We had a very nice, low-key Thanksgiving. Joe was selected to be part of the NASA Tweetup for the Mars Rover launch, so he was in Florida over the holiday. I packed up myself and Lucy, and we headed to Tennessee to spend the holiday with my family.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures, probably because I was so busy solo-parenting (and I now have SO much respect for single parents). We got up there mid-afternoon on Wednesday and just hung out and relaxed that night. On Thursday, my brothers, sister-in-law and nephews all came over for Thanksgiving dinner. Lucy was excited because she loves her cousins Harrison and Marshall. Maybe that excitement is why she only ate a few bites of her lunch. She did, however, eat almost an entire piece of Aunt Oriona’s pumpkin pie.

After lunch, the kids and Oriona rocked for a while on my grandparents’ porch swing.

And then, they all played outside since it was such a nice day. (And, the kids had popsicles, which explains Lucy’s purple mouth.)

Before Ryan, Oriona and the kids left, Lucy had to give Harrison a hug.

We headed back mid-morning on Friday, and Joe finally got home on Saturday. We missed him a lot, but he had SO much fun, and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.