Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

 My family visited NY for thanksgiving several years ago. Jared and I couldn't go and always felt like we missed out. I've been begging my family to do it again for years and we finally did. 

 It was a little insane waking up at 4:30am to leave the hotel by 5am, to get our spot by 6am. The parade didn't start until 9am. I think those were the three longest hours of my life. I don't have any desire to do it again. 

 Luckily we had lots of warm clothing, food, grandparents and lots of electronic devices to keep us busy.

I'm sure Jared was wishing he had never married into our family for those 3 long hours, but he acted like a good sport. It helped that he found a family from Tennessee to talk to. 

I think it was all worth it when the parade finally started and all the balloons came out.  

The kids loved it. They were cheering and chanting the whole time.  

Jared claims he and Neil Diamond made eye contact.  Apparently they have this special connection now. 

 See, this isn't the face of a sleep deprived unhappy child. It was totally worth it. 

These guys were my favorite. They did an awesome dance for us.  

 While we were waiting for our cars to be found in the parking garage, my sister in law suggested the kids play "dead indian"?  Don't ask me what it is, but I liked how the kids were quiet. 

No big deal if we looked like a bunch of crazies with all our gear and 8 kids dead on the sidewalk.  

Okay, Clair is ready for a nap. She was done. 

Philly

On our way to NY we stopped in Philadelphia. 

It was a short stop as we didn't have the best weather and didn't make reservations for some of the tours.

We still had fun walking the square, seeing the Liberty Bell, Constitution Hall and eating a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. 

Thanksgiving in Maryland

We were so lucky to travel to the East Coast with the Kidd family for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Tami and I spent a fun day shopping at a barn sell and various swap meets. We didn't find much but were very inspired. 

Tami made us all some unforgetably amazing pizza. I'm still thinking about it. 

Since we were going to be in NY on Thanksgiving Day, Tami and I thought it would be good to do a little feast the Sunday before with the Fullers(my aunt and uncle). It was our first time cooking the turkey and most of the trimmings. It was okay, but we all prefer our moms cooking. Despite the mediocre food it was a beautiful day and we were all in good company.

The highlight of the day for the kids was playing outside on the Kamerath's swings.

They have a giant hill in their backyard with a rope swing tied to one of the tall trees.

I have to admit that it was a little terrifying to see my little girl flying so high in the air.

It's nice to see these too haven't out grown snuggling.

We spent monday touring the mall. We've been there so many times I didn't really take many pictures. Jared was excited to finally take a tour of the capitol, we hadn't been since the new remodel. It was actually a little disappointing and nothing like the self guided tour we tour as teenagers so long ago.