Happy "Be-lated" Thanksgiving

I am the slacker of all bloggers, I swear. My fellow mommy-bloggers are much better. We had a great Thanksgiving with Ryan's parents last week (thanks Rose and Mark!). I was dreading the three-and-a-half hour car ride out to eastern Ohio, but Sofia was great. We are still having the problem with her taking her arms out of her carseat. Luckily, with these nifty 5-point harness seats, she's still attached at the legs and middle. Since I knew the car ride could be trouble, I put Sofia's seat in the middle so that Ryan had access to her while I drove. I packed one bag full of books, one of toys, snacks, her blankie, her bunny, mommy-bear (it's what she calls my old Carebear), and Dora. It was a packed car for only an overnight stay. Traffic sucked coming out of Columbus, of course. Once we got past Zanesville, however, the load lightened. We stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel. Ryan had never been there (shock!) so I had to introduce him. Of course I wound up buying things in the store they have. I'm a sucker for stick candy, I had to buy a Christmas count-down calender (like the one on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), Ryan got a harmonica, and Sofia got M&M's. I just told myself it was a special occassion.

We got to Ryan's parents and settled in. Sofia was so good the whole time. She wasn't timid or nervous, and opened right up to everyone. She didn't eat much during dinner on Thanksgiving day, but Ryan and I made up for that. My pumpkin cheesecake was a success, if I do say so myself! I had never made a cheesecake, but Sofia helped and it was tasty! Then the three of us took a nap in the afternoon before our trek home. It took Sofia a little while to settle down, but soon all of us were out, lying in the same bed.

Check out those muscles!!

The trip home wasn't bad at all. We listened to soothing music and walked in the door around 9:30 p.m. Sofia went straight to sleep. Ryan and I followed soon after!