Thanksgiving weekend in Jacksonville

This year, we took the kids and Harley to Grandma and Paw paw's house in Jacksonville. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day of great food and even better sleep. A lot of sleep. So much sleep that I have no pictures from Thursday.
Friday, we went down to St. Augustine for lunch at the Columbia Restaurant, one of our favorite spots there.

After a great dinner, with mediocre service (but we won't get into that), we walked around St. Augustine, shoulder to shoulder with the thousands of other people who decided to spend Black Friday away from the malls. We did a bit of hat shopping,

and then we made our way back to the car.  We drove back into Jacksonville and visited Granny.

The kids love to visit Granny, and they even picked out some special M&Ms for her as she loves her M&Ms and Coca Cola.

On Saturday, before travelling back home, the kids picked oranges and tangerines off the trees that their grandfather has lovingly grown.

Danny played around a lot,

while Megan was serious about picking fruit and watching Harley and Daisy play.

However, Harley seemed more interested in drinking out of the bird bath than playing!

While we had such a great time and were all sad to leave, it is always good to come home. Thanks for the great trip Mom and Dad! 

 

We will miss you, Jill...

One of our friends, Jill McArthur, died this weekend. I have known Jill since my days of volunteering as a victim advocate, and George has worked with her (closely at times) for many years. Although we have not seen each other often since I hung up my TPD volunteer hat, Jill will always hold a special place in our hearts.

We love you, and we will miss you, Jill! 

Thanksgiving memories

As Turkey Day approaches, I think about all of the wonderful Thanksgivings that we have had, and I thank God for the wonderful family that we have all been blessed to have. As I was looking for a picture for this message, I went down memory lane a bit. Here are a few of those memories:

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

In preparation for Thanksgiving weekend...

George had the day off with the kids, and in preparation for the holiday, he took Danny to get a much needed haircut.

He looks so handsome with his new 'do, but I always am kind of sad when he gets his beautiful strawberry-blond locks chopped off. One attribute my kids share is beautiful hair!

A weekend filled with fun...

I want to tell you about out great fall weekend! But first...

I have to show you Danny's Native American project on the Seminole Indians that he turned in on Friday. He was so excited and a little nervous about giving a speech on it to his class, but he did just fine.

On Saturday, after early morning karate, we went out to Bradley's Country Store for Bradley's Fun Day, which is always held the Saturday before Thanksgiving. When we got there, we were so hungry that we immediately headed for the Bradley's booth where they had their fresh sausage dogs.

If you've never had Bradley's fresh sausages, they are definitely a local spicy treat. Bradley's Country Store sells the fresh pork sausages on a regular basis, but on Fun Day, they had a huge grill where they cooked enormous amounts of their sausages. Mmm, mmm, good.
All throughout the field beside the store, vendors sold food and country goods to what seemed like all the residents of Tallahassee. After the sausage dog, we got cheese steak, fried pickles, chicken and fries, kettle corn, and a gyro.

The hardest part about eating all of this good food was fighting off the bees that seemed to hover everywhere. Country crafts were available for sale, including our favorites, these "redneck wine glasses"

which are really mason jars on stems. Too funny!

One booth had handmade pottery sold by the potter. We loved the uniqueness of the pieces, and I added this piece to my little collection of pieces from the mountains.

We had a good time, but the bees were too much. We had to leave, but I got this shot of George and the kids next to the lake at Bradley's Retreat.

It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the rest of it at home with Harley. We cleaned up a little , the kids played

(Danny played boy scout, and no, that isn't a pacifier - it's a ring pop), and we changed out the chalk decoration in Danny's room from Halloween

to Thanksgiving.

Sunday, after church, the two George Creamers and Zachary pressure washed the house (and George's shirt unfortunately) to get it ready for Christmas decorations. The very best part of the weekend? A trip to Walgreens where Danny picked up a Justin Bieber toothbrush that plays "Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh! Like Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh!"

Now he can annoy his sister and practice good dental hygiene at the same time. It's a winner!

Elementary Thanksgiving Dinner

Yesterday, I had the privilege of eating Thanksgiving Dinner with Danny at school. In past years, late lunch times have resulted in sub par selections, but this year we ate early.

The turkey chunks were big, the rolls were fresh, and everything was good. We had a great time.

I'm reading, really!

I'm not tired at all...

After a long day, Danny made an attempt to do his reading homework tonight - an attempt that lasted about 5 minutes. I couldn't resist getting a shot of my sweet, tired boy.

Upward Celebration

Tonight was Danny's Upward Basketball celebration at the church.

We had a great time this season, and I am so proud of both Danny (who kicked some booty this season) and Coach George (who devoted what little spare time he had to being with Danny).  Here are some good shots from the season.

A productive weekend...

This weekend was so productive, I don't know where to start. Somehow, the changing of this tree...

got me in the mood to clean, so Friday we took down all of the Halloween decorations and cleaned the house for the holiday season. We also took Harley to the vet, picked up a piece of furniture from George's parents (thanks, Mom and Dad!), had some great Mexican food, and pretty much had a full day.

Saturday, after an awesome breakfast, Danny went to karate, played his last basketball game of the season, and then we all ate a quick lunch and cleaned up the yard. After mowing and "raking" (which means bagging leaves picked up by the mower), we went to Macaroni Grill, where we had the best mussel appetizer I've ever tasted.

It is a spicy mussel bake with pepperoni, and it is heavenly.  After a trip to World Market for Thanksgiving wines, we were back home for the night. George and I commented on how old we're getting because we both fell asleep watching tv at 9:15!

Sunday morning, we all went to church, and afterward went for lunch at Killearn Country Club.

It was a beautiful day, and we sat outside, enjoying the good food and the nice breeze. Doesn't George look like he's enjoying it?

When we got finished, Danny and I started on his Native American project...

while George, Zachary and Megan ran some errands and cleaned out the cars.

After laundry, bills, and other regular household stuff, I was pooped! I need a weekend to recover from my weekend!