Thanksgiving for Four!

In true “Traveling Shenks” fashion, Ellie’s first Thanksgiving was a busy one!
Ellie hanging out with James watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
A quick family portrait before we head off.
Thursday, we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with the Shenks at Mimi & Papa’s. Lots of delicious turkey and Uncle Matt’s creamed corn. Yum! James and his cousin, Jackson, hole up in the playroom together and only appear when it’s time to eat so I don’t really have pictures of him. But he was there.
Relaxing with Papa.
Cousins Hope & Taylor try to get Ellie to stick her tongue out at them, while she hangs out with Aunt Ayesha.
Ellie did it back and they loved it!
Playtime with Mimi.
Cousin Hope snuggles Ellie and she looks very comfortable. 💕
Like the rest of us, Ellie ate too much and passed out. #milkdrunk
Friday, we celebrated our little friend Z’s first birthday at the Magic Kingdom.
Ready for a day of Disney fun.
Ellie is unconvinced about the TTA people mover in Tomorrowland.
A lovely night in Fantasyland.
James and I snag a selfie in front of the beautiful castle all lit up for the holidays.
Saturday, we headed up to Luther Springs in Hawthorne to spend a couple days relaxing out in nature with GrandPoppa and our pals, the L Family.
Ellie thinks GrandPoppa is super comfy.
Ellie hangs out with Ms. Enid, while Kim helps Z take a closer look at this new baby thing.
The kiddos are all decked out for the UF-FSU game. Go Gators!
Leo shows Scruffy the trail.
Kim and Z on a beautiful day at the lake.
James, Tia, and Beau duke it out over board games and snacks.
A gorgeous sunset sky full of color only mildly conveyed here.
The only way Ellie would sleep. Sigh.
Out for a walk on a beautiful fall day.
Me and my girl, Kim, with her little man. I think he thought I was getting too close.
James loves snakes and was really happy to get to hold a pet snake owned by a fellow camper.
Sunday evening we met up with our friends from Colorado, Ryan and Dawn, and their girls, Kendyl and Addison, at Disney Springs. They got to meet Ellie, and James got to try and divide his attention between two equally adorable cuties. Ha!
Big blue eyes and adorable pink boots. She’s ready!
This picture is so cute to me! I love the way Kendyl is looking at James. 😍
Ellie gets all the baby love from Ms. Dawn.
Ryan and I– pals since the good old high school days.
Having a chat over drinks with Kendyl.
Dancing the night away with Addison.
Monday, November 27, our little Ellie Marie turned two months old! Such an amazing little miracle and such a happy baby. She smiles and laughs at us occasionally and it’s just the best thing. Not a great sleeper at this age, but a really great eater, so that’s good.
Our gorgeous girl.
James is a fantastic big brother and he loves to read to her and try to make her laugh.
Tuesday night, we had our first date night out since Ellie was born, joining Ryan and Dawn at dinner at Shula’s Steak House to celebrate Ryan’s birthday. It was so much fun and the food was really fantastic.
Date night happy faces.
Happy people having uninterrupted conversation, delicious food and wine, with no kids. Woohoo!
Wednesday brought us another friend popping in for a quick visit. Chris’s high school friend, Justin, flew into Orlando and stayed with us overnight before heading to the east coast to see his family. It had been a few years since our last visit so we were happy to hang out, although next time we hope it’s longer and includes his awesome wife and way cool daughter.
Ellie spending some bonding time with Mr. Justin.
All worn out from her first Thanksgiving holiday.