After a scrumptious Thanksgiving meal and fun morning with the Erpeldings, we headed home and everyone dozed off in a post-turkey coma. The best part about having Thanksgiving early in the day was being able to relax and not have to keep the kids entertained while preparing a huge dinner. Since it was a nice 80 degree day, we went to Aliso Creek beach that evening, where it was uncrowded, save for a few families roasting turkey legs and picnicking with their Thanksgiving fare around the fire rings. We may have to keep that in mind for next year! Stuffed, we just brought snacks, and lounged around until it was too chilly to sit on the cold sand once the sun went down. Early dinner + beach = awesome Thanksgiving tradition I’d like to replicate.

Mesmerized by seagulls.

Beach babes.

Peanut butter and jelly on Thanksgiving.

Thanks for that visual, Sammy.

Note Amelia’s painted nails. The twins have been really into begging me to paint their nails recently. It’s miraculous how long they can sit still while their nails are drying. All it takes is the right motivation!

Stuffed turkey.

Like a baby turtle, crawling to the sea…

We felt bad that Bandit didn’t get to partake in any turkey, so we brought him along to enjoy the salty air.

They girls and Jake built a pretty sturdy castle that withstood the waves crashing down on it several times. We kept having to move all our stuff up because of the high tide, and more than once, I had to grab Meredith and run for it before we got soaked.

Meredith could spend hours feeling the sand in awe and letting it slip between her little fingers. Unlike the twins at her age, she usually doesn’t try to eat it. We think she’ll be our smart one.

That night, after putting the kids to bed, it was time to bust out a second Thanksgiving meal for Great Grandpa, whom we had invited over for Thanksgiving II the next day. Jake and I tag teamed making sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and roasting a turkey that night while watching a movie. I enjoy cooking, so throwing together Thanksgiving II in the wee hours of the night was a fun challenge, and Jake tolerated it due to being able to watch a movie at the same time.

We had leftover cranberries and stuffing from our first Thanksgiving meal, and only needed to reheat everything, plus throw together some green beans, carrot gratin, and Brussels sprouts before Grandpa arrived. Pre-cooking everything the night before and reheating it worked out great, except for the turkey, which was about ten minutes away from becoming the parched Griswold Family turkey debacle.  Slathered in gravy, the turkey wasn’t inedibly dry, but we will definitely have to practice to get it perfect in case we end up doing it again!

The kids didn’t mind.

Everything was Meredith approved.

Best buds. 

There’s something about Great Grandpa that brings out the silliness in the twins. They get so excited whenever he comes over!

The rest of Thanksgiving weekend, Jake had to catch up on work that had piled up, so the girls and I hung out, put up our Christmas decorations, and feasted on leftovers. Meredith had a minor panic attack when the girls pranked her by telling her there were no more sweet potatoes:

Phew. You guys were just kidding.

We checked out a new park we hadn’t been to before and Meredith had the time of her life hanging out with the big kids.

Meredith is obsessed with play structures and climbed in and out of this tube for a solid thirty minutes. She is crazy adventurous whenever we go to the park and will crawl up and down the structures like it’s a piece of cake. We always have to be vigilant following close behind her because she truly has no fear.

Four minutes of Meredith crawling in slow mo because I was too lazy to clip it shorter:

I wish Meredith would move in slow mo in real life… it’s exhausting keeping up with her!

Lots of love,