Thanksgiving in NY

This year we decided to head to New York to visit Tim's family for Thanksgiving. We have not been back to NY for three years. We were all excited to visit with family and catch up, but not to excited for the journey there. I had so many things for the kids to do on the plane that Ian only watched a 2 minute Duck Tales video clip the entire day. The flights went surprising well. While sitting waiting for take off I realized we did not have Aaron's blanket. This is not any blanket. It is a minky blanket that he loves and will not go anywhere or sleep without it. The moment I realized this they also announced that we would be stuck on the plane for another hour due to some problem in Chicago. We immediately called nan and she went on a wild goose chase through New York for a similar blanket. Amazingly enough there was no crying, screaming, or whining on the flight:)

The biggest hit on the plane was the small bag of windup toys I brought that Aaron is unwrapping. The second was the puff stickers because you can stick them to the back of the seat and then pull them off and move them. They also enjoyed playdoh, magic coloring books, finger puppets, dry erase board, magic doodle, and new paperback books. I had also purchased a cars 2 coloring book that uses a water pen to color. If you are looking for a good stocking stuffer these were amazing. You fill the pen with water then color on the white page and color appears. The best part is that is drys white and you can do it all over again. It kept Ian entertained for a good solid 45 minutes. When we landed in New York the boys were exhausted. They slept in the car on the drive to Papa and Nana's house where we put both of them right into their beds. Nan and her friend Melissa had found the perfect blanket for Aaron (which he now refuses to use his old one since we have been home). I have never been able to transition Ian from sleeping in a car straight to bed so I found it quite miraculous.

The next morning we headed to visit Nana at work. Ian loved all the attention! He also had fun playing with the children, eating snacks, and getting to see all the reptiles that Nana had there.

Feeding the chameleon a caterpillar

We then headed into the city to visit the American Museum of Natural History and see the balloons being blown up for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Below is a picture of the boys just outside of Central Park.
It was raining a little so we decided to put the canopy on the backpack carrier for Aaron. Everywhere we went this received the MOST attention. My favorite comment was a women hitting her husband telling him that they definitely needed one of those. She also quickly added that they needed a body builder to carrier it as well. I am not sure that speaks highly of her husband but Tim was feeling pretty good. We planned on heading to the museum first and then checking out the balloons after. However when we got there they already had a lot of the balloons inflated. We were also able to watch them begin to blow up some of the bigger character balloons. The best part is hardly anyone was there, which everyone loved. The amount of people it takes to inflate all of the balloons is insane. Ian enjoyed riding on everyone shoulders for an even better view.
We headed into the Museum and had a bite for lunch (which Ian told me was his favorite part of the trip -silly boy). Then explored there new aquatics exhibit. The pictures do not do it any justice. You really have to see it for yourself. The whale was amazing.Ian, Wendy, Andrew, and Maddie laying under the whale.
Ian got along with Maddie so well. Maddie was very patient with him and was great at showing him all of the different exhibits in the museum, and keeping up with him.The kids took some pictures in the photo booth that had all of us laughing.

Another one of our favorite rooms.

We will definitely have to visit the museum another day. It was incredible! As we left the museum this is what we came outside too....
Millions of people looking at all of the balloons. The balloons are inflated around the block of the Museum. I was glad that we were there early. It was way more entertaining to watch the balloons inflate and see the amount of people it takes to even begin to inflate the balloons. Plus, hardly anyone was there (future reference we were there at 1:30pm). Aaron immediately fell asleep when we got outside.
As for Ian, he was ready to roll! Buzz Lightyear behind us. As you can see it took us a long time to get through the crowd and back to our cars. We then headed to Uncle Jim and Aunt Suzanne's house for a delicious dinner. Aaron was analyzing Grant.

Ian showing Aunt Suzanne all of our pictures from the day on my phone.

Aaron now analyzing Uncle Jim.

Ian took this picture of Maddie and Aaron. I know it is a little blurry but I thought it was too cute. Grant showed Aaron that it was fun to smack his hands on the glass table. Aaron thought it was pretty exciting. Aunt Suzanne even pulled out a picture of Grant as a baby doing the exact same thing.

It was a day jam packed with tons of family fun, and we all had a blast!


Turkey Day!!!
We had thanksgiving dinner at the MacNair house. Maddie and Wendy brought over a Teepee projects for the kids to do. Ian absolutely loved it. However give Ian scissors and a glue stick and he will be entertained for hours. April and her family were unable to make it. They were struck with the stomach flu and stuck at home.

Wendy helping Aaron build a teepee

Uncle Jim (probably wondering why I take so many pictures), Andrew cheese grinning for the camera, & Grant learning to ignore me

Grant locking Ian in jail

Aaron and I

Aunt Suzanne and Nan preparing a delicious dinner

Eating dinner

Aaron playing with Papa

We did not get a chance to read through our thankful list because I left it home. I wanted to be sure to keep a record of it. Ian and I every morning would write down what we were thankful for. Basically he would talk and I would write. My favorite are decorations (Tim and I took down all of the halloween decorations that night and Ian was not very happy with us in the morning), and two ovens (we made a lot of cookies that day). Yes, there is one blank spot we left for Tim to write what he was thankful for. He mentioned he had to think about it and would do it in a minute. Yes, apparently his man minute is still going?!?!

It was a wonderful day. We are sorry that April and her family were not able to make it.

Black Friday
We had no plans of partaking in black Friday. Although we decided that we would head to the mall later in the afternoon to see if we could find Ian a pair of shoes. While in the city he kept complaining that his feet were hurting. We knew he needed some new shoes we just did not realize how badly he needed new shoes. I think it is bad when the sales associate asks Ian to stop curling his toes in the new shoes he is trying on. You would not believe how difficult it was to find him a size 11 pair of shoes. Before we left Ian and Maddie had fun playing on the swing set and in the fort outside.

At the mall they did the trampoline bungee together. Ian was hesitant for a whole second and then was ready to fly high. He kept informing us that he was taller than we were.

(Add video Clip) Aaron did not mind the mall as long as he had food in his hands he was happy. Below he is eating a pretzel.

He came home and fell asleep in the family room watching Megamind with Maddie. Infact I am not sure that he even saw the opening credits.

That night April and her family were able to come and stay over night. The kids had a blast playing together and loved all of the attention. Below Lily, Evan, Aaron, Gracie, and Ian. Aaron loved the Little Tikes car his parents had.

We all enjoyed a spaghetti dinner -especially Aaron.

Thought this was a cute picture of Maddie balancing the block on her head.

Train Show at the Botanical Gardens
This was very impressive! All of the buildings you see below have been built out of natural materials such as bark, twigs, acorns, fruits, pinecones, and more. While I don't think the kids appreciated the amazing buildings they loved watching all of the trains.

The picture on the right above cracks me up. Sure it doesn't seem like much but Grant is currently giving Ian a ten minute lesson on Water Molecules. The funny part is Ian is politely listening to everything he has to say and trying to process it all.

Most of the grandkids with the train conductor. Andrew is in the background and Jake is missing from the picture.

Some of the family at the botanical gardens after getting off the tram ride.

Leaving the park Aaron is sleeping as usual.

On the way home in the car all of the boys were asleep. Evan and Ian had wanted to ride in the car together. Ian was asleep before we could even pull out of our parking spot. Before you knew it in the next couple of minutes everyone in the back was asleep.

Tree Cutting
The next day we headed over to Tim's grandparents house to take care of some tree that were falling into the pond. Below is the picture of the guys pulling (or getting ready to pull everyone looks to be doing something different) the tree down.

Ian and Aaron had a blast at their house. Ian loved playing with Paige (Grant's girlfriend) and gathering all the sticks around the yard. Aaron also enjoyed playing with the sticks, dirt, rocks, and everything else.

We headed back to his parents house and packed for the journey home. Plus had some of Tim's favorite Danny's Pizzeria. Nan put on a puppet show for the kids before bedtime which is Ian's favorite. While Aaron played in the rocking chair.



Homeward Bound
We headed out of New York at 6 in the morning. Around 10 o'clock at previous night Aaron woke up with awful croup. It was a bit of a surprise since as a whole we have all been very health all year. Aaron had an ear infection at 10 months and that is the only sickness/infection he has ever had. After being up with him for hours he was tired all day and so were we! Our flight from New York to Dallas was uneventful and everything went well. Tim was beyond excited to fly into Dallas so that he could enjoy some BBQ brisket on a bake potato (he had this four years ago when we got stuck in Dallas overnight and still remembers it). After searching through the airport he realized that was ate at Dickie's BBQ a few years ago. He grabbed a menu and read that they are now a franchise and have a store in American Fork (10 minutes from our home). We all had a good laugh. He had waited four years and it could have been a 10 minute drive.

When leaving Dallas we sat on the plane for about 45 minutes. The pilot then came over the intercom and mention that there was a mechanical problem with the front wheel and we would need to find a new plane. Aaron was super tired so we pulled down his seat and let him snooze in the isle.

Once we loaded the new plane (30 minutes later) we were off and everyone was asleep. Except for me.

Yes this is how Ian fell asleep. Too cute!


We finally made it into Salt Lake City, felt the freezing cold dry air and knew we were home! We then loaded into our car and got the kids all buckled up. Ian asked why we were in our car and not Papa and Nan's car. Then it clicked, and the tears began to flow. He wanted to be back in New York playing with Papa, Nan, and all of his fun cousins. Hopefully we will see them all soon! We all had a great time and were so thankful to be able to spend the holiday with family.