Three Kids and a Dog: Thanksgiving and Tree Cutting 2022

I'm past the one week mark again for posting so need to get in some Thanksgiving weekend updates!

Szurgot Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving break, I had two kids home sick. Lucky me. I'm already behind and then I had two kids under the weather to add to a whole week off for them. Hailey was just very congested while Peyton said her ear hurt and she didn't feel great. Luckily a lot of days home that weekend (well, Peyton had to swim on Saturday and Sunday but she recovered fairly quickly. I secretly think she wanted to get out of her Friday swim meet because she didn't like what she was swimming even though Saturday was way worse!).

Anyhow, that week proved to be busy with my dad undergoing knee replacement surgery on Tuesday, with a Wednesday discharge and then Austen finally getting out of school on Wednesday afternoon. Thankfully we weren't hosting this year so we got to have a pretty low key Thanksgiving morning before heading to my brother and sister in laws place. It was a small group this year - just 10 of us compared to more than 20 most years but we still had way too much food and drink and some good laughs too. Lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving after Grandma broke her leg and others we know who have passed on or been diagnosed with cancer.

On Friday, we were slow moving but we made it to Michigan just in time to watch the USA vs. England in the World Cup. What a game that ended in a tie but it was fun to watch before we tried a new Mexican place in South Haven for dinner and then drove to Grand Rapids for a drive thru light show at their minor league ball park.

Our annual tree cutting with friends was Saturday so off we went to meet our friends, tailgate and then cut down our Xmas tree. The pickings were slim this year as the tree farms have been experiencing tree shortages. It was pretty sparse last year but this year was tough. We had to change the type of tree we wanted this year just to ensure we could get one that wasn't brown or below the height requirement. I heard next year is going to be worse so we may have change our plan. Anyway, this year we went with the white pine which has those long needles and is very pretty but just not for heavy ornaments. After we all took longer than expected picking out our tree, we went to lunch at the Stray Dog in New Buffalo which is always a good time. We've grown so busy that it had been almost 5 months since we'd seen some of our closest friends (who don't live so close) so it was nice to catch up.

"Santa, I want a lap desk"

Saturday night and Sunday morning called for decorating before taking Austen to a local soccer ID camp (which he said was terrible) and then meeting Tom and the girls at our club for their annual gingerbread decorating lunch. This year, Hailey and I worked together while Peyton and Tom collaborated. Hailey came up with our idea and I executed while Hailey helped fetch supplies and stick on the candy! Peyton had an idea all in her head that she couldn't articulate to Tom. I could feel his pain as last year, Peyton was more a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of gingerbread planner and ours didn't look as great. The girls still had fun though and Hailey was super proud of ours and begged me to put it on "Instagram" for people to vote for their favorite!

We ended the day by picking up Austen, visiting my Dad and then trying for two hours to get my car to recognize either of our keys so it would start and we could go home. After two hours, the kids were hungry and tired and we gave up, left the car in my Dad's driveway. Squeezed one of his cars out of the garage and took it home to end the night. Needless to say, I had to return the next day to help my Dad but also deal with my car being towed because it wouldn't recognize the key (something about a synchronization issue). Thanks BMW!

Through it all, I'm still grateful though! Grateful for my husband who works so hard at home and at work. My kids' health. My parents - that they are getting healthy. Extended Family. Friends. My very lovable but a lot of work dog. And, just that I get to live this journey called life. May we all be blessed to live it as long as we can.