Thanksgiving with Family

When the holiday season began in November, I think I completely forgot about our blog because I haven't posted anything since the end of October. Yikes! We've had a full and rich month and a half with a special trip to Indiana and Ohio to be with family for Thanksgiving. We hadn't spent a holiday with family in 3 years, so we definitely had reason to be thankful. Here are some of the pictures of our time together...

Day at the Indy 500 Race Museum

Isaiah loves race cars and so does his Papa Jon, so one day during our visit we went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to check out the museum and see all of the old cars. Isaiah was thrilled to see in person so many of the cars he's seen in books. It was a great day!

This is the original brick start/finish line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over the years as they modernized the racing surface, the original brick was preserved at the start/finish line as a memorial to the track's beginnings. Isaiah loves knowing all of the historical details, so he was really excited to see this.

Part of our visit to the speedway was a ride around the track itself. Unfortunately, for our little race car fan, we were in a bus, but the thrill was still there as we rounded the turns and imagined what it would be like to take the 2 1/2 mile loop at 220 mph.

Broad Ripple Drum Stick Dash ::

Early on Thanksgiving morning the whole family headed down to Broad Ripple to walk the Drumstick Dash 5k. We had a fun morning together and really enjoyed starting the day outside.

Isaiah James with his Grammy Debi and Papa Jon at the start line. He was actually happy, but wanted me to take a picture of his "game face." So, that's what the scowl is :)

He had little interest in waiting for the walkers (me, mom and dad), so he would surge ahead and then have to wait for us to catch up.

He took his foot off of the gas pedal for long enough for me to get this picture with Grammy.

Our lovely Thanksgiving spread.

Our dinner table, ready to go!

I'm not sure what Isaiah was thinking in this picture, but he kind of looks afraid of the gourd.

Ahhhh! The bliss of pumpkin pie!

Eagle Creek Park ::

On Black Friday we decided to hit nature instead of the mall. We loved our morning in the sunshine and enjoyed every minute of breathing in the crisp Indiana air.

A race on the trail with Daddy.

Isaiah in a snuggle with Grammy Debi and Uncle Jordan.

Doing a little balance beam with Uncle.

Since Isaiah was tiny, he's attached a memory/activity to each of his family members and this picture represents what he always asks for when he sees his Auntie Lauren and Uncle Ryan. They play a game together called "Sleepy Mountain," and when the sleeping giant, Isaiah, wakes up, he gets pummeled with pillows. It's hilarious.

Some Time in Tiffin ::

During our stay in the Midwest, we took a trip to Ohio to visit Ramin's Dad (who was holding down the fort while Trudy is in Hawaii) and his Opi. We had a quiet and relaxing couple of days there.

Papa Mehdi had some special sweet treats at his house just for Isaiah. This was one of the creations-brownie bite with whipped cream and sprinkles. Can you ask for anything more as a kid?

Papa had a nice treat for me, too-a little decaf latte, mmmmmm.

I somehow didn't get pictures of this, but we also had a big family gathering/co-ed bridal shower the weekend after Thanksgiving for my brother and his fiance, Abi who will be married on New Year's Eve!

We had a wonderful time with everyone and were so thankful to be together over the holiday.