SO MANY ACTIVITIES!

CHRISTMAS PHOTO STUDIO!

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful! We had a great time with family and truly enjoyed the spirit of the holiday.

Thanksgiving festivities began early as it is tradition to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my Grandma Liz. I was up early boiling my deviled eggs and enjoying a nice cup of hot coco. Maici and Paul were still sleeping at 9 am so I was actually getting things done! I went into wake Maici and told her it was time to rise and shine so that we could go over to Grandma's for breakfast and watch the Macy's Parade. Maici didn't even open her eyes. She sat strait up in her bed stretched her little arms and informed me that she needed to get her candy bag. (Obviously she thought that it was like the antique festival where the parade participants throw candy. :)) I told Maici that we were watching the parade on TV and she said "First Macy's has the biggest sale of the year and now has a parade on TV, my store and parade are the best ever! Mommy, I love my life!" So, my day started off with a giggle and we were off for a yummy breakfast.

We had dinner at the Money house where we celebrated a room full of birthdays and enjoyed the company of everyone at the table, including Great Grandma Barnhart. Games were played, Food was eaten, Television was watched, and the little ones put on a show. (If I only had a video!)

My evening was not over because at 10 pm we left for Black Friday shopping at Toys R Us in Canton. I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN! My grandma, mom, sister, aunt and I stood in a line of about 1,500 people waiting for the store to open. Cold was not the word for the weather! It hit midnight and the line didn't budge. 12:30, no movement. Then the cop cars came. One by one until there were about 7 or 8 of them. Apparently, a slew of people were preparing to rush the door at midnight because they didn't want to wait in the line. The store refused to open because of the mob and called the police to relive the situation. This was when we decided we had enough and returned to our cars and headed to Massillon to the IHop to regroup our strategy. From IHop we decided to check out the Massillon WalMart and much to our suprise, they had all the Black Friday items uncovered and people were shopping. We grabbed a cart and off we went! Once all the carts were filled with goodies we assumed our place in line to wait 4 hours to check out at 5 am. My sister and I were alone in this effort because we told the others that if they wanted to hit Wooster by 4 that they should not wait. They left their carts and money with us and took off into the night. It is amazing what you see at WalMart when you are standing there for that many hours at a time. From the muffin top to the woman with no teeth and hair that was the fresh product of sticking her finger in a light socket and reaking of coffee and cigarettes. IT WAS AN INTERESTING NIGHT.

On our way home it snowed to where we couldn't see that far infront of us and my sister expressed how much she hated Black Friday shopping and will never put herself through that again! lol. Upon my retun home, I managed to get a few hours sleep, pack for NYC and I was off to the Big Apple.

Please check back in the next few days for picture and a summary of my amazing trip!