thanksgiving

Just in time for Christmas it's... a massive Thanksgiving post! Time to catch up on our blog before it's a new year. We went down to California to visit Laura's side of the family. Brooklyn gets her own seat now -- and it might be worth paying for three because she was a great airplane buddy!

She was very excited to see everyone and felt right at home in no time. We stopped at an aquarium in Long Beach right after they picked us up from the airport.

B was pretty excited to see all the fish.

She even got to touch some starfish.

It was a fun little aquarium and Brooklyn enjoyed it -- and she hasn't even seen Finding Nemo yet!

Fish faces.

Even though we technically live near the Pacific Ocean now, there's something different about being by the coast in California -- even on a cool, windy day.

We tried taking some quick family photos -- as well as some candid shots and portraits.

One of the days we were there we went to a fish hatchery.

They had fish food you could buy for a quarter and it kept Brooklyn very entertained.

She was very careful about when and where to drop her little pellets of fish food.

And she loved watching them splash to get it.

Rainbow trout. These were some of the bigger ones, as opposed to the younger ones in the first photo.

Emily and David were great buddies and helpers.

They shared the piano...

...and played with Brooklyn at the park.

Side note about the park. There was a little girl there who was basically freestyle climbing all over all the tall equipment... unattended... in roller skates. No, you didn't read that wrong. Roller skates. She's obviously destined for the X-games later in life, but really? Austin couldn't watch -- it looked like a broken neck waiting to happen, but apart from a couple harder-than-normal falls, she was fine. Crazy.

B loves see saws.

Emily was very nice to sit with her.

But who can resist this cute little face?!

Brooklyn loved having Grandma all to herself for a few days before the rest of the family came.

Swinging...

...with daddy.

On Thanksgiving Day we all opened some small gifts that a family friend had sent -- it was great to have everyone from Laura's side of the family there, as well as Grandma and Grandpa Fitt and Uncle David.

Mary's girls are growing up just as fast as Brooklyn. Laura snapped this great shot of Jane when we were playing basketball before dinner.

Guessing game.

We had a very tasty Thanksgiving dinner together -- lots of traditional dishes, from turkey to stuffing to yams...

...to homemade apple pie. Yum.

Uncle David continued his tradition of dressing as Santa Claus and having everyone sit with him and tell him what we wanted for Christmas. Brooklyn was a little nervous but Uncle David could tell she was scared and pulled down his beard to show her it was just him. What a sweetheart!

She was very happy to get a "candy can" from Santa.

One of Brooklyn's favorite toys at Grandma's house was this little broom. We put in a word with the guy in the red suit.

She loved playing in the leaves -- one of the things that we'll enjoy about having our own yard someday.

We thought this photo was pretty great too.

We had a great time in California with family -- we enjoyed being the first ones there and taking it easy the first few days but also enjoyed having everyone come and all crowding together at the table(s) for meals. We have a lot to be thankful for and family is one of the things -- if not the thing -- we treasure the very most.