Thanksgiving day was not the norm for us. We were at home since Clif had to work very early on Black Friday. That's what happens when you work for a retail store headquarters. We decided we should go get our Christmas tree since we would be leaving for the weekend the following afternoon and would also be travelling this coming weekend. We considered not getting a tree since we won't be around much to enjoy it, but we really wanted Ainsley to have one this year. She's so fascinated by new things.
Well no Christmas tree lot was open on Thanksgiving day...don't really blame them. BUT, Walmart was open. I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of Walmart, but on Thanksgiving day, with no one there, it actually wasn't too bad. So we got a tree from Walmart. This is pretty much the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It is very small and very thin, but oh well, it's something simple for this busy year. Next year we hope to spend the holidays at home, so we are not travelling all over the place and we can start to create our own traditions with Ainsley.
We spent Thanksgiving with Clif's family. It was a busy weekend, but we had a lot of fun. We were very tired after working, playing and travelling all weekend long. However, it was nice to spend time with Clif's family.
Ainsley really enjoyed herself at Nanny and Poppa's. And now she is saying Nanny and Poppa pretty consistently. We are working on some other names, but really the repetitive ones are the easiest. She can also say DeeDee...my sister, but that is about the extent of it.
So Ainsley has an amazing connection with my father in-law - Poppa. She just completely adores him and can't get enough of him. She is often very shy around new people at first. That fades after about 20 minutes...but she loves her Poppa. Now, after spending a few days with him reading to her and playing with her she'll just look at us and say "Poppa?" It actually comes out a little more like "Bop-pa." It's so cute the way she says it. It always makes me smile.
Ainsley enjoyed her first Thanksgiving dinner as well. Last year doesn't count because she was still on breast milk and just starting cereal. She didn't get any of the good stuff. The girl does not like poultry though. We can never get her to eat chicken, and she would not eat the turkey. She did, however, love the sweet potato, stuffing and corn casserole. The child loves fruits and veggies. Even tonight for dinner, she just ate 2 bowls of peaches! I guess that's better than junk food...not that she wouldn't eat candy and sweets all day if I let her.
Well, I'm going to bed now. We are leaving tomorrow afternoon to go visit Cameron, Amanda and Caitlyn in Connecticut. Ainsley is taking her first plane ride. I guess we'll see how that goes. Luckily it is a short flight. Ainsley is going to meet her Great Nanny and Great Gramps and all of her aunts and uncles and cousins on my mother in-law's side of the family. Ainsley is also going to get to see New York City for the first time...and at such a young age. I was 27 before I made it there. Plus we are going to help Uncle Cameron pick out his Christmas tree. It should be a fun and busy weekend. I will have lots of pictures to share next week.
