We headed down to Houston for Thanksgiving break this year. Fortunately, Nat’s still in school so we get a whole week off. 
 We were in sunny warm Houston (the coldest day was still in the 60s) from Friday to Saturday. We had a great time with family and friends. I can’t believe it went by so fast and with so many things to do! I wish we could take a vacation from our vacation for a couple of days before we get back into “real life”. 
 Here’s a recap:
Friday (11/21)
We were awake by 5:45AM (all of us) and made our way down to Houston via DFW. Sean was pretty good, albeit squirmy. One of our friend was on our first leg down, so that was a nice surprise.  We were definitely glad to get Sean off the plane when we arrived at IAH. My mom came to pick me up, and we drove to my parents house while Sean had lunch in the car.
My dad greeted us at home, and we put Sean down for a little bit to get familiar with the place. He was very clingy and didn’t really want to be put down. We put him down for a nap, and he cried for 30 minutes*. We had lunch, and then my dad and Nat went to play golf. When Sean woke up, my mom and I went to get some stuff for Amy’s baby shower.
Saturday
I went over to Amy’s house to help prepare for her baby shower that afternoon. A bunch of my friends were hosting the shower, and we were preparing for 50+ people. We spent all morning cleaning and cooking. The shower went well with more than enough food. Nat brought Sean over after his nap, and we had a good time with my friends and Amy.
Sunday
We headed to the Chinese grocery store after breakfast. We had lunch in the plaza of the grocery store (yummy Vietnamese broken rice!). We headed home, Sean took a nap. My dad played golf in the afternoon. Nat went for a jog, and then watched the MLS final. After Sean woke up from his nap, we headed to the mall to look for some shoes for Sean. We were unsuccessful. 
After dinner, we opened our Christmas gifts early so that Sean could have some toys to play with and we (Nat and I) could exchange/return the gifts (mostly clothes).
Monday
We headed out to the Galleria after breakfast in search of Sean’s shoes. We were successful this time!  We ate out at a Cajun restaurant for lunch, and then headed home to put Sean down for a nap. While Sean was asleep, Nat and I headed out to a nearby mall to return/exchange my clothes and search for Nat’s shoes. I was successful in finding some clothes, but Nat couldn’t find a pair that he liked. He remembered seeing a pair at the Galleria, so we planned on going back the next day.
Tuesday
My uncle and his wife came to visit us in the morning. They wanted to see Sean because my uncle hadn’t seen him before. We headed out to lunch at an Italian restaurant where Sean ate half of a Kid’s order of spheghetti.  While Sean was sleeping, we headed back to the Galleria to find Nat’s shoes. He ended up getting a different pair than he liked before, but I was glad that he got a pair of “everyday” shoes. After Sean woke up we went out to Whole Foods to buy some things for Thanksgiving dinner. My aunt and uncle met us at my parents house; they had driven down from Dallas to spend time with us for Thanksgiving dinner. My cousin and his girlfriend came over to have dinner with us (his parents were the ones that came down from Dallas). After dinner, my friends came over to hang out with us.
Wednesday
I headed up to Amy’s on Wednesday morning to help her cook her turkey. She needed help since she’s 37 weeks pregnant and couldn’t really bend over and lift the turkey out to baste it. We had a great time of hanging out and talking.  After that, I drove back to my parents, picking up some “banh mi” (Vietnamese sandwhiches) for lunch for everyone. Nat and I got ready for golf in the afternoon with my dad. Nat and I played 9 holes and came home; we were both playing pretty poorly at the end because we were tired.  My dad continued to play with his friend Joe. After a nice relaxing bubble bath (to work out the sore muscles) I headed to the airport with my mom to pick up my brother and his girlfriend. We got back (after some delay in waiting for my brother’s luggage), and had dinner.
Thursday
In the morning, my brother, dad, Nat, and my brother’s girlfriend headed out to play golf. I went to go workout, and my mom picked me up later. After my mom picked me up, we (including Sean) headed to the grocery store to pick up some last minute things for Thanksgiving dinner. We headed back, and I started preparing the food I was planning to make. Fortunately, I had made the chocolate cake, the crust for the pie, and half of the rolls the previous day, so I had less to do. I made another batch of rolls, mashed potatoes, kalbi (Korean ribs) and apple pie. My mom, aunt, and uncle were busy prepping and cooking the rest of the meal. My family started coming in around 4PM while we were cooking. It was pretty hectic in the kitchen from about 4:30PM until dinner time. All in all, we had 23 people at dinner. I had 3 sets of aunts and uncles, 5 cousins and one of my cousin’s girlfriend, two of my dad’s friends and their family, and our immediate family. Most of the “kids” were playing Rock Band 2 (which we got for my brother for Christmas; he had opened the gift earlier that day) before and after dinner. The adults had a lot of fun just hanging out and talking. Nat and I were pooped by 11PM, so we headed to bed.
Friday
We actually had a relaxing morning with nothing to do.  My immediate family (plus my brother’s girlfriend) just hung out. We each made our own lunch and while my brother, his girlfriend, Nat and I played Rock Band, my parents, aunt, and uncle watched Sean. In the afternoon, we played 9 holes of golf. We came home for dinner, and the “kids” played Settlers and headed to bed.
Saturday
We packed in the morning and had a leisurely breakfast. We managed to play one quick game of Settlers, where Nat won, and headed to the airport. We stopped at the Vietnamese sandwhich place to pick up lunch on the go. We had a smooth flight into ORD (which we can’t believe given ORD’s unpredictability when it’s winter) where Sean actually napped. We had a longer lay over in ORD because we arrived early (another surprise) so Nat and I took turns chasing Sean around the terminal. He was really intrigued by the people and the escalator. He was getting antsy on the flight home, but he wasn’t too whiny. We made a quick stop at Panera to eat dinner, and then Sean went to bed. Nat and I slowly unpacked and then headed to bed at 9:30!
We had quite the busy week. Each night it seemed that we went to bed at 11PM. Unfortunately, Sean was waking up between 5-6:30AM each morning, so we took turns on who would get Sean up and who would sleep in. Nat, being the sweetie that he is, was the one that let me sleep in more often.  Despite the tiredness, I really enjoyed my time with my parents and the kindness and generosity they showed. It was nice to have so many people who were willing to watch Sean.Â
* Now that he’s older, we found that it takes a couple of days for him to adjust to the new place. He realizes it’s not home, so he cries louder, harder, and longer for the first day and a half. He also tends to wake up earlier too.Â
[...] November 30, 2008 in Family, Travel instead of posting again of what we did for thanksgiving, i’ll refer you to this post on our family blog. [...]