Greek Thanksgiving

Since I didn't post last week, I thought I'd at least include one of the bath photos we took - Phoebe loves the crayola tablets that fizz up and change your bath water - her absolute favorite is blue!

Wednesday, I picked Phoebe up early at school and we headed out to run a few errands and then home to make peppermint shortbread, cranberry pumpkin bread and cherry almond bread.  I think we were all pooped by the end of the day!  Thursday morning we packed up the car and headed north of Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family.  There are 6 girl cousins and 1 boy cousin so my Aunt's home is full of toys and Phoebe had a fabulous time.  I think within five minutes of arriving "YiaYia Mary" showed Phoebe not one, not two but THREE strollers and the girl was set!

It didn't take long for the extended family to start arriving.  I think there were 54 in attendance this year.  Here's sweet Jessica hanging out in the swing while some of the kiddos tried their hand at pool.

Phoebe wasn't quite tall enough to use a pool stick, but she did learn how to prepare for the game.

And although no naps were had that day (or the next) we still managed to get a few good family photos!

Here's Uncle Steve teaching Phoebe the ins and outs of foos ball.

Here's my sweet sister and oh-so-handsome husband.  Love them both to pieces!

The extended family meant even more kiddos for Phoebe to play with.  Here are a few of them hiding out under the ping pong table.

After getting our fill of turkey, feta, spanikopita and all things yummy, it was time for dessert.  We always celebrate recent birthdays with a few lively rounds of "Happy Birthday!"

This year, Aunt Mary's birthday (her 70th!) actually fell on Thanksgiving Day.

It amazes me how we, as adult siblings, are so very unique after all coming from the same parents.   It was so fun to have Auntie Kate in from Pennsylvania and Uncle Steve stayed in the suburbs with us while we were in town.

As the party wound down, the kids were all still wide awake.  Here's Papou dancing with Cassidy.  This girl loves to twirl!

Up and at 'em Friday morning - but no early shopping for us.  Just confused with the time zones...

And again, despite the late night and early morning, another family photo that turned out well (and may show up in a Christmas card in the very near future!).

We're just thankful the sun was shining after a few days of clouds and rain in Indiana.  I think we watched the temperatures fall more than 15 degrees on our drive Thursday from Indiana to Illinois.  Brrr...

Getting some lovin' from Auntie Kate (I think she was just trying to stay warm!).

And despite the chill, Phoebe still wanted to be near the water.

The adult girls decided to have an afternoon out without kiddos or men to help continue Aunt Mary's birthday celebration.  In an effort to create a diversion, we put on Annie for Phoebe to enjoy. She's wearing Daddy's ear warmers and I love the hands in the pockets!

Papou helped in the diversion.

I think everyone now knows all the words to "Tomorrow!"

That evening, we all ended up at my cousin Skip & Gayle's home.  The majority of their basement has been taken over by their four girls and Phoebe had a ball!

We had to force her to take a quick pizza break. She definitely liked being one of the big kids and referred to all of them as her friends.

She loved their little roller coaster.

Here she is braving the coaster backwards!  She has absolutely no fear!

Uncle Steve bounced her over and over (before the pizza, of course!).

Phoebe and Uncle Steve took another stroll by the lake on Saturday morning.

She loves her Uncle Steve, too!

We made a quick trip for Daddy to Cabela's.

Here's our girl with a "loaded" pop gun and a puppy that stayed with her most of our visit.

We stopped in a boy's clothing store so Phoebe and Uncle Steve decided to warm up while we shopped.

And we went into LL Bean looking for ear warmers since Phoebe loved wearing Daddy's so much.  She was more interested in their stuffed moose.

And after what turned into a very long 6-hour car trip home (it only took 3 to get there!) Phoebe finally got to sleep by 11 and slept in till 9:30 this morning.  As we headed to church, she asked for my purse.  I guess I should have known better than to say yes but she loves to wear lip gloss!  We just haven't quite mastered the technique yet. 

Hope everyone found themselves with much to be thankful for as we begin this holiday season!