Thanksgiving at the Heidenreich's (2013)

Turkey Veggie Tray

Uncle Fritz with the veggie turkey

Tim's mom, Michelle with her brother, Scott, and sister, Amy

They're a little goofy sometimes

Aunt Tina helping the kids

Fritz's mom :-)

The Wagner side of the family

Making silly faces :-)

Cousins!

Turkey Day in Champaign, IL

Caleb had early release on Tuesday and Tim took off the whole week of Thanksgiving so we left for Champaign a little bit before noon and got to our hotel by 5pm. We were all hungry and since the Lone Star Steakhouse had kids eating for free on Tuesdays, we took full advantage of that! It was SO good. 

 

Caleb enjoying the fresh bread before our meal came. 

 

Mmmm.. bread!

Dessert! We all shared it later at the hotel

Sonya was testing out the bed and the remote!

It was nice to have some family time to relax at the hotel for a night before all the Turkey Day festivities started. We took the kids swimming after dinner and then had our chocolate cake for a snack. Then we all cuddled into our beds and watched "The Santa Claus" since it was on TV. The next morning, Tim's brother, Rob, came over to join us for some morning swimming since he took the day off. I didn't get any photos of us in the pool partially -- paranoid that my camera will end up in the pool! Well, after we checked out of the hotel, we headed over to Rob and Sam's place and unloaded our very FULL car. Then we went to an indoor playground that is attached to a church near them. The kids enjoyed it! Plus, it was nicer than trying to play outside on wet equipment since it had rained the night before. 

Playing in the little truck

Poor Uncle Rob -- he couldn't get at the candy!

Sad ticket taker

Uncle Rob with Sonya by the Fire Truck

Riding the motorcycle

We got back to eat some lunch. Sonya didn't want to take a nap at all! Finally she settled down and fell asleep on me while we watched TV. Caleb was pretty excited when Uncle Peter showed up after his drive from Indiana and then Aunt Sam came home from work! After a short nap, Sonya woke up. She can't stand to miss out on anything.  It was so funny because she kept getting Peter and Rob mixed up. I don't blame her -- they look a lot a like and then they both had to coordinate their wardrobes or something. They happened to both be wearing orange shirts. 

Sonya and her Uncle Peter

Caleb helped Aunt Sam with some of her Thanksgiving preparations and then came outside to kick the little soccer ball around. The weather was SO nice! For dinner, we had homemade chili while the kids had chicken nuggets. Somehow, a migraine snuck up on me so I was not very helpful in the kitchen. Sorry Sam! After the kids were in bed, the Nikolai boys were sent to the grocery store for a few things. hehe... They only had to do two trips (not because they forgot anything, but we realized we needed other ingredients for pumpkin pie after they returned from trip #1) oops!

Thanksgiving Day --- Grandma and Papa Nikolai arrived with Aunt Kelly a little before kick-off of the Packer game. Most of us were sporting Packer attire. :-)

Packer pile up!

Grinding pecans for sweet potato casserole

Aunt Sam's first time making a turkey!

Watching the game

VIDEO -- Celebrating after a Packer Touchdown

Practicing her Touchdown moves

Sonya and Aunt Teh-yee (Kelly)

Who's the cheesehead?

The Packer fans

Touchdown pose

Going after the veggies

There's pickles!!

Uncle Rob carving the turkey

Lots of food!!
The main course: Veggies, Salad, Green Bean Casserole, Corn Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole,
Cranberries, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Packer Jello, Turkey

Sparkling Grape Juice and some Wine
Desserts: There were two apple and two pumpkin pies along with a cranberry/apple crisp

Cuddling with Uncle Peter

Cheese!

A full family photo (Aunt Sam is in this one!)

We were all pretty full and tired after eating. Caleb was pretty funny when he called Papa out by saying: "You're having THIRDS?" haha!! It was classic! The rest of the evening went well. The next day was Black Friday. I am not a shopper, but needed a few things for a baby shower on Saturday so I went with Sam to Target -- don't worry, we didn't go until like 8 or 9am. There was no way I was getting up early! Then once Grandma and Papa got back to Rob and Sam's from their night at the hotel, we walked over to the mall so the kids could play. Well, Aunt Sam wanted to check out a few stores too. :-)

Sonya is on a bear! Good thing daddy is there.

The climbing monkey boy

Tim and his dad

Grandma loves to snuggle her Sonya

Sonya was enjoying running around

and playing in Clifford

Caleb mooched coins off of Grandma and Papa -- at least it was for a good cause!

Riding the tractor

Steering the boat with his foot!

Sonya and Caleb playing with the roller coaster machine

Rob and Sam :-)

Pretending to nap

Caleb LOVES his aunt Sam

Rob & Sam with their favorite niece and nephew

Grandma & Papa with the kids

Yup... I had to document that I was actually at Thanksgiving too!

Sticking out their tongues... hehe

Well, that's about all. After lunch, we drove 4.5 hours to get home and stuck a pizza in the oven for dinner. The kids were a little worn out (oh... and so were Tim and I), but we all survived Thanksgiving. It was fun!