We spent Thanksgiving in Rochester with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bill, with the kids treating it as one big toy exploration and basement shopping trip. We arrived Wednesday night in time for dinner and several attempts to fix the printer, which ultimately failed and required the purchase of a new printer, after months of no printing. I’m just not that good at tech support, sorry! We also had a chance to check out the awesome spectacular of the downtown Rochester Christmas lights.
The Thanksgiving Trots
Growing up, my family had headed to downtown Detroit and run in the annual Turkey Trot 10k along the Thanksgiving Parade route, before heading to Denny’s back in Rochester for breakfast. Rachel decided it was time to renew that tradition in a way, so Rachel, Aly, Grandpa Bill and I headed out to Stoney Creek Metropark early on Thanksgiving morning to participate in the Turkey Trail Trot with about 450 other people, and a whole bunch of dogs.
Rachel ran the 4-mile race (her first race ever; she placed third in her group!) while the three generations did the 2.5-mile hike. It was awfully cold when we started, but we warmed up quickly once we got out on the course.
Aly went out fast and then learned a lesson about pacing, but she did find a way to get her oxygen back quickly as we were making our way up a hill:
We actually all made it through in good shape and in good time, where Grandma Jan and Leah arrived just as we arrived at the finish line.
After the race, we headed to Big Boy for a well-deserved breakfast before heading back to the house for more toy discovery sessions in the basement.
Thanksgiving Ruffles?
Grandma Jan prepared a lovely Thanksgiving meal as always, and she also did what grandparents do and allowed Leah to eat her own version of the Thanksgiving classics:
That’s right, Ruffles, pasta and peas. With two fancy glasses of water.
Friday morning, Aly helped Grandma Jan make some more delicious pecan rolls that we got to take home:
The Tree
After we returned home to Holland, we followed another family tradition: going out to get our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving weekend. We made the trek up to Bosch in Allendale for the first time, and we’re glad we did. Though Leah was super-cranky the whole time, we did manage to get a good tree and get it decorated, along with the rest of the house.
