Thanksgiving 2016

Hello lovelies! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving last week! We traveled to Ohio to celebrate the holiday with my mom's side of the family, which we do every year. Victor and I were prepared to get up early on Wednesday and be on the road as close to 7 AM as possible...and then God laughed in our faces. 

Firstly, I stayed up late watching Gilmore Girls Tuesday night since I knew I wouldn't be able to watch much over the holiday. Then Max woke up at 3:30 AM to vomit all over his bed, a surprise I wasn't anticipating (duh...who anticipates their kid barfing all over his bed?). By the time I got him into new PJs/stripped the bed/started the washing machine/got us settled on the couch, it was after 4:30 AM. Max seemed to be feeling better but it took him a while to wind down from the early-morning excitement, so he didn't fall asleep until close to 5 AM. My 6 AM alarm was ignored, and I slept until a little after 7. We were on the road by 9 AM (we tend to run about 2 hours behind for these big trips, with or without midnight vomit), and despite one more barfing incident in the car (poor Max!), we made pretty good time and arrived around 6 PM.

My poor sick boy

On Thanksgiving morning, we watched the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade, which is broadcast from Chicago. My cousin, Lauren, was dancing in the parade with her dance group. I actually got to see the beginning rehearsals for this performance during our visit to Ohio back in August, so it was extra exciting to see it all come full-circle. I may or may not have teared up a bit. After Lauren's performance, we of course switched to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Max loved all the balloons!

We went to my Aunt Sue's house for Thanksgiving dinner and had a great time catching up with my aunts, uncle, and cousins. I ate way too much food and gave myself a gum blister playing Speak Out, the game where you put those mouth pieces in your mouth and people have to guess what you're trying to say. It was pretty comical (my sister loves imitating me saying "brown as a berry") but I think I've had my share of that game for a while. We headed back to my mom's house around 10 PM and Max fell asleep in the car. He stayed asleep until 10 AM the next morning!

Three generations

He didn't even eat that sandwich. His tummy still wasn't feeling too great

Too much Thanksgiving fun for this first-timer!

Max is playing with my aunt's cute penguin toy, which all of us cousins remember playing with as kids

On Friday, we got a slow start (I won't complain about getting to sleep in till nearly 10 AM for the first time in years!), but then Victor and I left the kids with my mom and sister to enjoy our traditional Black Friday outing: lunch (at Piada; we don't have those restaurants in Maryland so we like to indulge when we're in Cincinnati), Starbucks, and wandering Walmart (we don't have one near us in MD either, so we like to explore in OH). We only picked up some gloves and hats to add to the "blessing bags" we put together to hand out downtown that night. We headed to downtown Cincinnati for Light Up the Square at Fountain Square, another yearly tradition for the Friday after Thanksgiving. We had a nice dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery right on the square, then we enjoyed some live music and people-watching at the ice skating rink. We handed out four "blessing bags" to some very grateful people, and my mom got Max a cool light-up sword, which my sister's boyfriend used to show Max how to be a ninja. After we returned to my mom's, I got the kids ready for bed and let my mom babysit while Victor, my sister, my sister's boyfriend, and I joined our cousins for bowling and Skyline. We also spontaneously recorded a Mannequin Challenge video! I posted it on my blog's Facebook page in case you missed it! It was such a fun night. I love those kids.

Bowling gals

Bowling dudes

On Saturday, my mom was able to secure a suite at the Cintas Center for a Xavier University basketball game. It was Max's first basketball game and he was so excited about it! Some of our extended family joined us for the game, as well. After the game, we went to Habits Cafe in Oakley for lunch and watched the Michigan/Ohio State game (what a nailbiter! I'm a Michigan fan, though, so it was a sad loss...we almost had it!). Victor, the kids, and I headed back to my mom's for naptime while my mom and sister explored more downtown. After dinner, we watched Finding Dory in the basement and ate Graeter's ice cream before heading to bed.

On Sunday, we made the long journey home. It took us over 10 hours to return to Maryland due to traffic and busy pit stops, but we made it home safely, which is the most important thing. We're looking forward to another Ohio visit around Christmastime!

Walking into Cabela's for our 1.5 hour pit stop (we didn't intend for it to take that long but it was so busy!)

Have a great week! Have you entered the Gilmore Girls giveaway yet??? You don't want to miss it!