Thanksgiving got off to a similar start to Christmas – the boys were awake very early! There was a lot of chattering – at 6 in the morning – coming out of their bedroom. Fortunately grumpy Daddy was on hand to tell them to be quiet and go back to sleep! They did for a while I think, but I’m not really sure as I fell asleep and couldn’t get out of bed until 9 in the morning!
The evening before, after they boys had gone to bed, we put the Christmas tree up. When they went downstairs on Thanksgiving morning they had the surprise of a tree, some decorations and a handful of presents under the tree. I’m not sure if you are meant to get presents at Thanksgiving but we decided to introduce the concept of the Thanksgiving Fairy and that bought a few presents along for good children!
After finally struggling out of bed, I got downstairs just in time for the start of the Macy’s parade and to hear the pop of a champagne cork! It was getting more and more like Christmas! After a few crackers had been pulled it was time for some presents. They boys got a US soccer shirt each, Tracy got a pair of champagne glasses and I got a nice maple wood pen. I’d seen it at the Vasa Park craft show a few weeks earlier and Tracy had sneakily bought it when the craft show returned a week ago. Toby had only just managed to stop himself from telling me what it was since they’d bought it!
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After watching some of the parade, we played some blackjack and did some lego before our first ever Thanksgiving dinner. It consisted of the traditional selection of roast turkey, green bean casserole (cooked in Campbells Mushroom soup (that’s traditional too)), mashed potato, stuffing and some home made cranberry sauce. It was very nice but I think the Americans should learn to embrace the cocktail sausage wrapped in bacon (plus import a few other nibbly bits from M&S!).
Dinner was followed by some pumpkin pie with squirty cream which was very yummy. After having a snooze on the sofa – it had been a tough day – we watched Madagascar 2 and then went for a walk round the block to see what was happening and to get some fresh air. As we left the house for our stroll, Tracy was still in her nighty, and Harry and Toby still had their PJ trousers on! Thanksgiving clearly didn’t get the neighborhood quite as excited as Halloween because there was only one inflatable turkey in the area. A few other houses had lights and others still had pumpkins but that was about it.
Once we were home, it was bath time and then bed! Our first Thanksgiving was over and the excitement of Black Friday was about to begin!