Thanksgiving

Thursday morning we packed up the van, attended the Thanksgiving worship service at our church, then drove to Waterloo, Iowa, to spend a few days with Matt's family.  Great-grandpa Boehm is the only member of the family still living in Iowa, but some of the rest of us spent a couple of nights in a hotel so we could celebrate the holiday together.

In order to make life a little easier, we ate an early Thanksgiving dinner at Lone Star Steakhouse.  Even though they offered a "traditional" meal option, most of us chose steak :)  We are not usually fans of roast turkey at our house anyway.

The next task was to find a suitable place for us to gather back at the hotel.  6 adults plus 6 kids ranging in age from almost 3 to 11 ... tricky.  We ended up using our room for the evening, even though the kids (and one adult who likes to act like a kid sometimes) were boisterous and excited to see one another.  Games, chatting, and trying to find the Packers game on a TV station rounded out the evening.

Friday morning we goofed off in our room for awhile,

before going to a local science museum.

Although it was a holiday weekend, the facility was not crowded.

All kids

and adults enjoyed the exhibits.

In the afternoon, Ethan napped, Anna rested, and Matt and Kate had an epic Nerf gun war outside the hotel with the older cousins.

We played a few more games in the afternoon and then spent some time playing in the pool before eating dinner.  Friday night ended with hanging out in the breakfast area for a few hours.

Ethan played with some trucks he received for his birthday.

Kate played with cousins.

Anna colored with Grandma and kept her grandparents laughing with her witty conversation.

Saturday morning we ventured over to Grandpa Boehm's residence to help load up some furniture.

Kate and Anna played a few hands of Garbage with their cousins while Ethan played trucks again.

We left mid-morning and were home mid-afternoon, in time to do most of the laundry and unpacking, as well as make the final preparations for Ethan's birthday celebration on Sunday.

Although Ethan and Kate didn't sleep the best at the hotel, the trip went very well overall.  On the way home, Matt and I were remembering last year at Thanksgiving, when Anna was not able to make the trip to Waterloo for Grandma Boehm's funeral.  This kid, and the rest of us, have come a long, long way since then.