We started a gratitude pumpkin and recycled my bat pumpkin from Halloween. On it, I wrote "I'm Grateful for..." And then each day, everyone got to write one thing they were thankful for each day. I loved the varied answers that were written or drawn on there. So sweet and specific. We also had some family home evenings to help us be thankful and learn more about the Pilgrims and the history of the holiday. Also, something must be sinking in because the three older kids all wrote notes to us telling us thank you. :) We also made cards to send to our parents and grandparents. With a cheesy poem I wrote but I was kind of proud of making it up on the cuff.
When Thanksgiving rolled around, we woke up and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Always a classic! Cov loved the Thomas, Lucy liked Hello Kitty, Cal enjoyed the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Emma liked the Girl Scout float. We decided to go to the community Thanksgiving lunch sponsored by the Methodist church. It's a tradition that's been going on here for over 100 years! Our sweet neighbors down the street, Nancy and Fitch, helped put it on and told us we should totally go. They furnish everything and ask that everyone just brings a side or dessert to contribute. It was so nice and we talked to some we already knew and met some new people. There were about 150 who attended plus the kind volunteers. It was so nice to just come and not worrying about being in the kitchen all day. And it was very tasty. We feel so happy to be in this community.
All afternoon, we played hard! We had a lego building competition - Emma's idea. It was so fun! Emma created a turkey and a pilgrim scene with a pilgrim girl plowing and planting, Cal made the "Pilgrim mobile", Cov and I built the Mayflower, and Lucy put together something that changed every five minutes, haha!
We also did some fun crafts and artwork at school and home.
I loved these little turkeys we made using a few from the plethora of pinecones we gathered in our front yard. On each finger, we wrote something we were thankful for. I loved hearing what the kds came up with and liked how unique each of them turned out. Dave's the only one who didn't make one.
We did a photo scavenger hunt where we had a list of specific things we needed to find like "something you're thankful for that smells good" or "something you're thankful for that is in nature", etc. We had teams so it was Dad/Lucy/Cov and Mom/Emma/Cal. The things the kids thought of were very great. Especially when we got to "Something that makes you feel warm", Cal said "Let's take a picture of my heart because I feel the Holy Ghost in my heart and it makes me feel warm." We went to the school to play outside and basketball and other games together. After that, we played some board and card games. It was so much fun!
The weekend following Thanksgiving, we made a trip up to Canada. We just got our passports, so we were ready to cross the border. This was Dave & the kids first time going to Canada. I had gone once growing up. We went to Regina, Saskatchewan. It was a nice place. We drove around first for a bit, then went to go to the temple, which said it would be open online but was closed. Bummer! Next time. It was pretty though and we drove around more than once! Lucy said it was "the most beautifulist temple in the world!" We went and ate lunch at a burger place, which we were not impressed by and no one was brave enough to try "poutine" (gravy on fries)...maybe next time. Then we went shopping to get a few things, played at a park and went to the Science museum. This was so awesome! There were so many great interactive and education things. Everything was kid friendly, but Dave and I enjoyed it as much as they did. It was very well rounded from a science stand point. We stayed half the day and still could've spent more time. We went for a Costco run after that and worked the terrible Canadian currency exchange rate to our advantage. Just had to figure out what we could/couldn't bring back over the border. Unfortunately, no produce or meat. Bummer. But we got some other things we needed. Then it was pizza for dinner we took to our hotel. They had a water park in the hotel, which was so fun for the kids. They loved the slide and water features. The hot tub was just right for me. ;) We stayed for 3 hours! Then we snuggled up and watched a little Harry Potter and went to bed. The following morning, we drove home and to church on the way since it is on the way. It was a great Sunday drive and end to the weekend!
