Thanksgiving in Indy

Living a single day's drive from our friends, Peter and Ellen Moore, and their three awesome daughters, Mallory, Julia and Shorey, has been one of the greatest perks of living in Southwestern Ontario. This past weekend was our third visit with them since moving here. We shared the Fourth of July celebrations with them there; they came here for Labour Day weekend; we celebrated American Thanksgiving with them. It has become a bit of a pattern, and one that I am happy to see emerging. Before we left the discussion had already begun about when they would be coming to London next. Long weekends are a necessity, since it is a six to seven (plus, if you don't pay attention) hour drive. Looks like we'll see them again sometime between February and April. I can hardly wait!


Shorey (not a good representation of her always beautiful
smiling face!), Mallory, Janelle, Julia and Connor.


This weekend included so much it has to be a list:

• Thanksgiving morning started at 4:30 a.m., when I got up to get in line at a department store with Peter and Ellen to check the most important items off their "to buy" list.
• We returned home at 7:30 to sleep.
• Thanksgiving turkey dinner.
• After-turkey nap in preparation for marathon shopping beginning at 10 p.m.
• Ellen and I left the house at 9:00 Thursday night to go in search of "shopper-sustaining" coffee and head to Toys R Us. When we arrived and saw the line of at least 1000 people we decided there was nothing in that store that was worth standing in line for. We headed home for warmer clothes and a game of cards with our husbands.
• We headed out again at 11:00, and stayed out until 5:30 a.m., with a break for "lunch" in the middle. It was definitely like nothing I had ever seen! Line-ups galore, some great deals, and some crazy people. An education. Not my favourite way to shop, though.
• Friday, Ellen and I slept while Chris and Peter took the kids to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.
• That evening, we met them in downtown Indianapolis for the lighting of Monument Circle. Sandi Patti sang to open the evening, which was a treat for me, and a trip down memory lane.
• Saturday we didn't have to do anything! But Ellen and I headed back to Kohl's to shop without a thousand other people. A much more enjoyable experience! And I am nearly finished my Christmas shopping.

And now to finish my "cliff-hanger" from yesterday. We left the Moore's home at 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning, and I drove the first leg of the journey, stopping at 1:00 p.m. an hour inside Michigan at McDonald's. We were pretty happy with our progress, figuring we were halfway home, not counting the inevitable line-up at the border. We let the kids play in the play place for a while, and then we got gas and were on the road, this time with Chris behind the wheel. Our children were happily occupied with movies in the back seat and I started the People magazine crossword puzzle. We had unplugged the GPS in favour of charging Chris's cell phone, but were sure we wouldn't need it since I-69 goes all the way from Indiana to the border at Port Huron/Sarnia. Neither Chris or I were paying much attention to the road signs, and he was helping me with my puzzle as we travelled. However, about an hour into our drive Chris said "Leanne, I don't see any signs that say I-69 anymore". Sure enough, I dug out the GPS and plugged it in. We were in Grand Rapids, Michegan, about 45 minutes from where I-96 branches off from I-69. It added about 1.5 hours to our trip, and the border added another 1.5 hours. We arrived home just after 8 p.m., where we all fell happily into our beds after a LONG day of family togetherness.

So it was on another trip to Peter and Ellen's, on the way home this time, at Thanksgiving, this time in November, with our long-ago-named children in the backseat, that we learned that history does repeat itself. I assured Chris that he'll laugh about it someday, but I've decided that today is a good day to start!