Turkey time at the beach

12 years ago, I got engaged on Thanksgiving and it was a pretty epic Thanksgiving, to be sure. This Thanksgiving was right up there, in my opinion, on the level of epic-ness.  It was just so so special.

Eddie's parents, sisters and sister's hub were all down at the beach. My parents were there, along with my mom's two brothers and their significant others. My mom's younger brother hasn't been down to NC in FOREVER and we realized I haven't seen him NOT at a funeral in a really really long time. Which is awful. And he had never met my kids before!

So it was a very, very special time at the beach for sure.

We all got down there at different times.  Eddie, my dad and my uncle Pat took Cal out fishing Wednesday morning early. And they had a BIG time.  

Cal caught the first fish, but it was definitely not the only one. Eddie thinks they caught close to 30 fish (and threw them all back) that day. Cal was in heaven!

Andy went to the golf course with Poppy to hit some balls so he was pretty thrilled too.

 And I took Bruce over to the beach to wear him out a bit. The beach was gorgeous and it was empty so he ran and swam and ran some more. He was smiling, I swear.


The men all coughed up a dollar to Cal for catching the first fish-- he was proud, can you tell?!

He then proceeded to bet everyone a dollar in arm wrestling- hahaha! Thankfully my uncles are good sports and paid Cal and Andy both a dollar when they "won."

 Andy made a placemat at school, along with a turkey hat. He insisted on wearing the hat and eating off of the placemat (it had fact families on it, which is just funny to me- he thought it was great!)/

We learned on Wednesday that much, much more champagne would be needed, so Thursday morning, a special trip was made to fill up the cooler. 

 We headed over to my parents house for lunch and these fools put on "nice" clothes and it was a battle. I ADORE these shirts so so much. They are super soft- once they put them on, they both agreed they felt good.

 Okay, so Cal's hair. I think swimming must be taking its toll on his hair. We wash it every night and brush it before bed- and it usually dries before he falls asleep. He wakes up looking like he stuck his head in a tornado. He got it cut this week and the barber commented on the "unruliness" of his hair. He's still cute.... I just don't know what's happening with his mop.

Walking over to grandma's house!

We had to take a quick Williamson family picture before eating so we ran down to the water to snap it. The boys both wanted Tommy to piggy them in one way or another- he came running down like this:

My in laws! Love!

Then there's these two....

We ate some of the yummiest food......my stomach is growling just thinking about it! 

 Of course we had the paper crowns!

I was just so happy at this point. I was looking around the table and everyone was just....happy. And smiling and laughing and my kids were being well behaved....and it was just......great. I know I sound hallmark-y, but it really was just so special. 

Andy was enjoying his food so much, he didn't notice his crown slipping down over his eyes. 

After dinner, we ran to chance clothes and it was time for the ultimate baseball game. Cal divided up the teams: pilgrims and the turkeys and we were given bandanas to separate us.

i mean.... we had some FUN out there. It was cold, but no one seemed to mind too much. 

 The Pilgrims....

 Happiness is......

 And the TURKEYS! (aka, the winning team.....)


 We went inside to warm up and continue drinking. Andy lost a critical lego piece under the stove and it required a whole lot of people to get it out.

Friday, some neighbors had a big oyster roast so we went over there for a bit. It was a lot of fun! My MIL and my two SILs...

 My baby daddy. He's a cutie, y'all.

We went to mom's house for some serious cookie making and decorating. I am not sharing any of those pics here because I am not sure they were share-worthy, but it was a LOT of fun...like, a LOT.

We headed back to the house, where Nuggie fell asleep on me on the floor. I didn't want to move. Ever. until my back started cramping. 

Saturday, we decided to hit the beach. The boys donned their wetsuits and were determined to get in the water. 

 They didn't hesitate.... they were right in there. Along with Bruce!

Three happy, salty boys!

I know that was a long post.... and it was cheesy.... but it really was a special holiday. I loved seeing my family from Michigan and I can't wait to see them again!!!

We came home from the beach on Sunday and got our tree and then went into full blown decorate it all mode. I might share pics from that soon too! Are y'all decorated?