T-day in review

So I know Thanksgiving is over and people have moved on to Christmas but bear with me! I've got pictures to share! We ended up heading over to Kanses the day after Thanksgiving to have some family time.

The first day we went back to Fort Leavenworth. My family has lived there three different times so we have a lot of memories. Some good - like visiting the house where Craig asked my dad's permission to marry me, and sledding down the gigantic hill (with or without proper clothing like pants and a shirt if you are my brother). And baptizing Lucy at this little church.

There were also some more painful memories as that was also the place where we sat with my mom when she took her last breath.  But it was fitting to take some time for those memories as it was also the 5th anniversary of her passing. We were able to see the tree they had planted in her honor.

 

 I also took a second to get this one of me and my girls. It's taken at the same spot this one of my mom and her sisters was.

Lucy was our only child when my mom passed away but I know she would have been overjoyed to see Lucy gain a sister. It's amazing to think of all that has changed in the past five years. I've done a lot of grieving and a lot of healing but in some ways I can't believe it has been more than just a few days since I last talked to her. I actually composed a long post in my head during our drive home about my mom but now that I've "gotten in out" I don't need to write it down. But I will say that I do believe her legacy in my life is only getting stronger.

Of course, we couldn't only visit sad spots. The kids needed to get out and have a bit of fun after our drive. So we took multiple trips on this old carousel. And by the last one Jonah even decided he was brave enough to go on a horse that went up and down! (But only one of the small horses that only goes up a little :-)

 

 Another highlight of our trip was that we finally got to meet my little brother's girlfriend. I try not to be an overly curious sister but getting any information out of this guy can be like pulling teeth sometimes so it was nice!

 

 

 Ben and Craig decided to try the Rocky Mountain Oysters. They said they were good but...yuck!

The highlight for the kids, besides seeing family members, was probably Legoland! I wasn't sure what to expect but it was great. Not too big that I felt like I was always counting heads. But enough to keep us all interested for 3 hours. 

The 4D movie. Jonah was not sure about this one.

Norah clapper for herself every time she stacked a block. But half the time her clapping would knock the whole stack over again. She didn't mind.

We also spent a good amount of time just hanging out together in the hotel. Swimming a bit in the "technically heated but still too cold for adults pool," going to the park, sneaking out for a date lunch (Craig and I) and trying to spell things out of partial pretzels (Jonah and Lucy). In other words, a good time was had by all.

The pool water was cold but the kids really enjoyed putting their feet in the hot tub although Jonah had to be reminded several times where his feet stopped and his belly began ;-)