Along for the Ride.....: Thanksgiving

This year was a Strutt Thanksgiving, so after school on Tuesday we hopped in the car, picked Dad up from work, and got on the road to Iowa. We made it as far as Lincoln, NE where we stopped at a hotel for the night. The boys thought that was fun. They love sleeping in hotels. We got a breakfast at the hotel, then got back on the road. This time we didn't stop until we got to McGregor. We spent the evening at my grandparents house with some aunts, uncles, and cousins (and their kids). It was a wild bunch. Then we moved into my parent's apartment for the night. In the morning, the boys had their traditional breakfast in front of the window. They love looking outside at the town while they eat, I guess.

Then we dressed them up in their Thanksgiving best.

Aren't they cute?

We were the only ones from my immediate family here so they got in some quality Grandma and Grandpa time.

Then we headed over to my grandparent's for a full day of eating.

A few of my cousins were there with their kids so the boys had a lot of second cousins to play with.

There were lots of card games going on.

My mom had also bought some activities for the kids. One of which was a tablecloth they could color on with crayons. That kept the kids busy for a while.

She also had the older kids help her make place cards for everyone that would be at Thanksgiving.

It was a full house for the meal. We had 29 people there and that is less than half of the family!

After lunch, the kids watched movies in Grandma and Grandpa's room (like I used to when I was growing up).

They also put Joe to work building origami (Josh got a book as a present from my other grandparents).

I guess it was tiring work, so he laid down behind the couch for a nap. Hah!

Here are Grandma and Grandpa-Great with all the great-grandkids that were there. This family is getting big.

There were plenty of things to keep Patrick busy as well. He spent a good amount of time walking around taking pictures with my camera.

And my cousin, Paul, brought his dog. Patrick had a good time following her around.

Friday morning we met my other grandparents for breakfast. Since we are not making it up for Christmas, they brought the boys' presents to breakfast so they got to open them early. Patrick got a puzzle (which he built into a tower), Daniel got a cars book and drawing board, and Josh got the origami book. They all loved them.