Trip report

Okay, here's the rundown of the Thanksgiving trip, for those of you who have waited patiently for it and for those of you (you know who you are!) who have waited less than patiently:

It snowed the 2-5" they'd been predicting on Wednesday, so Carrie got to observe snowflakes and check 'em out on our trip to Kroger, along with all the other last minute Thanksgiving shoppers. She loved it and wanted to eat it.

Thanksgiving Day we ate dinner at the Somerville house along with Mike & Leeann Severe. They are all friends of ours from church. Jeff and Brigetta Somerville have 5 kids: April, Robin, Noah, Rene, and Mika. Mika is the only one younger than Carrie, and I must say, I already have those kids in mind to babysit for Carrie someday. She had a blast! (They even have fish!) We went back home to finish packing and then the Severes took us to the Dwight, IL Amtrak station. It's an unmanned station that doesn't even allow overnight parking, hence the ride there. Carrie enjoyed running around the closed station building and checking out the snow.

Then the train arrived and she had a great time cruising up and down the aisle, waving to people, playing hide & seek from her chair with people behind her, waving out the window, etc. The closer it got to bedtime, the more active she became. You just can't reason with an 18 month old. We ended up having to put her in her car seat, face her against the wall/ window, and drape a blanket over that seat and the one in front of her. She was NOT a happy camper and let everyone around us know it. I'm sure those poor Thanksgiving travelers were thinking the same thing we were, "never again!" The moral of the story is to wait until your kids are 10. Or 30.

Anyway, when we got to St. Louis, one of Kelly's friends, Greg, kindly picked us up and took us to Kelly & Becky's house where we stayed for two nights. We got their mail, watered the pepper plants, and otherwise tried to keep Carrie from decimating their Christmas decorations. She REALLY liked that purple star ornament on the bottom of your tree, guys. And the coasters, the remotes, and the Santa covered tissue box. So if any of the above are found in odd places, you'll know why. It wasn't Hershey! ;)

We picked up our new Honda Pilot on Friday (Becky left us her car & keys to get there and we caravaned back) in south St. Louis. We went back in on Saturday to pick up some accessories (heavy duty floor mats, a cargo tray, and crossbars) and thought about going to the Galleria but decided to just head home. Pepe, (the Pilot for those of you who don't name your cars), rides like a dream and doesn't drive like a tank- something that was a must for me. Carrie actually slept for two hours on the way home- something that hasn't happened for a long time.

Oh, while we were in St. Louis we ate at a Thai restaurant on Delmar St... reminds us a lot of 23rd St in Portland w/ all the shops. Then of course we had to hit Ben & Jerry's since it was only a few blocks away. We opened up the back of the Pilot and had an ice cream picnic. Let it be known for the record that the first spill was NOT Carrie's fault, but Scott's as he dropped a bit of strawberry ice cream. Ha HA! ;) Sorry, honey. =D So when you see the new car, be sure to ask about the strawberry stain. Hehehehe! Just kidding, sweetie...

With no further ado, here's what you've all been waiting for. The pictures! Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving yourselves =)