We have a tradition to go hiking every Thanksgiving morning... Actually the tradition always begins with picking up the newspaper so that I can peruse the Black Friday ads whilst driving to the hiking destination.
This year we made a slight adjustment to our plans. Rebekah is a wee bit too heavy for the hiking backpack and not quite up for a rigorous desert romp. So, we packed up the crew and headed to the Phoenix Zoo. Most people must not realize that it is open on Thanksgiving because it was so quiet and peaceful!
The best part of the outing for the kids was enjoying all of their favorite play destinations without a crowd of kids to contend with. Plus nothing says "Happy Thanksgiving" like crawling about on a life-sized spider web.
After playing for an hour we did manage to visit the Koala - which is new to the zoo. It was great to skip the 20 minute wait that has been there every other time we have visited since these marsupials arrived.
Then we splurged a buck and let the kids ride on the animal carousel.
And these are a couple of shots that I captured in my ongoing effort to live in the moment...
(Yes! This is a hummingbird!)
Then we headed home for a little lunch and a nap for the kids. While the kids chilled out, Ryan made a couple of pumpkin pies for the feast and I scoped out the Black Friday ads. Once the kids started waking up from their mini-hibernation we went over to the original Jones House for The Feast. And then some good cousin fun.
A potential ping pong champion
(Check out those tip toes!)
The other 2 year old cousins
Uncle Brandon giving Caleb some last minute instructions
Ryan and his brother returning to the days of childhood
And the kids celebrating their touchdown!
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