Thanksgiving 2014

We had so much fun during our Thanksgiving holiday this year! I decided to do all the cooking so that I could make a few things ahead and plan everything early. It made the actual day so relaxing! I only had to put together a few dishes, warm everything up, and Anthony cooked the turkey on the rotisserie. Thursday morning after everyone got up and dressed, we decided to postpone cooking for a few hours and go dock fishing instead. It was so beautiful outside, it was worth having our feast a few hours late.

James fished with his toy pole very intensely and seriously while we were there. He would cast it out into the water, wait for a fish to bite his "lure" (the big yellow plastic fish on the end of his line), and then reel it in. He was disappointed every time he didn't catch anything and would say, "Ohh man!!"

Rett watched boats and ate snacks in the stroller while we fished. At one point I saw some goldfish crackers floating by the fishing poles and realized that Rett must have dumped some into the water. He wanted to participate somehow!

We had a hard time catching anything, even little bait fish. Anthony did end up catching a pig fish and James thought it was so funny how it grunts like a pig!

After we got home from fishing, we got everything cooked and ready for some good eating. I tried dry brining the turkey this year and it was delicious!

The next morning we took advantage of a November special on Kennedy Space Center tickets and drove down for a visit. James is really into space and rockets right now, so we knew he would love it. Getting him dressed and out the door was a challenge though. He didn't want to wear long pants because of the way they touched his legs, but it was cold outside. After going through multiple pairs of pants and many meltdowns, he finally agreed to a pair of thermal rocket ship pajamas. Shoes were just as difficult so there was a lot of sass and attitude once we finally got into the car.

Rett is finally holding his own bottles now and it is soooo nice! It saves us so much time to not have to sit down and try to convince him to drink. Now he can put it down and come back to it whenever he wants.

First we explored the rocket garden that is directly after the entrance. James was cold (of course because he refused to wear real clothes!!) so I gave him my sweater. He looked pretty funny wearing an oversized sweater, pajama bottoms, socks, and crocs.

He loved being able to climb up and sit in the different shuttles around the garden. He said he was "blasting off to the last planet!"

We spent the majority of our time exploring the Atlantis building. There was so much to see and do! James loved that you walk under rocket boosters and the fuel tank to get into the building. 

First you go into a big room where they show you a video of the history of building a reusable space shuttle. Then you move into a room where there are screens all over the ceiling and the walls and you watch videos of launches. Then the wall opens up to the room with the actual space shuttle Atlantis!

James loves the rockets at the end of the shuttle. He gets so excited that the fire comes out of there.

They had a tall clear tunnel that you can crawl through that is suspended on the ceiling. I thought for sure that James would be nervous about it, but I don't think he even noticed that he was so far off the ground.

He only spent a few minutes in the tunnel because all he could see was this cool looking slide across the room! It is supposed to simulate sliding off the shuttle after landing. He went down it multiple times!

Anthony's parents watched the kids while Anthony, Daniel, and I went on the launch simulator. It was fun, but a little bit of a let down because they constantly repeated how dangerous and extreme it is. I was prepared for something really wild, but it was not scary at all. It would have been fine if they hadn't talked it up so much!

Saturday morning Anthony and Daniel went fishing. They didn't have too much luck, but they were able to catch a few keepers.

I stayed home with the boys and tried to keep them entertained after having two days of nonstop fun. Rett got food all over his shirt, so I just took it off and let him go around topless. I love watching his little Buddha belly!

After the boys got back from fishing, Anthony and Rett stayed home while Daniel, James, and I braved the mall. Daniel had some shopping he wanted to do and I had an old train ticket I thought James would like to use. The train operator was on break by the time we finally made it across the mall, but it was a good thing because while we were waiting I noticed James making a funny face...I asked him what he was doing and he said he was pooping! We quickly raced to the bathroom and thankfully made it there in time. It was his first time going #2 in a public restroom, so it was an interesting experience. In the end I was really proud of him for adapting to the situation (like the toilet seats being too big for him) and handling it like a big kid. Of course, Mr. Talks-Non-Stop had a running commentary of questions and observations about the bathroom and the other people in it the entire time we were in there!

Finally we made it back to the train and he got to ride it all by himself for the first time because I was too cheap to buy another ticket when I already had one for him :)

On the way home from the mall, my brother spotted this hummer and started yelling at me to get my camera out. Apparently they stopped for gas and then drove away without taking the pump out of their gas tank. I felt a little bad for laughing hysterically while taking a picture of it as we drove by, but I hope they got a little chuckle out of it too :)

The last day of our relaxing vacation, much to Anthony's excitement, he discovered a baby seahorse in his tank! It is soooo tiny. Just looking in the tank he looks like a little speck floating in the water. Usually they have lots of babies at once, so Anthony is a little baffled by there being just one but it is still exciting. We don't know if he is going to live, but it is fun to check on him every day!