Thanksgiving in Detroit

Another successful Jeppson family Thanksgiving is in the books! This year we left for Detroit after Joseph's thanksgiving event at school on Tuesday and knew we would have to stop along the way. We made it to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan before lake effect snow made driving tricky. Wednesday morning we got up and hit the road hoping the weather wouldn't be too bad. We made it to Grandpa Joe's house around 1pm and the kids were so excited to be done with the car for awhile!

I don't think Maddie knew what to make of the house full of kids, but Joseph was really happy to see his cousins again. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and relaxing. 

The kids had a lot of fun this trip playing with the various iPads and leap pads that we're floating around the house. 

Maddie tried her best to weasel her way into the iPad line, and decided loving on her big brother might help her cause. 

Please Jo Jo? Nope. No love. 

Oh well! At least Maddie figured out how to say "iPad" on this trip!

On thanksgiving morning we woke early so we could head into downtown Detroit for the turkey trot. Lisa, Linda, Dan, Joe and I were all going to take the kids to do the Mashed Potato Mile, and then Dan would take the kids home while we ran the 5k. 

Pre race inside the cobo center where it was nice and warm. 

Another pre race shot at the starting line. It was pretty cold but the kids handled it well. They became even more excited when it started snowing right before the race started!

The obligatory monster face, and realizing it is fun trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. 

Joseph and Ethan ran together for the first half of the race and we're having lots of fun. Joe snapped some great pictures that he will have to add here. A bit past the half way point Joseph started to get upset and wanted to stop. Walking and fussing turned into tears and some serious whining, although I think he was just getting over heated from his layers. We unzipped his coat a bit and coaxed him to the finish line on his own two feet!

Joe and me before the 5k. This was race #13 for me for the year. In January I decided to make it a goal to complete 13 races in 2013 and was happy to meet that goal with a familiar fun run! The snow made the ground really slippery and we saw a few people fall along the course. That, combined with the sheer number of people meant we weren't going to have a great pace but it was fun at least. 

Maddie really kept herself entertained this year. Being a new walker, she was quite content to just wander the house doing her own thing. 

Rosemary was the new baby at thanksgiving this year, and she was amazing! Luckily she's used to sleeping through lots of noise with 3 older siblings to deal with. I still couldn't believe she could sleep right through ping pong games with the big kids on the other side of the room!

Yup, sound asleep. So sweet!

Friday morning we revisited an indoor golf center that we tried out a few years ago. They used to have indoor mini golf, but apparently took it out since Joe has last been there. We didn't stay for too long, but the kids had a lot of fun playing the arcade games and trying their hand at the practice putting green. 

Yes, Ruth and Joseph were actually driving! Joseph could just barely touch the gas, but he managed ok. 

Miss Maddie wasn't too thrilled with big bird, and really just wanted to climb the stairs up to the higher decks of the range. Too bad! 

Friday night was our annual bowling night. 

Joseph had it all figured out right away, and I was surprised how much Maddie enjoyed helping to push the ball down the ramp. She will definitely be ready next year!

Saturday we had to pack up and head back home, but before we left we all took the kids to an indoor bounce play place. I'm so glad we found it and that they had an open bounce session because it was the perfect way to let the kids play and get some energy out. Mine were already tired from a fun few days with the family, but this was all they needed to ensure the first few hours of the road trip looked like this:

Maybe next year we will be able to fly or spend more time in Detroit. I hate that we spend so much time traveling when we could be visiting with family instead. But it is fun watching the kids all growing up and seeing the family expand each year!