Thanksgiving at Pops & K's

Unfortunately, we were not able to make it to Fulton for our planned Friday-Sunday Thanksgiving weekend trip (more on that here) so what follows is the extent of our family Thanksgiving celebration. Kim and Micah were in from San Francisco as part of a week in the Midwest. The boys and I got a bonus visit Wednesday night and we all spent about eight hours in Libertyville Thanksgiving day.

As noted in the last post, the weather was delightful, so Pops had a nice fire going in the fire pit out back. If we'd had a great stereo system and a good deal more Thompsons, it would have felt just like our 2010 holiday in Charlotte.

Matt Instagrams the holiday. From Pops and K's

Sizing up the fire pit. From Pops and K's

Our son, the pyromaniac. From Pops and K's

Jack took this photo. From Pops and K's

The fire ended as the weather turned, and shortly after that Charlie and I head to a quiet spot for a nap. We came back again when it was time for dinner. Following dinner was dessert (I made, personally, a vegan pumpkin pie that apparently tasted very good) to be enjoyed while watching the slideshow I prepared for Pops' 60th birthday coming up on Friday. That also is Micah's birthday, so it was nice to be able to have a low-key joint celebration.

After the dessert, naturally, came the wrestling. Somewhere along the line Max roped Uncle Matt into a game Max calls "Scoreball," the rules of which remain murky at best. Also somewhere along the line Charlie decided he no longer needed clothes, which is why he ate two tiny slices of apple pie in a diaper.

Two Hollands with a lot in common. From Pops and K's

This one's pretty cute, too. From Pops and K's

Micah and Kim self shot/posed for 87 pictures. I liked this one. From Pops and K's

Pops is the center of attention. From Pops and K's

Pops and his three grandsons. From Pops and K's

Cute — and he knows it. From Pops and K's

Surveying the chaos from the couch. From Pops and K's

We're still bummed we couldn't get to Fulton (Jack is not shy about telling us his entire weekend was ruined, even as we left Lincoln Park Zoo tonight for a special visit to see the holiday lights) so hopefully we can get these boys into How's arms before too long. Kim and Micah are back in California and we already can't wait to see them both again. It was a long, full day of family fun and all our boys enjoyed it to the fullest. Couldn't ask for anything more.