So Very Thankful

We had lots of wonderful family to share Thanksgiving with this year. The day started with the parade. Ike really seemed to love it this year. It's fun to see him begin to appreciate more of the things that we love about this holiday. J truly outdid himself. Everyone adored the scrumptious cheese he selected and arranged.

J also made sage stuffing (from scratch!), cranberry relish (gotta have the famous "Mama Stamberg" version), gravy (with some help from Tante B & Aunt Les), and the most deliciously moist turkey we've EVER had. Uncle Mike brought sweet potatoes, which were a big favorite of Ike's. Aunt Les brought her now famous pumpkin cobbler, squash casserole and apple crumb pie. We were also joined by Lillian's "Mom Mom Sue," who brought the green bean casserole. Lillian's cousins, Sam and Maura, came too, along with their parents, Ivy and Ilan. It was great to have everyone together, and Tante B and Gwee were a terrific team after dinner, cleaning and loading the dishwasher so that I had almost no work to do at all!

Ike and Lils enjoyed some outdoor playtime, since temperatures hovered in the upper 60s/70s in the late afternoon. Uncle Matty and Uncle Mike shared some soccer moves with our little kickers.

At one point, we caught three of our favorite men playing with assorted media devices.

I must be the luckiest woman in the world, since J LOVES to prepare food AND help with the Thanksgiving cleanup. We have so much to be thankful for!

My Blue Heaven

Ike has now slept peacefully for four consecutive nights in his new room. It isn't too different from his old one since the crib, dresser, and night stand were all moved there last Saturday. Thanks to some help from Uncle Michael, J successfully moved everything except for the very relaxing glider that will have to remain in the nursery. Just about every time we go upstairs Ike says "Ike's blue room!" I'm glad he likes it, because it'll be his room as long as we're in this house (which will be a really LONG time).

Holiday Cards

Okay, I'm not normally into product promotion on our blog, but this deal was WAY too good to pass up! Shutterfly is offering 50 free holiday cards to Bloggers!

I've used Shutterfly time and time again for invitations, holiday cards, and gifts. The site is on my favorites, and I I often go to it to work on my latest project. I love the fact that I can start on something and go back to it when I have time. Having a toddler requires that I use every little chunk of time I can find.

I was recently browsing through the MANY snail mail catalogs I receive for holiday cards. Shutterfly certainly has the best variety/prices. Since we don't celebrate Christmas, I usually like to send out a New Year's Card. That way, no one gets offended. Here are just a few that I liked:

I like that this one incorporates the photo into the print.

I just really like the graphic on this one.

Since we like to send out a "Year at a Glance" with our cards, this might be a good option too.

This one is fun too!

You can find cards here: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

This year and last year, I've enjoyed sending a family calendar to J's side of the family. It seems to be a hit! http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

Techno Tike

Ike has been enjoying videos on sesamestreet.org for quite a while. I like to because I can control how long each "show" is. Just yesterday, we tried some of the games on the site. Ike REALLY loved a game called "Find the Letter," which features one of his favorites, "Cookah Monster."

Three different letters appear on the screen. Cookie Monster calls out the name of one of the letters for Ike to hover to and click. He's done it MANY times, and he is so proud! Right after clicking, he looks up at me, says the letter, and grins from ear to ear!

Pardon Me, Is That the Chattanooga Choo Choo?

We just got back from a two night trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was the first trip with Ike that didn't include a visit with family. We left Thursday morning and got there in just under three hours. It's definitely a great family destination.

Upon our afternoon arrival, we went to a place called the Blue Plate for lunch. Ike happily munched on mac and cheese, corn muffins, and fruit in this really cool place that felt like a mix between a diner and a modern club. Their "Blue Chips" we homemade potato chips...YUMMY!

After too much eating, we decided to walk off lunch. We headed towards the Tennessee River and the Walnut Street Bridge, the world's longest pedestrian bridge. It connects downtown Chattanooga (where we stayed) with the north shore. After a little bit of wandering, we found the bridge and walked across to Coolidge Park, which is named for a WWII veteran. It has a beautifully restored 100 years old carousel, where rides were only $1! Daddy took Ike for a ride on one of the more unique animals on it, a frog. This was Ike's third ride on a carousel, but only his second time on one of the animals. This carousel went a lot faster than the one he'd been on. After a few revolutions, J made the decision to move them to a more stable bench, where Ike looked a lot happier. After the ride, I realized that both of our rechargeable batteries were out of "juice," so no more photos of that day.

The next day, we had breakfast at the Cherry Street Diner and then headed to the Creative Discovery Museum. This place had tons of fantastic, hands-on fun! There was a reduced admission rate because of their exhibition halls was under construction, but there was still plenty to do. Ike loved the water play area, the arts area, and the percussion room. J saved the day and bought a disposable camera from the gift shop since we didn't have batteries for our camera.

After a quick stop at Chattanooga Cupcake (Key Lime...excellent!), we went to a Sweet Peppers Deli for lunch. We figured Ike was ready for a nap, since we were certainly tired. He was far too excited for napping, though. Following a little "down time" in the hotel room, we went to the Tennessee Aquarium to visit the fish, otters, and penguins. We'd heard that this aquarium was smaller and more manageable than the Georgia Aquarium, and that was true. One of the buildings featured a rooftop butterfly garden, which was so neat to show our little guy.

Following the aquarium visit, we went to a local pizza favorite, Lupi's. It reminded us a little of Mellow Mushroom, but was much simpler and perhaps a little better. Ike was happy to munch on the wheat pizza crust for dinner. After a short evening walk, we headed back to the hotel. Ike hadn't had a nap in two whole days, so he was certainly tired.

A trip to Chattanooga wouldn't be complete without a visit to the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo. It's now a hotel and conference center, but visitors can check it out for free. We took some photos with the conductor and walked around the gardens a bit before hitting to road to go back home. Ike didn't nap at all on the way home. We'll have to get back to napping now that we're not on vacation!

I promise to post more photos when I get the "throwaway" camera developed. Enjoy these for now!