Fall Leaves Friday

Usually the day after Thanksgiving we are busy putting up Christmas lights, the Christmas tree, etc.  But today we decided to take it easy, especially b/c Dad is still feeling sick.  Autumn & I didn’t even get dressed and go over to Mom & Dad’s until 11:30.  We had some lunch and then we watched Princess Bride b/c Lexie & Jon found it at WalMart for just $4.  It’s such a classic movie.  Autumn & Papa snuggling in the recliner.  Autumn got bit my a mosquito yesterday and has a big red welt in the middle of he cheek.  Poor kid!

Jon & Andrew hanging out on the couch.

Nick & Emma living it up

Me working on a puzzle

Mom getting the turkey ready to put in the oven

The kids wanted to go outside and play b/c it was nice out.  Andrew really wanted to swim but the pool was too cold so Papa turned on the hot tub for them.  I’m so glad they have each other and are such cute cousins.

By late afternoon, we were all restless from being inside, so we took the kids outside to let them play in the leaves.  Autumn had wanted to do that earlier in the week but I told her we had to wait for Andrew & Jackson.  I didn’t think we’d have enough leaves but we had 4 rakes going at once and we started to collect more than I thought.

Jackson was so ADORABLE w/ his little tike sized rake.  He would not let go of that rake for anything!  He wanted to be in on all the fun of raking leaves.

Such cute kids!

Once we had a big pile, we told the kids to lay down and Papa completely covered them w/ leaves.  We couldn’t see them at all.  I told them on the count of 3 to jump up, grab a bunch of leaves and throw them into the air.  SO FUN!

I just LOVE this picture of Papa w/ the 3 grandkids.  He’s such a good Papa and I don’t think they know how lucky they are.  The neighbors were having a party at their house and there were 3 little kids outside running around in the front yard.  Dad invited them over to come play in the leaves w/ us.  They did and had a BLAST!

After all the fun of the leaves was over, Dad went and got this old “Where’s Waldo” sheet that he uses for yard work.  It’s funny b/c I remember when we used that sheet on Nick & Nate’s beds when they were little.  Anyways, he took 4 loads of leaves to the garden to use as mulch.  He looks like a Santa w/ a sack full of leaves.  We kept telling him to go inside and rest b/c he’s still really sick but he wanted to be outside and enjoy the fresh air.

The kids weren’t done w/ being outside so they got out their bikes and had races up and down the driveway.  Jackson wanted to be included, so Jon put him up on his shoulders and ran along w/ the kids.

After dinner, the kids reminded us that we had promised to take them to see the big Christmas tree at a nearby shopping center.  So, we loaded them in the car and went to 7 Eleven and got hot chocolate to stay warm b/c it had gotten cold once the sun went down.

Then we went over to the Christmas tree and let the kids run around and have a blast.  Lexie even got out there and was dancing w/ them.  I’m sure the other families there thought we were drunk b/c we were laughing and being crazy and having so much fun.

The best part was watching Jackson run around and dance.  At first he wouldn’t leave Jon’s side.  But once he saw the other kids running around and dancing and having fun he wanted to get down and dance, too.  And he was getting down!  He’d hold his arms in the air and “drop it like it’s hot.”  We were laughing so hard at his sweet dance moves.  It was a great and relaxing day and I’m so thankful I got to spend it w/ family while we created fun memories.