Another Thanksgiving is upon the Hayes household, and like our previous Thanksgivings, we decided to start with our annual tradition of breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts. In an effort to offset the 2000 calories we were about to consume, we decided we would ride our bikes the 2 miles to the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts establishment. Luckily for us it was a beautiful Florida November morning so we enjoyed being outside together.
Thanks to Grandma Curly we were able to pick up a coupon from her on our way which was good for buy six donuts and get six free (because that is exactly what we needed). Add a bagel and a breakfast sandwich to that list and we were ready for some breakfast. Hunter and Emily also saw this cool sprinkle filled ornament, and they decided that we needed to have it because of this new tradition. Because it was so nice out we decided to continue with our other tradition of eating outside. The boys are sharing their breakfast love above and Emily is ready to tear into, I mean delicately eat her chocolate filled donut.
After we enjoyed our meal we snapped a quick photo with our bikes in front of the DD (in case nobody would believe that we actually rode our bikes). 
We enjoyed the ride home as the sun was a little higher than on the way there, and the weather was a bit warmer. Not a bad way to start the day. Oh yeah, remember that ornament I was telling you about? Well it spent about 8 seconds in our house before it fell on the floor and ended up like the photo you see below. The great ornament smash of 2015 (and we don’t even have our tree up yet).
With our bellies full and some time to spare before we needed to start cooking, we got our cozy spots on the couch and settled in for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This has been a tradition with Emily for as long as I can remember, and it is rubbing off on Hunter as well. Sawyer was still running around the family room smashing things like the Hulk, so I don’t think three hours watching floating balloons is in the cards for him yet. Emily was able to find a fun app to turn the boys into balloons which we captured below (sorry future Hunter and Sawyer).
After the parade on TV it was time for Hunter, Sawyer, and Mom’s stuffed animal Thanksgiving parade. Over the last couple days Emily and the boys had been preparing all of their favorite stuffed guys to put on a parade down the hall in the kitchen. I will be working on putting the video together to share with you sometime in the near future. They got to do a test run in the morning so that we were ready to go for the real show when Grandma and Poppa got here for dinner. It was really cute as Sawyer drove the floats and Hunter used his gameshow voice to announce the floats with some corny jokes sprinkled in.
As I stated earlier it was a beautiful day so we decided that we should open the windows as well as the doors to the back porch so we could enjoy the wonderful breeze through the house. Both the boys like playing outside so this lets them get in and out easily. As Hunter was outside playing he came running back in the house screaming, “Snake on the porch!!! Snake on the porch!!!” Because of Hunter’s love of snakes, I just assumed that it was one of the 100 rubber snakes that we have accumulated over the years. It turns out that this was indeed a live one. Well, lucky for us the boys love of creatures and snakes means that we are well equipped (thanks to Emily) with more nets than we know what to do with. Brave Dad took two nets, captured the snake, and brought it out behind the house. The snake was only about a foot long, but I managed to save the family from certain death by removing it. Hunter informed us that it was just a Garter snake.
After the great snake debacle we headed in and began the preparation for the highly anticipated Thanksgiving dinner. Below you can see Emily putting the finishing touches on the seasoning before sticking the bird in the oven.
And below is our attempt at a final staged photo before she went in the oven (the turkey that is).
Because we wanted to enjoy the beautiful day (and really because Emily wanted us out of her hair), I took the boys to the neighborhood park so we could play another round of Jurassic World on the playground. They both are super into dinosaurs after seeing Jurassic World, so much of the playing around the house involves dinosaur roars and raptor claws. We ran into the neighbors who were playing as well so the kids had a blast. Just as we were leaving it started to sprinkle, providing a really unique rainbow that I attempted to capture below.
We arrived home with just enough time to get changed and freshen up before Grandma and Poppa arrived for dinner. The house smelled amazing with all of the delicious scents of turkey and fixings filling the downstairs. Emily even provide her fun and personalized place settings with the help of Hunter seen below.
We put out the spread, made our plates and hit the table for some amazing food and conversation. We were so excited that Grandma Curly was able to attend and had her appetite back after her recent cancer treatments. Can’t say enough great things about her! Below is a photo of the two beautiful ladies.
After dinner Hunter, Sawyer, and Emily conducted the 2015 Thanksgiving Parade that we rehearsed earlier that day, and it was a hit. The boys had so much fun bringing all of their stuffed animals to life. After the parade we found that little extra bit of room in our stomachs for the pumpkin and apple pies that Emily made, along with her scrumptious homemade whipped cream. I finished the day sleeping through most of the Packers losing to the Chicago Bears.
As I was reviewing previous posts on Hayesvision for the Thanksgiving week I found Hunter’s Week in Three Words post from 2009 after we set up our Christmas tree the year that Hunter broke his elbow. Amazing how much the little guy has grown up! For all the craziness of the day, we are all thankful for time together with family! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day as well!