretty fun :)

We got home pretty late - but that didn't stop us

from being up bright and early - helping Max

compose his letter to Santa! 

If you ask him what he wants from Santa - 

he might tell you it's a secret, but he also 

may tell you "Magic Tracks" - which are

tracks that go together and glow in the dark

with electronic cars...

All of this got put into the letter....and it was sealed

with 2 full sheets of stickers!

He did pretty good doing the letters...but you

can tell when he's over it because it all turns

into one long connected line. haha! 

The letter was delivered when we got 

to Grandma's Gardens.  We visit this place nearly

every season...and it was fully decked out in 

trees, roping, wreaths, and poinsettias! 

Max was a total pro making sure

his letter got right in the box!

We walked around for a bit....

and enjoyed some pancakes, sausage, and 

orange juice...as well as, their 

adorable decorations. 

This sleigh was a big hit too! Max climbed right

in and starting shaking the reigns which

were covered with bells! 

The last stop at Grandma's Garden's was the 

smore pit! Max loved picking out the roasting

stick for each of us - and stealing our chocolate

and graham crackers! 

Since our bellies were full - we delayed lunch 

a little bit and opted to stay outside...and 

explore one more garden store! 

This store is called Knollwood. 

My mom and I have taken porch pot

decorating classes there...and their

selection of poinsettia's is unreal!

We ended up bringing about four 

home with us!  I couldn't help it 

because it's the first year we are 

able to have them because we have no pets! 

Max ate more cookies, helped select 

poinsettias for all his favorite people, 

and insisted on Mim's holding him for the 

majority of the visit. 

After eating more leftover turkey 

sandwiches (no complaints here!) for dinner - 

we had one last stop to make at Woodland Lights. 

Max has been loving the lights and displays

in our neighborhood - so we knew he would 

love this!  

I couldn't believe how many lights there were! 

They have a 1/2 mile loop you can walk...and it 

goes through "toy town", and "Who-ville" - and 

you can stop at Santa's workshop - which Max had 

zero interest in...

His favorite part?  The rides. 

They had a giant slide...and then a whole kid

area with ferris wheel, swings, and flying cars

(seen below)!  We ended up leaving in a hurry 

because he had a little accident on his pants. 

I think he probably waited to long to tell us

he needed to use the bathroom. Thus, peeing

a little on his pants - which none of us even

realized until he stood up from the slide! 

So, we whisked him off to a warm bath....

and clean clothes! 

All in all - we had a great few days - with
wonderful weather, food, and festivities!
Happy Thanksgiving!