*written May 2015
As I look at these photos now, I cannot believe this was the last time we saw my family. I miss you guys!!! We'll be there in June! Counting the days.
With that aside --- Thanksgiving is an awesome time to go to TX. It's not too cold, not too hot, juuust right. And we had a wonderful time, which began with hitting up the park and the new, improved playscape.
Lauren and JT had recently returned from Athens, meaning we hadn't seen them in well over a year. It was majorly overdue.
N wanted to go down the big blue slides, but they were really quite steep -- so guess who got to go up and escort him.
Actually it was super fun :)
More sisterly catching up came in the form of pedicures - this time with Nikye, and also Granny!
How many Penningtons does it take to make a pie?
Five.
This was the least efficient but most fun process I can think of.
We got to see Kara and David Ayaram, our dear friends from Residency, a couple of times! We met for dinner at a steakhouse, and here we were all cracking up at the overwhelming size of Mikel's chocolate dessert. It was enough for 6 people!
Also met up for lunch at a local chicken dive. We are SO lucky to be able to keep in close touch with them, made especially easy with them living in Georgetown.
The day after Thanksgiving, Kara invited me to join her for a stroller strides class. It was great -- and I had it easy, as I was sans Nolan!
Nolan and Izzy. Sweet friends
Debby drove down from OK to spend Thanksgiving with us, and we were so glad she did. No surprise - she is a whiz with every single kid.
DJ & Nikye -- super proud of these two. Dedicated students, parents and employees! They wear a lot of hats.
David was working, so Kara brought Izzy over for Thanksgiving too!
Izzy, Eliza and Nolan are breaking in the awesome street mat that Eliza got for her birthday
Lauren & JT (& Mikel)
Thanksgiving Day was an extra special day for Lauren, as it was her 25th birthday! Loved getting to spend it with her.
Granny JoAnn
Precious friends are really a gem to find.
Eliza is the best eater I have ever seen. I have total toddler-mom envy.
How Thanksgiving should look!
*****
Eliza has the best toys! And Nolan wanted to use them all just like a big kid.
Pretty much every day, we have to find something to do outside of the house... One morning, we went to see a model train exhibit in Pflugerville nearby. The kids loved it!
The cutest fam. :)
Such a lovely Texas Fall day.
Our other time-passer? The Wii.
Lauren's old roommate Whitney stopped by to take us all on.
By the way, I am officially an adult women in that I am suddenly horrible at all of these kids of games. Lauren won most matches, which makes her no less of an adult - but she fully admitted to the quantity of practice time she had devoted. And it was shameful. (But maybe I'm still jealous that she kept winning....)
Love my Granny.
Georgetown has a beautiful square, and they held the Christmas lighting while we were there. It was lovely to see, and Nolan was of course mesmerized.
Best we could get from a tired boy.
So pretty!
Second only to Mikel in wrestling is Uncle JT. This game was a big hit, and JT is a great sport.
Cousins!
Love this. Do you spy Nolan's massive bear lovey?
Nikey found this beautiful dollhouse for a steal, and the kids had so much fun playing with it together.
Love her hot air balloons.
Sweet girl.
The best kind of mess there is! (and monkey see, monkey do)
***
Finally, on our last day just an hour before heading to the airport, we all convened at Rabb park -- the BEST park!
Two of my favorite guys ever.
....And another.
It was windy!
Oh man, I can't wait to get these two back together again!
Airplane nap time.
And headed home.
Thanks for having us, Mom and Dad! Still thankful for this Thanksgiving.
