Campsgiving

This year, for Thanksgiving, we did things a little different. We decided to camp. We love camping. The quiet and stillness of it. The simplicity. The togetherness in nature. The separation from the hustle and bustle. The kids are happy, we are happy, and this year we decided that's what we would do. It was wonderful. We didn't go far, we just went to Aiken State Park. We were able to celebrate with my mom, sisters, and nieces and nephews the weekend before and Chris' brother and family were able to join us at the state park.

We continued our yearly tradition of participating in the turkey trot 5K first thing that morning. I was able to load up the crock pot and get it started before we went. The kids did awesome! This has proven to be such a fun tradition for us. This was Grady's first year running it, and he did so well! He and I had the best time trotting and talking. The big kids ran on with dad. It's always a laid back fun time and just a great way to start our Thanksgiving weekend.

                            

For our Thanksgiving meal, I found the best one pot recipe and it was delicious! (I left out the celery and onions because we don't eat those, but the rest I kept as is)  Dessert was pumpkin cobbler, again in the crock pot....again delicious! (For this recipe I did substitute natural sweeteners) We will definitely be making this meal next year! Simple and quick and we don't have to spend our whole holiday in the kitchen! Everyone played and rode their bikes until their hearts were content and then we enjoyed our easy Thanksgiving meal on paper plates...perfect, simple and just our speed!

Next year, Thanksgiving falls the Thursday before Analeigh's birthday, so we will head out of town for camping the Saturday after Thanksgiving and enjoy the festivities at James Island for her third birthday!

I'm absolutely positive this won't be the last time we celebrate "Campsgiving", we all enjoyed it and will for sure be doing it again in the future.