Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry for the delay in posting. A couple weeks ago we took a trip to Indianapolis to visit Cousin Stella's house for three big celebrations: Thanksgiving, Early Christmas, and Stella's Birthday. Brielle was really excited to see Stella, and both were happy that their matching Hello Kitty ballet dresses from Grammy still fit them.

We also enjoyed a visit with Papa Duane and Nana Karen who flew out from Kansas for the family visit.

This was our first time visiting Aunt Amy's, Uncle Todd's, and Cousin Stella's house. Brielle and Stella are now old enough that they spent a lot of time playing together independently. Brielle slept in Stella's room, enjoying a fun "sleepover" experience.

 Things were a little more rambunctious with Ronan - at 16 months old, he just wants to run around, so we had to chase him around a lot to make sure he stayed safe. A couple times we used the Pack n' Play as a tool so we could relax for a moment.

But the kids got plenty of time to run around and play together. Our kids enjoyed playing with Stella and her toys.

We took advantage of having other families around to finally take a family photo of us - this one is courtesy of Aunt Amy.

Every once in a while I take a photo of Brielle where she looks so mature. I wonder if it's a preview of what she might look like when she's older.

Ronan's personality is really shining at this age. One funny thing he does is to try to separate me and Kraig whenever we're hugging. He quickly inserts himself between us and pushes us apart...always with a smile...he's having a bit of a Mommy-attachment phase right now.

Brielle and Stella got along really well. It's fun that they're now old enough to really talk to each other. They enjoyed several versions of playing dress-up. Here, they were super-heroes together.

Thanksgiving was quite of an event and a lot of fun. Along with our family and Amy's family, a total of 19 people attended dinner, including Todd's parents, uncle, and sister and her family (including 5 kids). The young ones had a great time playing together. Ronan showed the other kids his favorite toy at Stella's house - a dancing and singing abominable snowman toy.

Brielle surprised me with a Thanksgiving apron that she colored herself at school. Our family enjoyed the traditional Thanksgiving Tofurky and vegan cupcakes.

The next day, we celebrated an early Christmas. It's an annual celebration since we don't get to see Papa and Nana during the regular Christmas time. It's really fun to follow up Thanksgiving with decorating the Christmas tree.

After decorating the tree, we enjoyed opening Christmas gifts.

The next day, we took a trip to the The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, which is the largest children's museum in the world! It was truly incredible. If we lived there, we'd definitely have a membership and go there all the time.

There were many exhibits, activities, rides, and shows.

There was a very impressive 43-ft tall Chihuly sculpture with a glass base where you could see through the artwork underneath.

Unfortunately, the museum trip fell during Ronan's nap time, so we had to leave a little early to take care of him. Before then, he had a great time running around and taking in all the exciting surroundings.

The visit finished with an early celebration of Stella's birthday. We were happy that we got to be there to celebrate with her.

And Brielle loves any excuse to have cupcakes.