Thanksgiving in October

What do you get when you have six dogs, fishing rods, four hour canoe journeys, chainsaws, football games, and chestnuts? I'll tell you... a Hines family gathering. Jesse's dad and stepmom, Rick and Jennie, came in town for an action-packed long weekend. They didn't just bring all five of their Golden Retrievers, they brought fun with them too.

First we did a little fishing. Jennie caught the sand fiddlers to use as bait, then Rick and Jesse caught two puppy drum... which we ate for dinner one night. Delicious. No, I did not catch anything!! Then we cruised over to Brad and Rachel's to hang out and watch Emily dress up as a princess and Seth change into Buzz Lightyear (I wish I had a photo of that). We tried to catch some fish off of their backyard, but all we got were some sticks.

Next, we had Thanksgiving day at our house. Our first official family gathering with turkey in the new home. We even broke out the china for the special occasion. It was grand! After our bellies were full, Jesse and Rick tested out Jesse's new chainsaw that his dad got him for his birthday (Nov. 5th). Lynn and Nancy joined us for this Turkey Day, so Lynn found his way out into the woods with the boys too. While the men chopped down trees, Rachel and I went off on our own little excursion into the winding canals of Kitty Hawk. Rachel turned out to be quite the adventurer and she had never even been canoeing before. I was so stoked!

The following day Jesse, Rick, Brad, and Mike went to see a NC State football game in Raleigh. Thanks Brad!! (You can check out Brad's excitement below). A total man's trip. I heard they talked about politics, real estate, sports, etc. Sounds boring. As for me and Jennie, we went on a canoe trip that lasted four hours. But hey, in that time we saw deer (can you find him in one of the photos), paddled under four bridges, saw beautiful birds and flowers, and eventually found our way from my house to Brad and Rachel's by canoe!! It was fantastic. Sure we barely had the strength to make it back, but we did! It was glorious.

Our last day together consisted of going to church and having turkey leftovers before Rick and Jennie headed back to Myrtle Beach. Overall, I 'd say we had a jolly good time here on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Y'all come back now, ya hear!