Thanksgiving...Pryor style

 

You guessed it, it involved the lake.  But not so fast....it started out in Georgia, with a competitive game of putt putt.  We were up at Red Top Mountain and the run-down course was ours for the taking.  It was quite humorous trying to put with mounds of leaves in the way (not worth it to move them).  Believe it or not, we all got a hole in one.  Well, not all of us, seeing that Olivia wanted to play her own game - by herself.  Loner.  She was putting right handed, but she's a lefty?  

Kobe just sat back and watched the leaves and then he strode into the water while we were on the beach.  Alas, he is a water dog.  

My brother and his crew arrived Monday night and boy oh boy, did we have a good time!  Guess who snagged baby Heath right away?  His favorite aunt Jenny :-)  MacKenzie and Connell loved playing with Olivia and Zach.  We didn't hear a word from them for days because they were too busy to need us.  We ventured to the Botantical Gardens to see the trains and get outside for a bit.  The weather was daunting earlier in the week, but we pushed our luck and won.  We also made it to see Tangled on opening day.  Olivia and Zach have been excited to see this movie for months, and it did not disappoint.  Heath even enjoyed it!  Did I mention what a good baby he is?  Amazingly good...

Wednesday we packed up and headed to Lake Martin.  It was sunny, high of 77 degrees and we headed out on the boat on Thanksgiving Day.  My two ended up being naked, surprise, surprise, while Kobe, Dave and myself just smiled and watched.  The entire day was beautiful.  It's never official until the Pryor's stop by on a holiday with Amy Storm's family at the lake.  I think her family knows they will see us at some point.  We never stay....it's a good thing, since we weren't invited.... ha, but it's always nice to stop by for a quick visit.  

Do these kids ever have clothes on?!

I think Kobe may be a little spoiled.  He spent most of the week with Barry and Carla's mini schnauzer, Pepper.  He sniffed, humped, rode, wrestled, spun around in circles with her every hour he was awake....and that was many, many hours over the course of the week.  Poor Pepper, she had to put up with a boy and a puppy at that!  Too much energy.  Check out the photo of Kobe at the end of the long week - last photo...

Campfire kids

Barry and Carla

So in came the crew and a campfire was started.  This time around, we had peppermint patty smores.  Perfect for the season.  Yes, that's me sporting the Baby Bjorn with Heath.  Campfires, movies, boat rides (in the freezing cold, wrapped up in his car seat in the 'storage area' also known as the toilet for the boat....he he.) I have to say it again... he's an awesome baby.

The family came in on Friday for our Thanksgiving and it was a fun (chaotic) time in the kitchen, but oh, was the food good.  My mom and Aunt Barbara cooked most of the food....well, Carla cooked just as much and every last morsel was delicious.  It was rainy out, so we lit a fire, talked, eyed the progress on the food and spent quality time with one another.  My dad wasn't feeling well, so we missed seeing him.  Next time, he'll be right in the middle of all the chaos...telling a joke :-)  Kim will be up for Christmas, so she'll be in on the spend the night party next time.  It was fun.

Cousins

Barry, Mom and Heath

Mike staying warm at the fire

Silly kids...MacKenzie, Olivia, Zach, Gavin and Connell...Heath will be there soon enough.

Dave and I forced Barry, Karen and the group on the boat Saturday.  It was quite chilly, no......it was freaking cold, but we somehow coerced them.  We found shelter on the other end of the island where we docked and the sunshine kept us all happy.  The kids, well......they just wanted to play.  We had explorers on our hands.  Thanks for being such good sports!

Unfortunately, our sibling spend the night party and vacation week had to end.  We packed up Saturday, hoping to make it back home in time for the UGA v. GA Tech game (we did).

After taking advantage of the gorgeous weather on Thanksgiving Day, we had to postpone our family ritual of decorating for Christmas until Sunday.  We worked like clockwork since Dave had to leave for Germany later Sunday afternoon.  Off to pick a tree and we were well on our way.  The kids, fortunately, are old enough to unpack ornaments this year, so that helped speed things along.  Plus, they love opening the boxes to see each ornament.  I do too.  Dave was dying to have a multi-colored tree this year, so retro it is....I'm staring at it as I type and I love it!

As promised, this is Kobe after days of playing with (or do you call it harassing?) Pepper.  I think he was awake 2 hours all day long.  He's very sad now, so we'll have to deal with his withdrawal from Pepper all week.  Maybe they can Skype :-)