SuperMangums: Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving this year in a beach house in Ocean City, Maryland. No, it was not beach weather (it was so. cold.), but we were only one block from the beach, and it was still awesome to go out and walk around and watch the waves. Rachel and Theresa came from Arizona, and Elisa came from Madison, and we had so much fun all weekend.

We started the weekend with a Thanksgiving program at Bria's school:

On Thanksgiving morning, before we drove out to Ocean City, I ran a 5K with my friend Hillary. (I hadn't run since the half marathon, and hey! I haven't run since!)

We packed our car to the absolute brim, and set off.

We decided to feast on Friday, so once we arrived, we set in on some pre-feast preparations, including brining the turkey. The next day, I tried my hand at spatchcocking our turkey, and it turned out awesome. You can read more about that here. Yes, that is me holding a turkey spine.

Our feast was delicious! Can't believe I didn't take more pictures of the spread.

Sam and I worried Bria would be bored without any other kids, but she was in absolute heaven having her aunts and godmother dote on her all day long.

Sam, Bria, Rachel, and Theresa rented a beach cruiser to ride along the boardwalk and check out the scene.

While Elisa and I walked on the beach and sat on these rocks for a good hour watching the waves. Elisa had never seen the Atlantic Ocean! And it did not disappoint.

There was a Winter Fest of Lights while we were there, and it was a perfect nudge into the holiday season. We were all freezing cold, but had a blast. After the tour around the lights, they had an indoor area with hot chocolate and Santa. Bria's first encounter with a Santa impersonator, in fact.

(Happy Birthday, Jesus! Something I had never heard before coming to the South.)

We decided to go out for a nice dinner to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Since Bria has the soul of an adult, she did great, even saying to the waiter at the end of the meal "thank you so much for a delightful evening."