Thanksgiving in Raleigh

What a great Thanksgiving!  We traveled to Raleigh (a little over two hours away) to stay a couple of days with Zach's cousin, David.  He lives in Raleigh with his wife Maggie and their three kids, Ally, Alexandra, and Will.  David's brother, Michael, came up from Tampa with his wife Karen and their two kids, Jacob and Julia.  And finally, Zach's uncle George and his wife Rivona came down from Buffalo.  Whew!  It was a full house but we all had a great time, especially Dan!

On Thursday, we arrived mid-afternoon and Dan warmed up very quickly from his initial shyness.  He loved going up and down the stairs, playing with the bigger kids, and just generally being the center of attention.  And Ben loved sitting in his little chair, taking in all the action.  We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night and then we hit the hay.

On Friday morning, Dan played in the backyard with his cousins (I think that they are first cousins, once removed, but I never really understood how all that works).  Whatever the relation, Dan had a blast playing in the leaves and going down the slide.  On Friday afternoon, Zach and I headed out with the boys to visit a childhood friend of Zach's that now lives in Chapel Hill.  It was great to catch up with Mike and Kate and their adorable 6-month-old, Victoria.

Then, on Friday night, Maggie had arranged a baby-sitter for the boys so that all of us could go to the ballet!  I was a little nervous since we had never left Ben before (and he had never taken a bottle), but the baby-sitter must be some kind of miracle worker because he drank like half a bottle for her.  (The ballet was only like 8 minutes from the house, so I was prepared to come home if I needed to.)  We had a great time at Pinocchio--Ally, Alexandra, and Will all do ballet, so they were patient and answered all of my questions.

After a delicious breakfast on Saturday, we headed home.  Once we got here, all of us took two-hour naps.  It was a great end to a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!  (I had to take Zach to the airport this morning for a two-week work trip, so vacation is definitely over for me.)