Thanksgiving in Dallas!

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Dallas this year with Jeff's family. We had lots of fun seeing everyone and are very thankful we were able to spend quality time with so many family members that live far away.

We were very busy doing lots of fun things! We stayed with Grandma JJ & GG who had lots of toys for the kids to play with. Madeleine got to sleep in Auntie Laura & Auntie Erin's room each night and she thought that was the BEST! I think Madeleine's very favorite thing was Grandma's beanie baby collection....I think their were literally over a hundred beanie babies! Madeleine picked a few special ones and got to take them home.

We went to the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden with Grandma JJ to see the Fairy Tale Castles. We went on Toddler Tuesday and saw all seven castles: Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Pea, Aladdin, Rapunzel, The Little Mermaid, Jack and the Beanstalk, & Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughter’s. Madeleine also got her face painted for the very first time! She picked a lion face and roared all over the arboretum :-) They also had a petting zoo & craft station. I took so many pictures that I made a collage below:

Papa & Mimi were also in town and we went to the Dallas zoo with them. We picked the perfect sunny day to go!

Braden was pretty easy going during the trip. It took him almost the entire week to adjust to the time change though so by the time we left, he was finally on Dallas time. He scooted (still not crawling) all over Grandma's house and "cleaned the floors" as they said.

With so many family members to see, we got to celebrate Turkey Day twice! We headed over to Uncle Matt's house and had a delicious dinner with Jeff's dad, Suzette, Uncle Matt & Uncle Dustin. It was nice to catch up with everyone! We then had another yummy meal with Jeff's mom, Greg, Auntie Laura & Auntie Erin. We played a lot of games, watched some football, went shopping and I even got to see the new twilight movie and Jeff got to do some golfing!

We also took the kids to see Santa! Madeleine asked for a fuzzy Dora doll and Braden was very interested in Santa's beard! He didn't cry! Afterwards, Madeleine & I hit the ice for some ice skating. We never really skated, just went around and around the rink, holding on for dear life! Madeleine actually let go a few times and tried skating. She had a really good time!

Jeff & I got away for a night to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary! We went to the Sixth Floor Museum that chronicles the assasination & legacy of John F Kennedy. It was really interesting. We then went to a wine bar and each had a flight of wine. We got a great deal at the Four Seasons and spent the night there. It was a great night and we are so thankful Julie could watch the kids for us! While we were away, Madeleine helped Grandma decorate her Christmas tree :-)