Thanksgiving travel day to Indian Wells

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The past 8 months have been very different in this country as the COVID pandemic has made everyone wear masks and change work and school arrangements. We've made the most of this time while Steve has been able to work remotely allowing us to go 5 different times and spending 6 weeks up at Susie and George's lake house from May to September and having a very special time for the kids to play at the lake and be with Nana and Grandpa. While we also just got back 1 month ago from visiting Mike, Jenn, Ellie, and Grayson in Tennessee, this was going to be a vacation just for us and the kids. We already celebrated a Thanksgiving Day meal the Sunday before with Tory's Mom and Dad at our house so that we could be gone for this trip leaving on Thanksgiving and the 3 days after. Unfortunately, with the risks of the coronavirus, Susie and George had to cancel their trip to our house that was supposed to happen a few days before Thanksgiving. We had some family time the day of Thanksgiving before leaving after the girls naps, including Tory's fun scooter ride with Vivian and Nathan. Here are some of our favorite recent pictures added also because there are some good memories this time of year and Vivian started doing baby gymnastics!

We left for the desert after Vivian's nap around 2:30 and had almost no traffic on Thanksgiving Day. Our favorite van-ride dinner was McDonald's on the way in, then we checked into a convenient first-floor room that included 2 queen beds, a pull-out sofa, and a crib. Right away we all went into the pool and had it all to ourselves, although the desert definitely gets pretty chilly when the sun goes down. After some time in the cooler pool, we made our way over to a small warmer pool and Rosie had fun being tossed in the air by Daddy. Next, everyone made it to the hot tub for some fun times making pretend hair out of the foam in the tub and putting it on our faces to make "Santa beards." Bedtime was tough as the kids were too excited to go right to sleep right away, but they all did pretty good in the new surroundings and we were very proud of how Rosie was no longer sleeping in pullups and being a big 4-year-old girl! Steve and Tory spent some time chatting on the patio so the kids could sleep, the view was of palm trees and desert mountains brought back the memories of many years at the old PGA West house that Susie and George used to own.

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Photos

Hangers
Our family hanging bar since Nathan was old enough

Hanger girl
She loves it!

Pretty face
Rosie is not exactly camera shy

Play hard, sleep hard
On the drive out

Nathan the scooter boy
Safety first! Always wearing his blue helmet

Gymnastics girl
She's a natural

Christmas joy!
Her first Christmas tree lights that she will remember

3 Christmas siblings
All dressed up to Christmas Tree shop

Snowmangirl
Rosie was a snowmangirl

Christmas blanket
This is a VERY soft blanket that Nathan has taken as his own to sleep with

Perfect punims
2 peas in a pod

Hanging girl on the rings
She's a future Olympic Gold Medalist at this pace!