Thanksgiving morning found us packing up the car, including dog, and heading to Austin to spend a late Thanksgiving/early Christmas with Grandma Carolyn. Traffic was heavy and kids irritable; Alex moaning from carsick-induced headache and Danica repeating "how many more minutes?" every 5 minutes for the last 1.5 hours. After checking into the hotel and watching the Cowboys win, we opted for Denny's over McDonald's for our available dinner choices. Later, Lincoln and Scott joined hundreds of other crazies lined around the closest Target awaiting the midnight opening of Black Friday. Many years Scott has threatened to go, but this is the first time he stayed awake! 15 minutes later they were out the door, Christmas purchases in hand, having saved $200.
Friday we took in a movie, Arthur Christmas, with Grandma Carolyn and Great Grandma Mildred. Once Grandpa Rick was home from work we enjoyed a turkey, ham and trimmings 'feast', as Dani says. We really noticed a difference in Rick since his heart attack, stint and bypass surgeries. He's more energetic, is 30 pounds lighter, hasn't smoked, is walking several miles a day and says he feels so much better. We're so proud of and happy for him! Lastly, the kids favorite part of the trip was opening oodles of Christmas presents!
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| Dom did really well on the trip overall, and Ginger, Grandpa's dog was very tolerant. |
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| The water tower next to the house where vultures arrive at dusk. Photography courtesy of Dani. |
We had to cut the evening short due to a nasty discovery--lice!!! Linc had been complaining of an itchy head, but I thought it was dry scalp so gave him some dandruff shampoo. Then Dani started scratching and upon further inspection found the 'dandruff' moved and had legs. Disgusting! Linc was great through the treatment process which included saturating his head in a gel, wearing a shower cap for an hour, then meticulously combing with a fine tooth metal comb to get rid of critters and their eggs, followed by a shower and more combing. Tired from a full day, we waited to treat Dani, and her considerable drama, until returning home Saturday. Nine loads of laundry later, the possibly contaminated sheets, pillows, sleeping bags, clothes and accumulated dirty clothes are eradicated. Phew! The good news is the itching has stopped, both seem to be lice-free and it appears no one else is affected. I'm thankful for that!
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| At least he had the new Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever to pass the time! |
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