Thanksgiving

First and best, this thanksgiving allowed us to completely ignore the hanging deadlines at work for several days. We spent some time in eastern NC at my parents' (Jason's). It was so nice to let Alder get to know his grandparents, great-grandmothers, aunt, uncle, great aunt and friends better, and vice versa. All were well-entertained. And it was likewise wonderful to see him romping around where I grew up romping around. We spent a good deal of time inside sitting, visiting, cooking, eating, cleaning, but with Alder more mobile, also alot of time outside on this visit. This was a welcome insert of variety. Also got to spend some much-missed time with brother and sister (in-law), and we hope to continue that soon.The majority of the time outside was spent either pushing Alder on a new tricycle or riding in the trailer behind the lawn mower. We didn't get pics of the tricycle though. Alder liked it but his legs are not long enough, so it wound up being a glorified stroller for the adults... much more fun than a stroller for Alder. He will grow into it.

As for the lawn mower, we wouldn't dare call it that in front of Alder. Its very much a tractor, or "dat-doo", a word we all heard 7 to 8 thousand times over a period of 3 days. Pa-pa pulled Alder, several laps around the yard. He was mesmerized in the trailer. Who knows with what? Being that intimate with a real "tractor", the passing autumn wooded eye candy, sheer contemplation, the lull of the small engine, the fumes, the incessant vibration,... all of the above? Kidding. Whatever it was, he loved it. Absolutely. He went ape on the lawn mowers in Lowes today, more than ever before, probably because of this new experience.
We also visited our neighbors a couple of times to show Alder some real-life hens and roosters. Very very cool. Alder got to run amongst them, stir them and hear them cluck and crow. Now he knows why mommy and dada shout those noises when they reach those pages of the animal books. Eventually we'll show him the real versions of all the pictures we look at.
Thanks to all for a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hope everyone has a decent re-introduction to the grind tomorrow.