Thanksgiving at the Farm

It's Turkey time again. For us that means the second year in a row running the Troy Turkey Trot. David, McKay, Bryson, and Dorothy were up for it this year. As always it was very cold and very crowded. McKay was the fastest runner of all the family members (no surprise).

After the Turkey Trot, the babies and I caught up with them at Dorothy's for our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast - thanks to my Grandma Spykerman's awesome recipe. On the way to Dorothy's I had to drop a batch off at the VA hospital where Dorothy's husband, John, works so he could share some with his coworkers and staff. They're that good.

Then we were off to the Gibson Farm for the traditional turkey fare. It was a smaller group this year with just our family (which is not by any means small) and David's sister Jen's family.

Kadence and Austin got to sit in the "Bean bags of Honor" at the dinner this year. Next year they'll be banished to the kid table (along with us I suppose).

Now time for leftovers.

Austin 2 months old

Austin didn't like this position at all, so this is the only happy picture in this position. Notice how blue his eyes are as opposed to his sister's which are looking brown, although David is holding judgement until they're more difinitive.

He loves his swing!

Kadence 2 months old

This is Kadence napping in Bryson's black papasan chair. So cute.

Hannah helped me pose Kadence for this one.

Since our darling little daughter doesn't like eating, we weigh her every night to make sure she stays on track for weight gain.

Bundled up and ready for the cold New York November.

I forgot my shoes!

I forgot to mention one exciting part of our trip to New York City. We got up to leave very early in the morning and apparently Bryson didn't wear his shoes out to the car. He claimed he carried them out. After he searched the van for them while sitting in the parking lot in Hoboken, we set the GPS to work looking for a shoe store. All the while I am having flashbacks to a time we went to NYC and Bryson forgot his shoes in the same way. But last time he was only 5 years old and I carried him on my back through the city until we found a shoe store. That's not really an option for an 11 year old.

Luckily David got out and did a thorough search of the van and found them under the seat. Crisis averted, but it was funny remembering having done it once before.

Bryson gives babies a bite of the Big Apple

On Vetran's Day we gave Bryson his choice of what he wanted to do. He really wanted to go to a big city to hang out. We have some great options from our house including Boston or New York City. We decided on New York City so we could make a stop by Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, NJ. That is the "Cake Boss" bakery from the show on TLC. Now some might think we're crazy even considering taking two infants on such an adventure, but we're not going to let a thing like babies slow us down too much. We just have to be prepared.

We headed out very early to get to the bakery soon after it opened. We parked by the Hoboken train station, then we fed, changed, and put the babies in warm outfits and carriers. Off to the bakery. Luckily we timed it right and the line wasn't out the door, yet. We bought canollis, crumb cake, and assorted other goodies including a delicious cake.

While the cake really was good, the other things we got were just ok. As far as bakeries go, it's not the best, but we had fun seeing some of the guys from TV and one of the sisters that is on the show.

We took a train into the city with no plans other than to hang out. David has apparently never been to the top of the Empire State Building. I don't know how he managed growing up in New Jersey and living in Albany for 20 years and not going, but we corrected the situation.

There was a guy in a King Kong costume acting like a statue and then scaring unsuspecting tourists that stopped to take a picture. We had him figured out though.

We asked Bryson what he'd like to do next. He picked one of my favorites - FAO Schwarz toy store. On the way, we walked along Central Park looking for a street vendor that sold something besides just hot dogs. There were some street performers in the park and we stopped to watch them. They were acrobatic dancers and it was really fun to watch. Then we got our late lunch, stopped by the Apple Store and then to FAO Schwarz.

In order to get home for a reasonable bedtime, we decided that we should start heading back to the train to Hoboken. On the way we found a street fair going on and realized why we couldn't find any good street vendors earlier, they were all here. We got gyros and funnel cake for dinner and took the train back to the car. One last feeding (in the car) and we were on our way home. Dad and Kadence in the picture below.

Somehow we and the babies survived the excursion. They slept all day in between feedings and were really no trouble - except when Kadence spit up in FAO Schwarz...twice.

Babies with Pumpkins

This was more of what I had in mind for Halloween pictures...

Babies in a Pumpkin

David has been telling people that he was going to be putting the babies in pumpkins to take their pictures for Halloween this year. Many horrified women turned to me and asked if I would really let him do it. The question was, could I stop him? Nope. Didn't even try. Thank you Anne Geddes (that was sarcastic) for putting the idea in his head. I even helped. The pictures turned out really cute!

Austin

Kadence

Austin left, Kadence right