Thanksgiving Weekend

I think it's official. Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday. I don't have to buy gifts for anyone, I don't have to provide gift lists, my kids don't stuff themselves with cheap chocolate, we don't have to dress up, there aren't any real solid traditions so we aren't scrambling from place to place so we don't screw it up for someone else and there is some seriously good food involved. Basically it's laid back and there's no stress. Some times we even luck out and have incredible weather and well, that's just the stuffing in the turkey!!

We missed all the fun last year, since Cameron was recovering from surgery. We hosted instead, but it just wasn't the same. Maybe that's what made this year even sweeter.

Keith, Cameron and Papa Bob headed up to KL on Friday afternoon and then Sydney, my Cousin Amanda and I headed up after school. We were greeted with a bonfire in Mom and Dad's yard when we got in. How nice for it to be warm enough in October to be outside at night!

Saturday we held our annual "Hunting Widows Quilt Day" that Gramma Shirley and I started years ago. We thought it would be a fun way to spend the day, just the girls, while the guys were out moose hunting. It's evolved a bit over the years and now there you can find scrapbooking and knitting as well as quilting and knitting.

Cameron got to spend the day being a boy with his Papa John, Uncle Teddy, and Cousins Jacob and Josh. They brought him on his first partridge hunt, most of which he slept through on the back of the four wheeler. He did get to see Uncle Teddy clean a bird though, which he excitedly told me about when he got home. I believe the line "Uncle Teddy shot a cartridge and he cleaned it and the jam fell out!" will have to be recorded in his baby book. On the way home, this unlucky bird decided to flush and fly right along side Dad's bike, so it was promptly taken care of. Cameron was very proud of this bird and took home the spent shot gun shell as a souvenir. Sydney went with Papa to clean this bird and she informed me of all the things they found in it's crop. Circle of Life in Northern Ontario!
Auntie Lindsay's To-Do List included playing in the leaves...something a girl just doesn't get to do in an apartment complex in the city.

Sunday, after spending the morning calling Dad's dropped in the bush somewhere Blackberry, we headed to my Memere and Pepere's for dinner.

Those of you that have kids who fall asleep in a car will under this picture.

I was told that since there wasn't going to be many of us there, that Memere had decided on cooking a chicken rather than a big turkey, so Sydney and I decided to make one instead!
However, we arrived and discovered that there was going to be 24 of us, so there was a nice turkey roasting in the oven! There ended up being 10 kids under 10, so it was a BIG hit!

Nice bonus to have two of the newest family members to take pictures of!

And some older ones that I hadn't had the chance to get to know.

Monday we had another turkey dinner at the cottage. This may be the first time we've been able to eat outside!! Good thing since there was 16 of us!

Of course we had to go on a bit of a walk to work off the meal so we could all drive home safely!
So, now I'm home alone with the kids for a few more days while the Mighty Hunter tries to bag a moose. No luck so far.

Cameron was in his room playing yesterday afternoon and suddenly I noticed things had been too quiet for too long. I called him but couldn't find him anywhere. Then I caught a whiff and followed my nose. I found my little boy, sitting up, between the wall and the headboard of our cedar post bed, with loaded shorts, FAST ASLEEP! I could just barely get my camera in for a shot.
Unfortunately I had to wake him up to get him out of there. What a mess. What a kid.