Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving Denver Style

This year to celebrate Thanksgiving we made the trek to Denver to visit Cody's family. Adam and his cute ladies came from Kansas and Mallory made her way from Virginia. It was a whole lot of fun packed in a few days and a whole lot of  people packed in Kim and Glenn's house.  It was wonderful! The girls loved seeing their cousins and being doted on by their aunts and uncles.
I love seeing the girls with their cousins. I love how well they play together and that there are very few disagreements. It was fun to see Nana and Kenzie again, the girls have definitely missed them since they moved to Denver.

Mya and Tate were feeling especially festive in their turkey attire.
Sadie latched onto Auntie Mallo, they were besties this trip. Sadie became very protective of her. One evening while McKenzie and Mal were exchanging back massages Sadie marched up to Kenzie and grabbed her hand and said sternly, "Get your hand off she's body!".

Kim and Glenn prepared a wonderful feast. Just like his darling wife, Glenn is right at home in the kitchen and is good at what he does. He introduced me to cornbread stuffing which was quite delicious. He and Cody also tackled the preparation of a Turducken. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this particular dish let me explain. Three different fowl are deboned, skinned and placed one inside the other in this order; duck, chicken, Turkey. Any empty space is then filled with the above mentioned stuffing and cooked. I am not afraid to admit that I was wary of partaking of this conglomerate since I've never tasted duck and heard from others that it is less than appetizing. But, I partook and it was quite delicious. The turkey was tender and juicy and yes I even  tried some of the duck and it wasn't bad at all.
I honestly don't have words. I feel that Kenzie's face speaks volumes.
Cody and Adam both arrived sporting full beards which slowly and creatively vanished before family pictures.
Seriously! Look at these sweet faces! Uncle Adam and Aunt Cami had the movie Planes on their Ipad, which made their evening.

Sharing our gratitude on the Makechnie Thankful tree. Sadie was thankful for chameleons, and Mya was thankful for her family.

A riotous game of post feast pounce.
My handsome little bubs getting whatever whipped cream was left on mommy's spoon.
That night before bed Miss Sadie decided she wanted some pie. And hey, what's vacation without a little pie before bed.


Hayze and his cute cousins! Finn was so sweet with Hayze, he would kiss him and then try to wrestle him. That had to be cut short due to the minor size difference but the love was strong.
Friday evening we went to this fantastic local park! It had so many fun areas to play. Swings, ropes to climb, slides, sand and all manner of twirling things. We stayed well after dark and it was finally the cold that sent us back home.
Love my boys. Yes, I even love the one with the crazy facial hair.

Mya and Tate were having a grand time playing with one another. They were squirrels in their tree, pirates and whatever else their imagination could come up with.

Coco and McKenzie were keeping us pretty entertained as they worked on this ropes course. Teasing one another and trying to sabotage each other's attempts; as only big brother and little sister can.
This little man was a riot. Besides being ever so sweet, he is an athletic little soul. When I snapped this picture he had been shooting hoops for a good 10 minutes and making almost every shot!
Auntie Kim with all her little lovies. It was technically after thanksgiving so we broke out the Christmas cartoons.
Saturday morning we had family pictures and managed to get some really great shots. Like any woman there are a few with me in them that I pray are not blown up and put on any one's wall but what can you do. The kids were out the door and ready to play at the park that had been calling to them all through the session.
We spent the afternoon at the Denver Science Museum. It was enormous! I doubt we managed to see half of what it had to offer. There was also a featured exhibit with the Mythbusters, a TV series, it made me think of McKay.
I think this girl is kind of cute.
When Sadie heard that there were Mummies at the museum that became her number one priority. She was insistent that we see them. I was surprised that she latched on to this idea since it's not something that we've talked about. But once we saw them she was content to continue on.
And Really this adorable grin on Abby's face is the best!

Diggin' up some Dino's with daddy.

There were a bunch of really fun interactive areas to experience. This one was the battle of the brain waves. there was a little ball on that line on the table and the goal was to move the ball from your side to the opposite side. The key to moving it was relaxation. Mallory, who can't help but laugh got beat by Kim. Camarie smoked Adam, I kept myself cool against Nana and Cody beat McKenzie. He was a bit nervous and had a back up plan arranged with Adam, if he started to loose Adam was instructed to tickle Kenzie to ensure a victory.
We then monopolized this delightful toy in the kids area... notice the disclaimer on the top. It's fine. This is our second family picture of the day.
L-R Adam, Kenzie, Kim, Sadie, Mallory, Cody
Second row is 3 little Miss Mya's, Cami and Glenn.
These two little cuties hung out with Papa while the adults were playing with the toys.
That night we celebrated this little Princess's first birthday. She is a darling little lady and such a fun addition to our crazy bunch. We love you Abigail!
Here Uncle Coco, have some of this awesome fuchsia frosting. It makes your lips a fabulous shade of pink.


Nana had a stash of glasses that she brough out for everyone's enjoyment. There were some gems that Papa used to sport, a bunch from the kids and these great Harry Potter ones. These came out the day we were to leave and the laughter helped ease the sting of having to say goodbye.

No comments: