Gobble, Gobble- Thanksgiving in PA/NJ 2011

Making friends on the train ride to PA. Look how sweetly Katy has her head on Ty's shoulder- Daddy wasn't too fond of this move.

Katy's Thanksgiving Dinner- turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, meatballs and pasta- yummy!

Grandma and Pop-Pop Tinkey with their grand-kiddies.

Katy and Granny Petruzzi in their matching shades.

Tinkey family picture- trust me, this was the best of the lot. I sure hope somebody else got a decent picture.

Wearing her "bike-el hat" and riding a tricycle at Nana and Bapa Jones' house.

Waiting for the train home at the 30th Street Station in Philly.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150979236545394.769046.771535393&type=1&l=c9b0ff004d

Turkey Day this year was spent in Northeastern PA with the Petruzzi Family. This was Katy (and Ted's!) first holiday meal with the extended family and as Ted later stated, it did not disappoint. It was LOUD! There was lots (and LOTS!) of good food! There were a million different conversations going on at once! There was lots of laughter and everybody had a good time!

For a multitude of reason we decided to take the train (rather than drive or fly) up to Philly and then rent a car and drive the rest of the way. At first, the thought of 12 hours on a train with a toddler was daunting. However, I made sure to plan out enough activities, snacks and new things for Katy to do that time was not an issue. Katy did great on the train! She loved the fact that she was on a "choo-choo train" and she loved to watch the other passengers on the train.

On the way up, we were lucky enough to sit next to a friendly family of three. Katy quickly befriended the kids, Ty, five years old and Tori, three years old. The three kids were fast friends, sharing DVDs, Cheerio necklaces and coloring pages. This really helped pass the time and Katy loved being included with the "big kids!"

We arrived in Philly about 40 minutes late but still managed to get to Granny Petruzzi's right on time. By the time we got to Granny's, Katy was fast asleep- all of that traveling wore her out!

The next day was Thanksgiving Day and we went over to Aunt Karen and Uncle Ron's for dinner. Katy managed to get a (short!) nap in before all of the hub-bub and festivities. There were probably close to 30 people for dinner and 40+, total. We enjoyed the traditional turkey, stuffing (personal favorite!), sweet potatoes, raviolis and homemade meatballs, and more desserts than I could count (pumpkin roll, pumpkin pie, shoo-fly pie, pecan pie, cookies- YUM!).

It was fun to see all of the little ones- Kayla, Katy, Molly, Joel and Carly- get together. The newest generation definitely made the day more interesting. At one point, the kids were playing in another room and Molly fell and started crying. Katy came running into the kitchen where I was standing, talking to a cousin, and started exclaiming, "Problem! Problem!" As my cousin Jaclyn stated, Katy is most certainly my daughter!

We did not go shopping on Black Friday. Instead, we all met up for lunch at the Chinese restaurant and then the cousins went to see the newest Muppet movie (Ted was SOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Grandma and Pop-Pop Tinkey watched the little ones for a mini "Camp Tinkey" while Josh, Delinda, Hope, Eric, Ted and I enjoyed a some child-free time at the movies.

We all enjoyed the Muppet Movie and it got Ted's resounding seal of approval. I walked out of the movie wondering why they hadn't asked to use our art room for the set of Walter's bedroom. I mean, seriously- we had the watch, the backpack and all of the Muppet characters hanging on the walls! Ha!

We drove over to NJ to visit with Ted's parents on Saturday. Like every good grandmother, Nana had cookies (egg, nut, soy free!) waiting for Katy when we arrived. The weather was unseasonably warm so Katy got the chance to ride a tricycle around the circle and wear a "bike-el hat" as she kept referring to the child-sized helmet Nana had waiting for her. Ted and I got to see the progress on Megan and Jason's house while Katy napped. Katy had fun being the center of attention at Nana and Bapa's!

Sunday morning dawned very early as we made our way back to the train station for our last leg of the journey home. The train ride home was uneventful and Katy continued to be a very good girl. The train was VERY crowded! We were about an hour and a half late coming into our station but we made it home safe and sound.

All in all, we had a good trip- no hiccups, tickets or mishaps. I would definitely take the train again with Katy and it was good to celebrate the holidays with family!