thanksgiving in new england

We headed East to spend Thanksgiving with the Massachusetts McMahon's (as we like to call them). Steve had a few extra days off, so we spent over a week with Bill, Karen and Emily, and T, Di and Taylor. We got in just in time to watch the Patriots beat the Jets on Sunday- it's always to fun to watch the local team, especially when they win! On Monday, the girls got to spend a couple hours out on the golf course...hard to believe that we got out there long before the guys did! We had a great time, even though it was a bit wet and chilly. I can no longer refer to myself as a "fair weather golfer", as I braved the elements TWICE IN ONE WEEK!

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent preparing for the holiday meal on Thursday. We were joined by Karen's mom, Chris, and her friend Polly, as well as Karen's sister, Suzanne. The food was wonderful, and the company was fabulous. I experienced a first on Thanksgiving Day, 2009...oysters on the half shell! One of Bill & Karen's friends was kind enough to share some of his harvest so we had them as an appetizer. I absolutely LOVED them! You can bet I'll be finding a fresh seafood restaurant somewhere around here! (The guys did finally get a round of golf in on Thursday, phew!)

On Friday night, Emily watched her cousins so that the adults could go out for a couple hours. We had an excellent dinner at Amari's in Sandwich. On Saturday morning, we golfed in the String Scrambler at the local par 3 course...Karen, Di, Eileen and I were the only women on the course, as the temps were in the 40's. I firmly believe that we had more fun than any other group out there though, so it made no difference that we came in "Not First Place", as they so kindly call it.

Sunday brought more football fun with the Vikings beating up on the Bears. We spent most of the day at T & Di's, and the kids had tons of fun exploring all of Taylor's great toys. The three of them had a great week together getting reacquainted, with just a few 3-4 year old moments. Emily was a huge help all week entertaining and caring for the kids. She's a great big cousin!

Thanks, MA Mc's for a great week. We look forward to the next time we're all together again...

An early morning departure from MSP

Some fun in the play area at BOS

Golf Self-Portrait #1

A couple extra cute ladies in the family photo

Mozart?

Happy Thanksgiving from the McMen

The Kitchen Crew

Dressed for dinner

We clean up pretty well!

Golf Self Portrait #2

drake's 1st birthday

My nephew, Drake, turned one on November 5th, and his mom and dad decided that they would throw him a family bash somewhere between Colorado and Minnesota so that his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins could all be there to celebrate with him. We all met in Grand Island, Nebraska the first weekend in November for a few days of family fun. We had such a great time swimming, playing, eating, drinking and just spending time together. Drake is such a sweet, smart, funny and loving little boy...thanks to Cody and Jill for sharing him and his birthday celebration with our family!!

tricks and treats

Halloween night was the coldest we've had in a couple years, so we all had to bundle up before we headed out trick-or-treating. We stayed in our own neighborhood this year, and the kids had fun seeing neighbors that they know. We were out and about for about 40 minutes, and of course the kids made a haul. When we got home, we turned our lights on for the kids that were still out...Olivia loved handing out candy almost as much as collecting it herself!

Sleeping Beauty and Tuck the Turtle ready to head out

Our first stop

A quick stop for a picture in front of the crazy "Halloween House"

Sorting through their loot after we got home

harvest party at school

Jackson and Olivia had their Harvest Party at preschool on Thursday. They got to wear their costumes, bring treats to pass out to their classmates, and play lots of fun games...and I got to attend the party, too! It's always so much fun to see them interact with their friends in school- much different from watching them with friends at home. They're growing up so fast!

So for Halloween this year, Jackson decided that he wanted to be Tuck the Turtle from The WonderPets (a Nick Jr. show that he absolutely loves). He often pretends to be Tuck, so it wasn't really much of a stretch. Olivia decided on November 1st LAST YEAR that she wanted to be a princess this year...she just needed some time to figure out which princess suited her best. She ended up going as Sleeping Beauty, and loved every minute of it. And since she spends much of her time at home dressed up as various princesses, it wasn't much of a stretch for her either!

Tuck the Turtle and Sleeping Beauty

I had to get a picture of the back of Jackson's cape...too cute!

The class posing before the party started

A classic face...reacting to the story of all the gross things

that were going into the witches brew

Taking his turn adding ingredients and stirring the brew

fall fun

We've been having lots of fun over the last few weeks with various activities from birthday celebrations to field trips and Halloween preparation. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to.

Out for lunch to celebrate Steve's birthday
Steve's birthday cake...Boston Cream Pie, made by yours truly (the non-baker). It turned out really GOOD!

Hanging out with Mr. Scarecrow

The kids went on a field trip to a local apple orchard for school. I got to chaperon, which was lots of fun. The best part may have been the ride on the school bus...it was a first for both Jackson and Olivia! The next couple pictures are also from the field trip.

Steve and I celebrating our friend Mike's 40th birthday at a great bash hosted by his wife. We had a fantastic time!

Jackson was the best at cleaning the seeds out of the pumpkins...we called him "The Seed Guy" for the rest of the day and he was so proud!

Olivia got into it, too, but she wasn't as enthusiastic about getting in up to her elbows!

Jackson was telling her that he would take care of cleaning the guts and seeds out because he was the best seed guy...he was right. He did not leave a single seed in either of the two pumpkins we carved!

girls weekend

Every fall three of my college roomies and I try to get together for a weekend, and this year we went on a little adventure to a vacation rental near Tomah, Wisconsin. The log cabin is literally in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by corn fields, gravel roads, farm houses, and apparently a working vineyard (we didn't see a ton of evidence of this, however!). We've determined that spending a ton of money to head to a destination is really a waste since all we really want to do is sit around and talk, eat, and drink and this place worked out great for all of those things. We did venture into the metropolis of Tomah on Saturday afternoon to check out the shops, and wound up spending several hours entertaining ourselves and some of the locals at a little hole in the wall bar (Wisconsin truly has the best to offer in this department!). But to be honest, I think the four of us can have fun ANYWHERE, and that's one of the reasons I love these ladies so much! It doesn't matter how long it's been since we've been together- we can just pick right back up like no time has passed at all. Thanks to Lezlie, Carrie and Heather for being such fabulous friends...my life wouldn't be the same without each of you in it!!

lil' vikings fans

Steve was gone the last weekend in September, so I took full advantage of the opportunity to dress BOTH kids in purple and gold instead of having to put one in red, white and blue gear (which I really don't mind doing, just for the record- I'm a Patriots fan, too!). I absolutely love football season...Sundays are probably my favorite day of the week from September through December (longer, if things go well!). It doesn't hurt that the Vikings are 6-0...