Thanksgiving in Destin

Last November, we made plans to go to Destin with friends for Thanksgiving. Due to Covid, the house we planned to rent at an awesome rate wasn't finished in time. Matt's friend offered us the same deal this Thanksgiving, so off we went! It was a relaxing weekend with lots of beach time, games, and chatting with dear friends. 

We went out to dinner the first night in a shopping center that had this humongous Christmas tree.

How many people fit in the hot tub?

The water was too cold for me, but the kids still had fun!

For our Thanksgiving dinner we had Cafe Rio.

Thanksgiving pies

Grocery shopping

Carter and Caleb helping with crepes for breakfast one morning.

Thanksgiving Camping

We planned to go camping during the Thanksgiving week off of school, but as the rain chances increased, we decided to pull out. Camping in the rain is not fun. Others in my family decided to chance it, so we joined them for Thanksgiving day. We played outdoor games at the campsite, ate lunch, went canoeing, then went on a hike.

Picture of all the campers who braved the weather despite the high chance of rain that was supposed to happen during the night. They were dry! They ate breakfast, packed up, and left before the rain came.

Thanksgiving 2018

We made plans to go camping Friday/Saturday after getting together for a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday, but the weather showed 60-75% chance of rain and the temperature predictions kept dropping to the low 50s. Cold + rain = not fun camping. So we altered our plans and cancelled our reservation and opted for camping activities instead. Of course the weather ended up being beautiful...

Roasted hot dogs for lunch

S'mores

Playing at a park

Going on a hike

Thanksgiving 2017

My older sister, Ariane, hosted Thanksgiving this year and did an amazing job on the turkey. All the food was wonderful!

 Playing games after dinner. We mostly played Reverse Charades

Austin and Morgan enjoying some popcorn after dinner. 

Unfortunately Austin fell off the stool a few minutes later and got a nasty bruise on his forehead. Mommy's fault. :(

Thanksgiving Break

Over Thanksgiving Break, we went to the downtown Children's Museum.

Caleb loved building his own car out of legos to see if it could survive this racetrack.

Carter loved the rocket launcher

The face paint crayons were a big hit.

We also went to Pump It Up during the break so the boys could get some energy out. We spent Thanksgiving with Matt's family and then celebrated the holiday with my family the following day.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It is so fun to have both of our families near so we can see both on each holiday. (Plus we love hitting up two Thanksgiving feasts each year!) We enjoyed going to Matt's Uncle Chris' house for a Thanksgiving lunch and spending time with his extended family. They are all so relaxed, laid-back, and so sweet. Uncle Chris has a large plot of land with cows and chickens, so it's very exciting for the kids.

The bull that approached us at the fence.

After lunch, there was some face painting to occupy the kids.

Caleb and Carter with their MeeMa

(Poor Carter was ready for a nap.)

MeeMa and Papa

Matt's family minus Rachael's husband. Rachael is a proud new Mama to Bryan Eugene. Matt is standing next to his younger brother. Can you believe it? Matt and his eldest sister look just alike favoring their mom, and Rachael and Patrick look just alike favoring their dad. I would never be able to guess that Matt and Patrick are related or Matt and Rachael for that matter. It's funny how those things work.

Back row: Olivia, Jeff, Rebecca, me, Matt, Patrick, baby Bryan, Rachael

Front row: David Earl, Abby, McKayla, MeeMa, Carter, Papa, Caleb, Hunter

After a Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house, some of us took a walk to get the kids out of the house for a bit. Here's Dallin, Carter, and Caleb with my dad.

Over yummy pies, we played some family games. All in all, such a relaxing day (besides all the cooking). I love spending time with family and playing games!