THANKSGIVING

We had a great Thanksgiving day yesterday! Dad & Bonnie were here to celebrate with us. Bonnie, Rena and Maleah watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and were practicing to be a Rockette.......

Dad was trying to find something to watch other than a parade! :)

I decided to try a Turkey Brine recipe. I was hoping my guests would still eat dinner here after they saw what I used to prepare it in. Luckily, it turned out pretty good and everyone ate it!

The girls LOVE olives......and they do love to eat them as much as they love to play with them!

Time to enjoy the food and the company!

INDIO, CA

The kids have the whole week off of school this week so Jeff took some time off work and we took a little mini vacation. We left Saturday morning and drove 2-1/2 hours to Indio, California. It was a good couple of days of fun and relaxing.

We ate breakfast on our deck each morning.....

We went to the local zoo "The Living Desert" in Palm Desert one day. The biggest highlight was feeding the giraffes......

For some reason the kids really liked these statues - we had to pull them away to go see some more "live" animals.....

The girls did some petting and brushing on the goats.....

Rena needed a little break.....

The pool at the resort was great.

Cameron loved the swimming.....

Rena loved the playing and throwing......

And Maleah loved the sitting (in the hot tub)......

We all loved the lazy river.....

Our last morning eating breakfast.....

On our way home we took the scenic route and went through the mountains. This is from the top looking out over Palm Desert and Palm Springs.....

HOLIDAY FEAST

Maleah's class had a "holiday feast" at the beginning of class on Friday afternoon. On Wednesday all of the kids brought in different ingredients and they made a "stone soup" for their feast. They also made their placemats, name cards, napkin holders and pilgrim hats.

Parents were invited to stay for the celebration and eat the feast......and it was actually really good! :)

TURKEY TROT

Last Friday Cameron & Rena ran in the annual "turkey trot" at their school. Rena got to run and go to school in the morning instead of her usual afternoon class. Both of the kids had a fun time running and Maleah & I had a fun time watching them.

Rena with her class getting ready to run.....

Rena running.....

Cameron after his run.....

Maleah and Tom Turkey cheering on the kids as they run.....

SCHOOL PICTURES

Cameron's 1st Grade Picture.....

Cameron's 1st Grade Class.....

Rena's Kindergarten Picture.....

Rena's Kindergarten Class.....

Maleah's Preschool Picture.....

Maleah's Preschool Class.....

LEGOLAND

We finally made it to LegoLand on Saturday. The kids have been wanting to go (especially Cameron) since we got here, but with all of the other things we were been doing during the summer (Disneyland, Universal Studios, SeaWorld) we just hadn't made it yet. So on Saturday we went and spent the day. Unfortunately after we got there Cameron wasn't feeling great and didn't have the best day, but since it's only 10 minutes from our house we will definitely be going back!

The girls wanted to have their pictures taken with EVERY figure built. Here they are.....and believe it or not I even have more pictures that I didn't post.....

Rena is actually mad in this one because she "saw Bob first" and wanted a picture with just her and Bob. So, YES, we have pictures of them together and by themselves.....

Rena roaring like a lion.....

Maleah trying to copy Rena and roar like a lion.....

Rena looking like a scary shark.....

Maleah didn't even try to copy -- she's just a cute shark.....

Cameron even joined in on the fun. He was acting like the Bionicles were attacking him.....

There was a lot to do besides just look at things built from Legos. There were some rides.....

And this funny little water thing.....

And there was a BUNCH of other stuff we didn't even see or do.....we had to leave some stuff for next time!

To end the day we went into the SeaLife Aquarium that is attached to LegoLand. It isn't part of LegoLand (you have to pay extra for it), but it's in the same park. They had a bunch of tanks that had bubbles out of the middle of them that the kids could climb through and stick their heads up to see the fish......it was a big hit!

Rena in a bubble.....