Thanksgiving and Anniversary

I volunteered to help with Levi's kindergarten Thanksgiving feast. I've done this with the older boys when they were in kindergarten too - it's always so cute! They made their own placemats. They got to choose whether they wanted to be pilgrims or Indians. They even made butter that morning to put on their corn muffins!

We set up their "table" in the classroom while they were at recess. Then they filed in, put on their costumes and found their placemats. They were all so excited and sweet! I love his class this year.

Levi chose to be an Indian, so he's shooting a pretend bow and arrow.

The boys were off school the whole week of Thanksgiving. Dave had vacation days to use up before the end of the year, so he took the whole week off too. It was wonderful! Later I'll blog about some of the fun family activities we did that week. But first, Dave and I spent one night at a cute little hotel on Moonstone Beach in Cambria for our 17th anniversary. We had a fabulous oceanfront room with a fireplace. I was going to ask my mom to stay with our kids overnight, but my big boys assured us they were totally fine on their own. 

It rained the whole drive there (fitting for our anniversary), but it cleared up soon after we arrived. It was cold and windy, but we still took walks along the beach both days. We kept thinking how much the kids would like it there - all those tide pools, so close to our hotel room! 

For dinner we drove down to Morro Bay for our favorite restaurant, Windows on the Waters. It's pricey, but everything is SO good. 

We made sure we got there right when it opened at 5:00 so we could watch the sunset. 

We had the corner table with surround views of the bay. It was lovely. 

I ordered the filet and Dave ordered scallops. Everything was divine!

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day! We ate breakfast in our room and did some online Christmas shopping. 

Then we took another walk along the water. 

The tide was high and the waves were huge. After we checked out of our room, we drove over to the cute shops downtown and ate lunch. Then we did some Christmas shopping on the way home. 

When we got home, the boys surprised us with a clean house, top to bottom, and a homemade cake! What great kids!! Yep, I'd say they managed by themselves just fine! This opens up all kind of possibilities for us, now that we know we can leave them overnight. That evening Dave took all the kids Christmas shopping while I stayed home and made pies. They drew names and bought each other gifts.  

Thanksgiving Day was quiet. We had a small group, since my sister's family was out of town. We ate around 1:00 so my dad could join us before heading off to work.  

I like eating early so we can let our food digest before the pie round. That ends up being dinner :)