Thanksgiving Redux

It is simply astonishing to me how rapidly the year is drawing to an end.  Tomorrow we begin the final series of our annual traditions starting with Simone's winter piano recital followed by the Patowmack Farm cookie exchange.  Before we hit those events, I figured I better post a recap of our Thanksgiving weekend.  It was an outstanding weekend, that passed by all too quickly.  But it mixed great food, wonderful family time, some relaxation, and lots of merriment.

This year we hosted the McGinleys and enjoyed a really relaxing late Thanksgiving lunch.  I have to admit, it was the first year that advance prep and cooking really paid off.  Not only did cooking feel much easier on Thanksgiving day, but clean up was a breeze this year too -- yay to the mommies!

As usual, not many Thanksgiving pics, but you get the idea.  We always try very hard to make sure we actually have a Thanksgiving that feels festive before heading into the Christmas season.

After dinner, we ventured out to see the new Disney movie -- Moana.  It was a very pleasant and relaxing way to spend the evening.  We took this shot at the theater at a display they had for another movie.

On Friday, we spent a good part of the day shopping and then wound down the evening at the Reston tree lighting followed by some iceskating.  I only got one blurry picture on Friday at the tree lighting.

We then spent Saturday afternoon at a couple of Loudoun's wineries.  The girls played cards and ate pizza while the adults did some wine tasting.  A great afternoon!

On Saturday night we headed into DC to see A Christmas Carol at Fords Theater.  It was a fantastic way to kick off the Christmas season and really start to get into the holiday spirit. It was also the first time we were ever at this historic theater.  They've done a wonderful job preserving the building and historic feel, while also putting on a terrific performance.  Despite being such a well known story, the show still captured our undivided attention the entire time.  Well done!

Such a pretty, serene set.

The box where President Lincoln was assasinated.

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And finally, on Sunday we trekked out to the Christmas tree farm in search of a live blue spruce.  Once again we failed -- still not big enough.  But they are indeed growing and in another year or two, there will be tons.  For this year, our artificial trees will have to do.  

More holiday magic tomorrow....