Thanksgiving in Ashburn--Trots, Pots, and LOTS of fun!

We spent our Thanksgiving this year as we usually do up in Ashburn with our families. George miraculously had most of the week off and was able to travel with us. 

The night before was spent prepping. Even the kids got involved.

Every meal at Grandmom's house is a feast. I think she made scallops and shrimp for the kids that night. She spoils us!

After the kids were in bed, I drove over to my mom's house to make some rolls and a dessert for the Allred's dinner. I don't think I made it to bed before 2 a.m., only to get up 4 hours later to run our annual Turkey Trot.

George and I met up with my family before the race at Mom and Glenn's house.

George and I hadn't really trained for this, so I was a bit apprehensive about how I would do.

Mom and her three daughters:

Jogging to the starting line:

It had freezing rained the day before, but the roads were surprisingly clear.

Group shot before:

Waiting to start...

I did better than I thought I would! I felt pretty good the whole way and passed more people than passed me (I think I was passed by three people the whole race).

Mom was our photographer as she ran (she was on her way up a hill and I was on my way down when she snapped this picture).

George wasn't very far behind.

Laura and I both finished within a minute of each other. I ran it in under 24 minutes, putting me in 7th place in my age group. Not bad for jogging a couple times in November! Laura finished 2nd or 3rd in her age group, although about a minute behind me. Odd how that worked out. George had a great time, too! Our whole group ran better than our goals.

Post-race group shot:

A great way to start a day dedicated to eating!

After the race, George and I drove back to the Glass's house to get the kiddos and help with dinner set-up.

I love that so many relatives come together on the holidays.

After dinner, the kids played together while the adults chatted. Love that these cousins get along so well together!

Mother and daughter:

I brought a Thanksgiving craft to do with the kids. They made and painted little turkeys. 

(Love Eric's post-turkey coma in the background.)

Lance wrote things he was thankful for on his turkey's feathers:

Cakes, dogs, Molty (his snake), family, Falcon, water, and home.

They turned out really cute!

Little Angelo with his Grandpa:

After a huge dinner with the Glasses, it was on to the Allred's house for a second Thanksgiving feast.

Mom was hosting a cute girl from Brazil that was was doing an internship in DC. Jason had met her on his mission and was able to hook her and mom up. She was a delight!

After dinner, Laura's family came to play!

Cute little Grant. He's growing into such a handsome little boy.

And of course it wouldn't be Thanksgiving with pie!

We had a dessert cook-off. This apple pie was Amy's entry:

I made a caramel apple cheesecake that turned out to be tasty but a little too rich and sweet.

Lance couldn't get enough of Stephen's banana bread--a high compliment since Lance is quite particular about his food!

So, so good!

And just because you can never have too much fun up in Ashburn, the day after Thanksgiving the Scholz treated us to a night at Chuck E Cheese! Jude has been begging to go ever since his favorite YouTube family posted a video of their adventures at the restaurant. He was in HEAVEN! I practically had to wrestle him to sit down and eat some pizza.

Cole loved the slide and spent most of his time either going down the slide or riding in the little cars.

I think I saw the big kids maybe twice the whole time we were there.

Lance figured out how to work the system and walked away with TONS of tickets! He found the games with the highest yields and spammed them. Smart cookie.

This little girl hung out with Pop Pop and Grandmom the whole time. She loved it!

And this little boy had fun pushing buttons and playing the little games. It was very cute to watch.

Thanks, Jen and Eric, for the fun night!