Thanksgiving Weekend. Part B.

I was going to be all kinds of sneaky and give you TW Part B and Part C, but then figured why not just let you have it all.

Warning: there are lots of pictures ahead.

My ILs left on Saturday morning. We rushed home, changed sheets, washed towels, prepped for lunch, and by 1pm, one of my very best friends, N; her boyfriend M; his daughters C and A; and their chocolate lab and beagle had arrived.

Wheeeee!

We had a lovely afternoon BBQ, and enjoyed our burgers out on the back patio. The kids played, the dogs frolicked. It was so fun, and so nice to spend time with them.

Saturday afternoon was a big Hurricanes game at 3:30. M was insistent that he be able to watch the whole thing with DH, so N and I decided to take the kids to see the lights in historic downtown, and then the guys could meet us for dinner. We left around 5 and got a little bit of daylight, too.



N and the girls.



Me and Turtle at the waterfront.



After checking out some of the sites, the girls wanted to head to the Winter Wonderland at the amphitheater. We let the guys know, loaded up the car and started to head over. Unfortunately, the police were rerouting traffic and not letting anyone cross the bridge (it seems there was an equipment malfunction and the bridge got stuck in the up position - ack!) so we conferenced and went back to our original plan. Meet for dinner.

The guys arrived just as our appetizer was served. Turtle was a champ. It was well past his bedtime, but he was a total trooper. He devoured dinner, and sat patiently until the waitress put down my entree. Then he was done.

I took him outside while DH ate and then we switched.

When I came back out, DH and Turtle were jamming out with the singer on the patio. It was so cute - he was singing Three Little Birds, which is probably one of Turtle's favorite songs.



You can see he is totally mesmerized.



After a few more minutes, we headed home, where we got the wee one to bed and then DH lit up the fire pit.



The girls - sisterly love.



M fancies himself quite the marshmallow roaster. I wouldn't know. I kept getting the rejects that caught on fire (I admit - those are my favorites).



Bentley was not understanding that he was not welcome to the s'mores. Here he is, trying to explain to A that she should really share with him.



When that failed, he hit up C. Again, he came up empty.



This is Danni. She's a sweetie. Turtle released her from her crate in the morning, and then locked her back in later. She didn't seem to mind.



After breakfast, we hit the road again. The girls really wanted to check out the Winter Wonderland. Once again, we were foiled. The article I had said it opened at 11am on Sundays. In reality, it seems to open at noon. Boooo.

M, however, is an expert in making the best of a situation and within minutes, we were parked at the Alligator Farm a few blocks away. He was stoked by promises of live feedings. Ew. But we were game.

A white alligator. Cute.



Turtle was mightily impressed.



A tamarin. I love these little things. Although I am pretty convinced that, similar to their monkey cousins, they fling poo.



I really wish I could get rid of DH's shirt, but oh, well. I thought it was cute how Turtle was marching along right beside him.



Family picture!



Riding in a bouncy car in the Kids' Zone.



Turtle on a turtle.



The three kids checking out the komodo dragon.



Nasty snake. Cool pose. Clickity click.



Even I was pretty enthralled by Maximo. This guy was like 15 feet long.



The photo does him zero justice, but his head was about as big as me.



After the live feeding (which was creepy), we decided to give WW one more shot. It was kind of getting like one of those National Lampoon's Vacation sort of things. We had to try. For Wally World.

(PS - two thumbs for the Alligator Farm. Pretty, shady and with a big variety of things to see. I guarantee I would feel differently in August when it's hot and the alligator/crocodile smell would be more... we'll call it pungent. But definitely worth the price of admission. County residents get 50% off admission, and any tourists traveling with a local get 10% off their ticket purchase, too. Kids 3 and under are free).

And finally, we made it.

Family picture at the pretty tree.



The girls went ice skating. They were shocked that it was real ice, and soooo excited.





While they were cruising along, Turtle took a ride on the Elf train. He picked the red car and everything.



Choo choo!





We then went to the Elf Village, located conveniently next to the Candy Cane Forest. He was obsessed with this particular little house.

Funny side story: DH commented that it would not be hard to make one of these little houses. From his tone, I got the distinct impression that he had ideas of going to the local hardware store, purchasing wood, and attempting to contruct one on his own. I will be sure to keep you posted on how that works out for all of us.



We finally convinced him to leave House 12 and try out House 5.



We met up with the girls again as they were taking rides down the Ice Slide. Again, they were thrilled that it was, in fact, real ice.







And finally, A took Turtle in the bounce house. He plopped himself down in the middle and laughed and laughed. He never had so much fun in his life. A, DH and I had to coax him out when their time was up and we had to go - he had no intentions of leaving whatsoever. It was awesome to hear him so happy.



And then, it was back to reality. We hope that N and her family can visit again soon. The girls were amazing with Turtle; the dogs had so much fun... we miss them terribly.

And so we end our Thanksgiving Weekend Tale. I'm exhausted, and nowhere near ready for bed again. Sigh.

Next week we start decorating for Christmas, so stay tuned for more fun adventures!