Happy Pictures of Alastair and Family

Boudreaux in his happy place: Camp Wood

If you are still with me after my Christmas post, you deserve some pictures in reward. Here are some of the photos that I took while in Camp Wood over Thanksgiving. This year, we headed out in the early afternoon the day AFTER Thanksgiving so that I could let my inner shopaholic out for Black Friday deals. I started the shopping/hunting season at CVS midnight on Thanksgiving Day. For about $10 out of pocket (OOP to those of us in the know), I ended up with bags of necessities and some really neat toys as well. My pal Audrey was in a sorry state when her nephew arrived a few weeks early and she was without a shopping companion for Black Friday. Kristin's loss is my gain! Or perhaps I should say that Kristin's gain was also my gain, since they were obviously very excited to meet Kyle. Although, truthfully, Audrey had to tell her she wasn't allowed to come because Kristin was trying to figure out how to do both. And you think I'm hardcore!

We hit the road at 4:15 a.m. and made a killing at Wal-Mart, Toysrus, Target, Old Navy, the list goes on. Imagine, me up at 4:15 with no flight to catch! It was tons of fun and we packed Audrey's Highlander to the gills. Surprisingly, it was quite the social occasion (although most of you that know me recognize that I can turn almost anything into such an occasion, a gift inherited from my mom) and we ran into Andrea not once, but twice! For those of you contemplating such a run next year, be advised that Wal-Mart will price match any advertised deal, even Black Friday deals, so we loaded up on the door buster videos all over town and got them all in one stop. Yeah us!

Spending the weekend in Camp Wood was a nice break and I caught up on some of my sorely needed sleep. Alastair had a wonderful time throwing rocks in the river and I am proud to report that he can skip rocks just as well as I can. Kim promises to help him improve.

Alastair keeping an eye on the happenings down at the river

I also dragged the whole clan down the hill for some pictures. We got some nice shots of the couples together as well as this group shot. I heart my tripod. Now all I need is the additional remote control to fire the shutter. And yes, they make one for my camera. My husband gets me some nice toys! Although not having the remote ensures that I always have a healthy glow in our photos from racing back and forth to the camera. So that is something.

And last, here we are at the Mustang children's party, where there was snow! This picture was a good reflection of how Alastair felt about it. Clearly, he's not too sure. I mean, it seemed like fun, but it was really cold and hard to walk on. Luckily for him, snow isn't a part of his life here. And luckily for me, neither are snow suits, gloves, and winter coats because I can only imagine how much fun that would be to wrestle him in and out of.

Next up: more Christmas prep!