Thanksgiving Trip, Part I

07 December

I have absolutely no idea where November went.  
It came, it conquered, and now the craziness of the christmas season is upon us.  
We decided to take a little detour on our way to NJ this year.  We booked it out of IA right in time before they got dumped on with a foot of snow.  We made it to Michigan right before they, too, got dumped on with a foot of snow. We had the best Saturday there, playing outside and walking through the woods as the snow was falling gently around us.    







With all that beautiful, fresh snow outside, it just made sense to make snow ice cream while sipping on hot chocolate. 

Next we made our way up to Toronto, Canada to visit Ben's Grandpa, who is 96.  Claire and Max loved Ben's aunt and uncle's house because it had this little secret room for them to sleep in (not to mention that huge pile of stuffed animals in the corner...Claire was beside herself).  
We spent the next day visiting Gramps at the home where he stays. He loves to play Rummikub, and was also content to just sit and watch the kids play.  


4 generations of McCandless men. 

We then stopped at Niagara Falls on our way to NJ.  







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9 comments

  1. Linda McMichaelDecember 8, 2015 at 6:33 PM

    such fun~although i think part 2 was more fun at least for us;)

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  2. Alison HebertDecember 8, 2015 at 7:42 PM

    LOVED these pictures. Oh Gramps, how he must long for Heaven! Of course he still loves Rummikub...so fun! What a beautiful 4 generation picture you captured! XO

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    1. JILLDecember 9, 2015 at 8:46 AM

      It was great to have another visit with him! As he was going back up to his room that evening he said to Tim and Betty, "Well that was a great day before Christmas". ;) He associates Ben and I with Florida at Christmas! Thankful to have all of those memories with him.

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  3. UnknownDecember 8, 2015 at 8:45 PM

    What a fun start to your trip even though it was a lot of driving!

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    1. JILLDecember 9, 2015 at 8:46 AM

      These little 6-8 hour bits of driving weren't so bad....it was the 16 hour drive home that was the killer. ;)

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    2. UnknownDecember 9, 2015 at 4:55 PM

      Haha- good point!

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  4. Kelly ProcopioDecember 10, 2015 at 7:15 PM

    FINALLY! A new blog post. What a fun part 1, can't wait for part 2!

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    Replies
    1. JILLDecember 14, 2015 at 9:01 AM

      Haha! Yes, I've been a bad blogger lately. Oh the shame.

      Delete