Madeline Rose: Thanksgiving 2014

Snoqualmie Falls, Washington

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Seattle with the DeCock family again this year and had a fantastic time. We drove up to Seattle after work/school Tuesday arriving just after 8:00. Dave, Jane, Kim and Riley had not arrived from Wisconsin yet, so Maddy, Steve and I settled in, then hung out with Chris and his boxer, Koda, for a bit before Maddy went to bed. The plane from Wisconsin was delayed, so I also went to bed before their arrival.

It was great to see everyone in the morning, and after a short time, Maddy lost her shyness and showed her true silly Maddy colors. Late morning we went to Snoqualmie Falls, where the waterfall was rushing due to high water levels/lots of rain. Although there was flooding in the area, the upper viewing area was safe. We went out to lunch afterwards then back to Chris's home. Maddy absolutely loved hanging out with everyone. Maddy spent a good deal of time that afternoon giving away her stickers by sticking them to everyone's faces, thinking it was hilarious! Everyone was a good sport and accepted the face-stickers graciously. Later that night after Maddy went to bed, we watched a movie.

Thanksgiving was a very mellow day filled with appetizers, then the magnificent feast of fried turkey, gravy, lefse (made by me and Steve a few days earlier), pearl onions, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, salad and for dessert...pumpkin pie! Everything was scrumptious. Sadly, I had to leave Thursday night and took a Bolt Bus back to Portland so I could work on Friday. All went smoothly for my trip home.

Steve and Maddy spent one more day with the DeCock family, and it was dubbed "tickle day." Maddy had made an agreement with Dave the night before: no more tickling Thursday night...but he could tickle her all he wanted the next day (I would have advised against this, but figured Maddy could learn this lesson on her own). They had a great time, went to a mall with a carousel where Maddy rode a dragon, then Maddy and Steve headed back to Portland. Overall, an excellent Thanksgiving holiday! Maddy already asked if we can go back to Chris's house next year.