Thanksgiving Week 2013

Grammie and Grandpa and Caroline and Zella came to visit us!  Caroline and Zella had never been here before, and Grammie and Grandpa hadn't been here since Bennett's baptism/Cal's baby blessing.  We LOVED having them here.  They arrived the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  We spent the first few days here in Atlanta, and then left on Tuesday to do a fun little trip with them.

Sam and Elle picked the four of the them up for the airport around lunchtime on Saturday, so they stopped for lunch at Dwarf House.  Once they got to the house, we all just mugged on Zella.  She is so cute, and we all loved her, but especially Cal!

Sunday morning Grandpa and Caroline took the kids on a walk around the neighborhood.

 And we ate Sunday dinner all together in the dining room, which is reserved for guests, and always lots of fun.

Cal was pretty soft with Zella, besides the occasional puzzle piece in the face.

 The highlight of their time in Atlanta was lunch on Monday at the American Girl Store Bistro.  I have wanted to do this with the girls ever since we moved here, so it was SO nice of Grammie to take us to do it.  We brought all our dolls, and Grammie even brought Caroline's Samantha doll all the way from Provo.

 This is how Molly looked halfway into the meal -- Reagan had her all decked out!

 The food was pretty good and everyone had a great time.  Elle is started to grow out of her American Girl phase, and so it was fun to be able to do this before she completely leaves her dolls behind.

 I was there too!

Did I mention how much Cal LOVED Zella.  Here he is trying to give her bones.  He really wouldn't leave her alone if she was awake.

Tuesday we headed out of town.  It was along drive to Hilton Head -- there was a traffic accident that slowed us down, and then there was a ton of rain, which slowed us down.  We got there late Tuesday night and just went to bed.

Wednesday we tried to enjoy the beach, but it was FREEZING cold.  Like, the coldest November in 100 years.  Kind of a bummer.  Cal and I hung out in the car while the others got a taste of the beach.

Trent drove down from Maryland on Wednesday.  That night we drove out to the Lighthouse, and then ate dinner at a yummy (not fancy) seafood place called the Sea Shack.

 Thursday we did a day trip to Savannah.  Grammie and Grandpa had never been to Hilton Head or Savannah, and they thought Savannah was so absolutely beautiful.  We drove around a bit in the morning, taking in the squares and the Forsyth Fountain.

 Grammie found a delicious restaurant for us to eat for Thanksgiving.  It is The Pirate House, right along the Savannah Riverfront.  It was a buffet, and along with the traditional Thanksgiving fare like turkey and sweet potatoes, there was salmon and shrimp and friend chicken and macaroni and cheese and chicken tenders.  All the food was delicious.  And the desserts -- talk about amazing.  We had Key Lime Pie and Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Fudge Cake and Coconut Cream Cake and Banana Pudding and it was all amazing.  Campbell literally did not eat a thing -- she did not have a single bite of food (she is just getting pickier and pickier).  But Cal did a good job of eating.  Cute boy!

 Reagan wasn't too sure about the pirate walking around the restaurant!  He seemed friendly enough though.  I don't usually equate Thanksgiving with pirates, but it was a fun change!

After dinner we tried to walk it off a bit by walking along the Riverfront.  Most of the shops and such were closed since it was Thanksgiving, but we enjoyed taking it all in.  The shot of a Riverboat and a palm tree is very Savannah to me!

We lost Campbell for about 15 minutes that day.  It was very scary -- she wandered further down the river while the rest of us had turned back towards the cars.  This is unfortunately becoming a pattern with her -- we have lost her at Disneyworld and the beach -- it is always her.  She is a wanderer.  But because it has happened several times before, she recognized after a bit that she was lost and found a group of people and told them she was lost.  They kept her with them till we found her.  So scary.  Extra thankful for my kids and family after that scare.

Friday morning we got up and drove to Charleston, another new place for Wood and Susan.  We went straight to our hotel and checked in, and then walked down to the water and took the boat out to Fort Sumter.  Cal's sleeping schedule was WAY off on this trip -- he didn't sleep well at night and wasn't getting naps either.  We were thrilled/relieved that he slept the entire boat ride over.

That evening we had pizza and pop night in our hotel room while Grammie and Grandpa and Caroline and Trent went out on the town and Elle babysat a sleeping Zella.

Saturday morning we walked around King Street and the Historic area of Charleston before we headed back home to Atlanta and Trent and Caroline and Zella headed back to Maryland.  I really do think Charleston is such a beautiful city -- definitely my favorite spot we have visited since moving to the South.  It was great to have an excuse to go back there to take Wood and Susan.

On our way out of town, we stopped at the Charles Pickney home.  He was influential in the writing of the Constitution, and is from Charleston so they are very proud of him.  Sam just wanted to stop so he could use his Golden Eagle pass.  He likes feeling like he is getting his money worth out of that baby.

Today was just had a nice quiet morning, attended our church meetings, and then had one more family dinner with Grammie and Grandpa before they flew out this evening.  We are so grateful they came to visit, and hope we didn't wear them out too much!