Thanksgiving at Hartfield 2012

As is tradition, we spent Thanksgiving at Hartfield this year.  We let Nina skip school on Tuesday so we could get an early start on our trip.  The girls were so excited to meet up with their cousins and spend time together, and we had sunny, warm weather each day until Saturday, so it was perfect for playing outside.

Over the summer, the cousins developed the River Girls Club with a little list of criteria they had to meet to be in the club (all activities associated with the outdoors), and this visit to Hartfield they added a new item to their list of River Girl Club activities.  They all got a lesson from Uncle G, then got to take turns shooting an air rifle at a target.  The goal was to hit the Coke bottle or the yellow portion of the box from a spot about about 75-80 feet away.

    

Unbelievably, each girl hit the target of the Coke bottle or the yellow part of the box on their very first try.  These are true river girls!!!!  Shen, Mouse, and I even got a turn to shoot (as of course did the guys), and we hit our target also.  In typical Lyla fashion, her rules of gun safety are a little different than everyone else’s.  G would ask each girl to tell him the #1 rule of gun safety (which was to never point a gun at anyone) before they took their turn to shoot.  Each girl told him the rule before they shot, but when he got to Lyla and asked her the #1 rule of gun safety, she promptly responded with, “Shoot the gun!” 

 

 

  

Little Layne is still a little young to join in all the River Girls Club activities, but she does love being around the older girls and joining in their fun whenever she can.

  

Thanksgiving was another beautiful day at Hartfield, and in keeping with tradition, the boys shucked a bushel of oysters for part of the Thanksgiving meal.  Bo and his girlfriend, Richelle, arrived on Thanksgiving, and we enjoyed a fabulous meal, watched the Redskins beat the Cowboys, and played outside.

 

 

While the boys were doing some activities on Friday, Shen, Richelle, and I took the four older cousins into Urbanna for lunch, walking around the town, visiting an animal park, and a little shopping.

 

  

   

The big treat for us “big kids” was having Mousey and Poppy babysit all five girls while the six of us headed out for a fun evening out at Nate’s Trick Dog Café.  Bo and Richelle headed home on Saturday, and the rest of us left on Sunday.  We really enjoyed out time down at Hartfield, and it was another great family Thanksgiving trip!  We feel very thankful for the many blessings we have, a great family, and a wonderful place to gather and make lasting memories.