Thanksgiving Through The Eyes Of An 8-Year Old

I consider my kids lucky because they have two Thanksgivings - Canadian and American.  The tricky part about celebrating two?  Ditching school in Canada for the American holiday.  They're not old enough to miss too much, but a whole week away can interrupt things.  So I always ask what homework we can bring along.  This year, Henry's teacher said he needs to write every day and please keep a journal. 

A journal.  I love journals!  I'm terrible about keeping one myself.  But my kids love writing one when we go away.  And I LOVE reading them when we get back! 

Our Thanksgiving trip was no different. 

Day One

His picture is perfect.  We left for Niagara Falls right after school, so it got dark on the drive.  But 3 hours was actually only 1-1/2.  It's ok.  He's 8.  And although we met up with seven other people too, Uncle Joe is all that matters to him. 

Day Two

Great picture.  We packed the car when we left the hotel, and all five of us helped do it.  But this 3 hours was actually 4-1/2 to Ithaca, NY with a huge grocery stop along the way. 

I agree.  Pie Face was the highlight of the day.

Day Three

We brought our footballs because I've created monsters and our boys are obsessed.  It's for the best, though.  Thursday nights, Monday nights and all day Sundays are exactly as they should be.  Nothing but football on TV and everyone is happy. 

Great Uncle and Bubba (Grandpa)

This is his great uncle, my father's brother.  He lives in Ithaca, NY and is the reason we spend Thanksgiving there each year.  This was our 8th year celebrating in Ithaca and I can't ever imagine us not making the trip.

The Hike

Oh we hiked.  And hiked!  We took all the kids who could walk (ages 9, 8, 4, 4, 2) and went to find the waterfall.  Did we ever!  But...this 3 hours was actually 1-1/2.  Should I be worried?  

The pictures don't do it justice.  The gorges were breathtaking.  The sound of rushing water was beautiful.  And those chain link fences did a great job of keeping us all alive. 

Day Four

Take careful notice of today's entry.  No mention of turkey or family or even pumpkin pie.  The highlight for this 8 year old was his brother's near death experience.

The Bridge

Ok, it wasn't near death.  It wasn't even really very close.  It was a lapse in judgement that could have turned into a something bad, but it was over before it even started.  One word: Boys.

See that bridge?  See the people (us) on that bridge?  And the gorge down below?  We walked across the bridge, took a look around and decided to walk back.  When we walked back, Jake went first and decided to climb up on the waist-high fence along the bridge to do pull-ups on the bar connected to the fence running along the other side of the bridge.  The problem was...the fence was behind that tree you see on the right side of the bridge.  Jake saw a fence next to a tree growing in dirt.  We all saw a fence next to a 200 foot drop into a gorge. 

Henry's picture captures it perfectly.  My brother grabbed Jake before the word "Noooooo!!!" even started coming out of my mouth.  It was slow motion.  We all kinda felt like throwing up. 

And then we walked home and ate turkey. 

Day Five

The day after Thanksgiving always includes a visit to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Ithaca.  It happened to be a beautiful balmy day, so we had a big bonfire after our traditional Chinese take-out dinner.  Highlight for sure.

Day Six

Thank you, Henry.  This 5 hours to drive home actually was about 5 hours, so now I'm not worried anymore.  But maybe I should be worried that the highlight of the entire trip was McDonald's???

The highlights for me were definitely:

Family

Hiking

Quiet Time

In no particular order ;)