Thanksgiving family times

Thanksgiving was a nice time of family visits. I went to Kentucky and stayed with Carter and Rachel the weekend before Madison got out of school for Thanksgiving break.

I drove up on Saturday, picked up Maddie (and met her boyfriend, oh my gracious), and then went to Eva's birthday party at Emily's. The party dynamic didn't lend itself to a lot of hanging with Madison because Emily needed a lot of help pulling off the event.

After the party, I drove Madison down to Elizabethtown to meet up with Lizz to spend the night. I didn't want to sacrifice the time with her, but she hadn't gotten with Lizz since before school started and I was getting to spend a couple days with her Memphis, so I let her go.

I drove back up to Louisville and met up with Carter and Rachel, and we went to the Railroad Earth at Headliner's. It was really fun to see a great band at my old stopping grounds with my favorite show pals of yore.

On Sunday morning, I played with Noah and Micah and had so much fun! Next, I drove down to Hodgenville and picked up Madison from Lizz's. We headed over to Great's house to meet up with the family for lunch. Carter and his crew met us there, along with Aunt Bonnie and Shannon and her gang. We had a lovely time together, and it really did my heart good.

After pleasant family times, Maddie and I headed back to Louisville, along with Carter and company in his car. We dropped Micah off at a babysitter so we could all pile into Carter's car and go to the Lights Under Louisville Holiday Extravanga. It was cool for several reasons: (1) I dig cheesy holiday light displays generally, (2) it was in a GIANT underground salt mine, and (3) Noah was so incredibly sweet and really loved it. Fun was had by all. I took Maddie home so she could finish up some homework before heading to school the next day.

On Monday morning, I went back over to Emily's for a bit more visiting, which flew by! I took Eva over to Carter's to play with Noah while I watched the boys for a couple hours where Carter and Rachel's schedule overlapped. After a bit, Carter came home and Emily came over and visited with us along with Graeme. We all hung out until Rachel got home and then it was time for bed. On Tuesday, Noah and I went to the Louisville Science Center and had a splendid time. I am just crazy about that little guy. Too soon, it was time to take him home and pack up. I headed over to Madison's house to pick her up after she got home from school, then we hit the road back to Memphis.

Back in Memphis, we enjoyed Thanksgiving at Missy's, complete with a highly innovative fried turkey prepared by Andrew. It was a short visit, and then Madison was headed back to Indiana.